One question that has always fascinated me is what exactly is 'consciousness' and where does it fit into reality? I know that consciousness is the underlying 'awareness' we all have inside our minds and out of which everything we experience arises. Smells, tastes, colours, emotions, thoughts.
Our attention, which arises out of our consciousness, determines everything we do - the direction of our lives, and what we focus on. Have you ever asked yourself how much of your reality is experienced internally (subjectively) and how much is sensory perception of the external? It must be at least half and half, right? And yet we know almost nothing about what consciousness is that carries all this out.
Are humans the only ones with consciousness? Our pets certainly seem to have a level of consciousness too. Perhaps also plants, trees, and the natural world, - not conscious as we are but conscious in a less developed sense. Something that enables change and growth. Has consciousness evolved along the lines of Darwinian theory? And does this mean it will continue to evolve beyond where humans are right now? It's the only thing we have which is with us permanently from birth to death throughout our lives. That sense of awareness that I am, an "I". A "subject" that is looking out at all other 'objects' in the world - people, places, things etc. That "I" is the centre of our own reality.
The funny thing about that though, is that most long term meditators, mystics or great philosophers like Aristotle, Plato or Plotinus and also modern teachers like Eckart Tolle or Sadgaru tell us that time spent looking within, directly at our own consciousness, or doing any form of self-inquiry ("who am I"?) will eventually lead to that sense of "I" completely disappearing. All that's left then, is awareness or pure consciousness which is demonstrably "there" but has no physical qualities we can describe.
Did you know about the movies that just came out in December 2022? Of course, maybe even your parents don't know about it. There will be a new video some time in the future and you might want to watch it. But the big news is that I provide a free service if you want to watch it. So you're curious, right? Please see the list below:
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