Skip to main content

The Meaning of Consciousness: A Deeper Understanding

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya!

The word ‘Consciousness,’ was not more than a spiritual term, until I came across a book that introduced me to its deeper meaning.
In one of my visits to Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, in the book store, I happened to pick up a book by Swami Ashokananda, “When the many become one.”  The title was nevertheless catchy and promised a detailed expression of the truth. It is a book very potent in knowledge and to be read slowly in order to grasp and digest the lofty truth that the words tried to portray.
The word ‘Consciousness,’ as the book revealed, is the simple fact that all objects existed in our own consciousness (i.e.), any object that we perceive is in our own consciousness.  They will have to remain in the field of our consciousness in order to exist.  In other words we will have to be conscious of objects, only then can they be perceived.
For example we perceive a glass only because we are conscious of it. We perceive an ant only because we are conscious of it. We perceive a man only because we are conscious of his presence. An ant can be crawling, but if we do not pay attention to it, it does not exist to us. Somebody may see it and tell us. It would then only be a reporting of someone and not our direct experience!
May be that’s why the Seers say that the whole Cosmos lies within us. We have to be even conscious of the sun, moon and the stars in order to perceive them.
Similarly our own body and mind lie within our consciousness.  We are conscious of our own body.  It hence struck to me we are not our body that we identify ourselves with, simply because there is a knower of this body!
The teachings of Ramana Maharshi, further threw light on the mind.
The Sage says that in deep sleep the mind is totally absent, as not in the case of when one is awake and when one is dreaming. (Our dreams present themselves in thought forms and hence that constitute the subtle working of the mind).  However when one wakes up after deep sleep, (where the mind is absent), one is aware that he had had a sound sleep. Hence there was essentially something alive and vibrant. Aconsciousness that revealed the experience of a deep sound sleep the following day.
Next post to follow ‘Self Consciousness’
Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya!







Labels

Labels:

Comments

manojharisree said…
Very cool. Good way to start your blog :) Hope to read more of your blessed experiences.
- Manoj B Unni.
11 July 2011 at 06:38
Post a Comment

THEY ALSO READ

Waking Up To Reality From The Three States Of Consciousness

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya It is not some dry philosophy, but the day to day happening in each of our lives, from birth to death that we have missed to pay attention to- the waking state, the dream state and the deep sleep state. "The world is a changing phenomena, an illusion." A spiritual comrade uttered in the course of a casual conversation. The conversation drifted to the three states of consciousness-the waking, dreaming and the deep sleep states. They are alternating phases. A little scrutiny, and we can understand about these three states, which we experience every day from birth to death. By the term "Real", we mean "Original", in the things that we encounter in our day to day life. We call "Original" because there is no change in them ever. So are the three states of consciousness, the waking state, where we engage in day to day activities; and the dream state, where we move about in our dreams with a different set o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Self-Reliant-Are We Really?

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya Self-Reliant-Are We Really?                            Self-reliance  would normally mean being reliant on work, wealth, intelligence, social strength, relationships etc. Are we really Self-reliant in the truest sense while basing our reliance on these? When one is reliant on the aforesaid aspects, one is indirectly reliant on the mind. They are based on intelligence and emotions which are thought forms which constitute the mind.  In all of these impermanence is engrained. Such reliance is simply attachment which causes pain when their life elapses, or when they fail, while monotony and discontent are unavoidable outcomes of a successful life at some point. The mind hunts for something new. We are reliant on them owing to the belief somewhere; deep down, that they are going to exist for ever. It is only on...
Post a Comment
Read more

Musings on 'Never Mind the Mind' of Ramana Maharshi

The only burden that we have is the mind. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi asks one to "Never mind the mind". This saying (Talks - 97) of Bhagavan Ramana is popular among devotees. The conversation between Bhagavan Ramana and the devotee goes thus: D.: How to control the mind?  M.: What is mind? Whose is the mind?  D.: Mind always wanders. I cannot control it.  M.: It is the nature of the mind to wander. You are not the mind. The mind springs up and sinks down. It is impermanent, transitory, whereas you are eternal. There is nothing but the Self. To inhere in the Self is the thing. Never mind the mind. If its source is sought, it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected. D.: So one need not seek to control the mind?  M.: There is no mind to control if you realise the Self. The mind vanishing, the Self shines forth. In the realised man the mind may be active or inactive, the Self alone remains for him. For the mind, the bod...
1 comment
Read more

The Illusory World When It Becomes a Reality!

Just a shift in our perception of ourselves can bring about a change in how we look at the world. The Illusory nature of the world can be understood by first-hand experience from our day to day life  of  the waking state, dream state and the deep sleep state, the three states in Consciousness. We actually perceive and experience the world through the mind. Our mind is nothing but a collection of thoughts, which have the ‘I thought’ as the primary thought. The ‘I thought’ is an impostor that springs from Consciousness donning the appearance of Consciousness, which is the REAL I. If but for the thoughts, there is no such thing called the mind, states Ramana Maharshi. In deep sleep, the mind is lost along with the world, but when we wake up, the individual self (identification with the body and the mind), or the ‘I thought’ rises after which we begin to experience the world for the day. When we view the world as the individual self or the ‘I thought’ in th...
Post a Comment
Read more