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What Is Consciousness?

10/24/2017

3 Comments

 
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Do you hear the word consciousness being used? I hear it a lot. It seems to be an almost overused word these days. Ever wonder what it means to be conscious? Beyond the surface level that is? It can be hard to put into words what consciousness actually is from a physical and spiritual perspective.

Consciousness is the state or quality of awareness. It refers to your  awareness of your thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, and the environment. Consciousness is an individual’s awareness of their own internal states, as well as the events going on around them. Your conscious experiences are constantly shifting and changing. Being conscious is also part of what allows us to exist and understand ourselves in the world. 
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On the surface, or physical level, consciousness is the ability to be awake and process information. Doctors determine if people are conscious or not depending on their wakefulness and how they respond to external stimuli. 

Do you consider yourself to be conscious? Beyond the medical definition that is? Are you aware of your own internal states, as well as the events going on around you? Sometimes I can be conscious, but I'm on auto-pilot and not operating consciously.

From a spiritual perspective, consciousness is all of those things mentioned, but also regarded as an evolving process. One from what might be considered a lower level state of consciousness, or awareness to a higher level or more evolved  state of consciousness, awareness, or awakeness. This is also referred to as spiritual ascension or spiritual awakening. 

Higher consciousness is an increasing awareness of your spiritual essence, the meaning of life and of the underlying spiritual nature in and of all things. It's elevating your awareness beyond your normal thought processes to your true nature.


Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says that, "Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness." He goes on to explain, "How do you know if this is the experience that you need? Because it's the experience that you are having." It's as simple and as complex as that. He suggests that we accept each moment as though you have chosen it for your evolution.

Eckhart Tolle believes that, "The most important thing is not what's happening out there, it's your own state of consciousness. what happens to you is much less important than how you respond to what happens. It's then that you are not at the mercy of what happens to you." He goes on to explain that our minds create all kinds of negative thoughts about our experience and that is what creates most of our suffering. 

There is much discussion in the spiritual community about raising our  individual consciousness and the collective consciousness. 
Collective consciousness is the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.

I believe the most important thing we can do for ourselves and the world we live in is to raise our level of spiritual consciousness. The more you are able to raise your level of consciousness, the more joyous, peaceful, and meaningful our experience of life becomes. The more we raise our level of spiritual consciousness, the more we change our mind, the more we change the world.

​In next week's post I will expand on the idea of a collective consciousness and how the challenges that we are currently facing in the world are a collective challenge with the intent to raise the consciousness of a large group of people all at once. 


I would love to hear your feedback on this post. Do you have your own definition for consciousness? Do you agree with Eckhart Tolle's viewpoint? What do you think about raising our level of consciousness? Please drop me a comment or send me an email. 
3 Comments
Katie
10/27/2017 07:59:12 am

I just listened to E.T. on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday podcast. I have been working (very hard) recently to try to think at a minimum about how to get to a better state of being fully conscious of my energy and behavior and to not let what happens to me in the outside world affect me as drastically as I may have in the past. It is certainly a journey but I feel incremental improvements. I haven't thought as much about consciousness specifically, but it resonated with me when I heard him say in the interview that at least if you are listening to this right now, you have an openness to a higher state of consciousness and I think that's a start!

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Tracy link
10/27/2017 08:17:05 am

Thank you for your feedback Katie. It certainly is a journey, a practice, and at times a big challenge. Small incremental change is powerful and keeps us moving (evolving) in the right direction. As full of wisdom as Eckhart Tolle is, he is not easy to listen to. If you got through that podcast you are open my friend :)

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Mário Costa
9/4/2024 12:21:50 pm

Quando voltamos ao "SER criança no CRISTO, somos atraídos ao estado mental e emocional original, após desvalidarmos as causas e efeitos dos falsos "eus", reconhecendo o estado de CONSCIÊNCIA primordial no canal do verdadeiro EU. Assim, nos tornamos MESTRES expressivos da Fonte do Nosso Ser, através da divina criatividade, no amor incondicional, e não mais, no canal do ego.
Reflexões sobre o livro: Cartas de Cristo

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