|
consciousness
Consciousness is defined as: spirit
animating matter
apperception of
personal presence
state or condition of
being conscious
awareness of, and, or
sensitivity to
surroundings
Consciousness
has always seemed to be separate from the physical animal body because
when life leaves the body
consciousness leaves the body as well.
Consciousness is, in fact,
the Force that motivates Life.
Consciousness and intelligence
are not synonymous.
A computer is intelligence,
it is not conscious.
An ant is conscious, it is not
intelligence.
Intelligence is a cumulative process
of discernment and
judgement.
Evolution of
Consciousness
According to the
Puranas, the consciousness of human beings evolves through four stages, each
lasting thousands of years.
Humans, as a species, have been to
transitioning from a lower forms of
conscious
awareness into a higher form of conscious awareness since the beginning of
the Axial Age when
Siddhartha Gautama
acheived Nirvana.
Those transitioning find themselves to be
separated from experience -
an observer experiencing
events and objects
standing outside of self.
The moment we see self as
The Observer we naturally attempt to
re-engage presence-of-moment
reality to
become intimately re-involved with reality.
The Gap,
between observing reality and
immersion within
reality, is an artificial division
cleaved by the Rational Mind.
In non-dualistic awareness there is no
such gap; there is
only intimate being, an opening
to and participation in what is.
This is
participatory awareness and
living in the moment.
This is being
"Integrally Conscious."
"Integrally Conscious" is living in the moment in
participatory
awareness.
To be Integrally Conscious is to be
Walking the Thinspace.
Walking the Thinspace is living both as
the "observer" and as the
"actor" - a joining of the
Rational, that vast storehouse of bodily
memory gained through life experience, with the Mystical,
abstract intellectual
knowledge learned through symbol systems of communication.
Different cultures have come up with different terms for
Living Lucidly.
True Liberation or integral consciousness carries with it
many terms including Nirvana,
quantum consciousness,
fully awakened,
participatory awareness,
Christ consciousness and
Buddha
consciousness.
Contemporary
neurological research has discovered distinct brainwave patterns that parallel each of the
states of consciousness identified.
To understand the multilple levels of
human consciousness Jean Gebser identified five progressive stages in the
evolution of human consciousness; archaic,
magical, mythical, rational
and integral consciousness.
These five progressive states of
consciousness may be experienced by each and every human being but to do so one
must jettison cultural conditioning.
In an
archaic consciousness mode
humans experience themselves as one with nature and with all of life in a form
of Unity
Consciousness.
In archaic consciousness there is neither subject nor
object.
In this state consciousness is not aware of itself.
As consciousness continues to evolve humans start to
become conscious of
distinctions, such as male and female,
good and evil, and
inside and outside -
a consciousness of magical
duality allows differentiation.
Eating from
the tree of knowledge of good and
evil is a metaphorical way of saying that our earliest ancestors began to
develop a consciousness that recognized polarities - duality.
They could no longer maintain their
initial state of union with the Creator.
This is further symbolized by their
leaving the Garden of Eden.
This
step in the evolution of consciousness allows humans to begin to gain mastery
over the polarized world of duality that they now experience.
"In
this magic structure, man makes the almost
superhuman attempt to free
himself from the
jungle-like bonds and spell of his fusion with nature. Here lies the basis
of all sorcery and magic - rainmaking,
ritual, and
countless other forms by which
magic man tries to cope with
nature". - Jean Gebser
Millennium later
mythical consciousness gradually
emerged.
Humans, discovering the depth of their internal world
elaborated on and shared their
new awareness through the telling of myths.
The age of mythmaking
arose simultaneously in various parts of the world.
Myriad myths such as
the Ramayana and Mahabharata in India, the
myths of ancient Greek
civilization, and the myths passed on in all indigenous cultures revealed
the nature of the soul and its journey.
Mythical consciousness no longer
prevails, nevertheless, it still influences.
Each new mode of
consciousness overlays its predecessor.
The older structures still live
within the current structure, just as older parts of the brain continue to play
an important role even after the development of the frontal cortex.
Archaic, magical, and mythical forms of consciousness
influence us today although they have become overlaid with a fourth structure
of consciousness that has been emerging for millennium,
rational
dissociation.
Rational consciousness,
focused on measure and logic,
objectifies
reality.
Rational
dissociation slices reality into three disparate parts;
subject is detached from object,
humans from nature and
from one another.
We alienate ourselves from that which
we objectify.
But rational concentration
has come at a great cost.
Since the eighteenth century
Age
of Enlightenment, there has been an excessive reliance on reason at the
expense of other ways of experiencing life.
"Faith in reason has led to
a fragmentation of the
individual, a devaluing of the body and of feeling, to a complete negation
of all structures of consciousness other than the rational." - Allan
Ajaya
When we live solely
in the rational we lose our experience of
participation in the
numinous, which
the mythical form
of consciousness brought forth.
In rational
dissociation the mythic
structure residing in the subconscious functions as the
collective
subconscious affecting us through dreams and
metaphors rather than having
a central place in our
conscious life.
At
the height of human
rationality the effect of earlier modes of consciousness were denied,
however, since Carl Jung
showed us who we really are,
depth psychology has revealed the enormous influence
magical and mythical
conscious structures still have in our everyday lives.
This
recognition signals a shift out of
dissociated rationality to a
more inclusive awareness.
Each consciousness structure
gradually evolves over millennia.
That which is observed is now
experienced as an object.
The
seat of observation, the mind, is now identified as "I'.
The object is seen as
separate from oneself, to be manipulated for ones ends.
This
approach to life is epitomized
by the engineer, who attempts
to shape and dominate
reality with calculations, and
attempts to engineer our
lives.
The observer focuses on the
object rather than on the observing.
This attention on the object
leads to the notion of objectivity.
One forgets that his is one
of many perspectives.
He believes his perspective
is the true way of seeing - he is being objective.
Identification of ones own perspective
with the shared perspective of society leads to the disdain of other
viewpoints.
Objectification of reality,
a technique, made possible the art of science.
During the last century
physicists dismantled the notion of objectivity.
That which is observed is affected by
the very act of observing, rather than being independent of
it.
Those operating in lower modes of consciousness can not
understand the operants of higher modes of consciousness.
The way that
we experience reality changes dramatically depending on which structure of
consciousness predominates.
The rational self lives in chronic
dissatisfaction looking for solutions to problems it has devised to make life
easier or better for itself.
A new form of consciousness
has been emerging since the beginning of the Axial
Age that goes beyond rational dissociation.
The previous structures
of consciousness were exclusive; functioning in one mode, you could not
simultaneously experience other forms of consciousness.
Newly emerging
aperspective or integral consciousness, as Gebser called it, encompasses
awareness of the operation of previous forms of consciousness.
According to the ancient
traditions of India, consciousness is self existent.
It does not arise out of or depend on
anything outside of itself such as time.
It is not evolving; it has
always existed and is inherently complete.
It is the capacity of
the human being to function from this form of consciousness that is evolving.
The writings of contemporary developmental
psychologists suggest the way consciousness develops in each person from
infancy through adulthood recapitulates the way consciousness has collectively
evolved.
Margaret Mahler, a British
psychoanalyst, has described an initial stage in which the infant experiences a
sense of oneness similar to that of the archaic consciousness.
The developmental psychologist, Jean Piaget, found
that magical thinking
develops between ages two and four.
Piaget concluded that the
culmination of cognitive development in contemporary society occurs in
adolescence with the
acquisition of abstract reasoning, which he called "formal operations."
This corresponds to rational consciousness as defined by Gebser.
Recently cognitive theorists have extended Piaget's
model of human development and have described
a further stage in the development
of consciousness, beyond abstract reasoning.
The evolution of the
stages of consciousness described by Gebser is also reflected in the way that
spiritual practices have changed over time.
The rituals of the early
Vedas and Tantric practices appeared the earliest.
These are both
expressions of the magical structure of consciousness.
Followers of these traditions use ritualistic magic to
gain mastery over the natural and supernatural world as well as to burn through
the world of appearance and merge with
the source of
manifestation.
The Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas, which bring
into play mythological stories that help the listener to experience his true
essence as well as how to conduct himself
in the world in harmony with his divine nature, came much later.
The historical periods of evolving
human
consciousness have lead to the development of unique practices in each
period.
Each of these
approaches has the potential to lead to an awakening out of that mode of
consciousness.
It would be incorrect to assume that practices that
arose in one era are inferior or superior to those of another era.
The
practices that emerge from
a particular structure
of human conscious can have a range of effects including
the transcendence of the ego
identity.
The progression of humans through successive
consciousness structures is a means of developing reflective integral
consciousness.
It
allows reflection on existence in distinct and comprehensive ways.
Consciousness becomes progressively more
conscious of itself.
Consciousness finally arrives at recognition of
itself in infinite forms and
expressions as well as the
formless and unnamable.
As consciousness evolves through archaic,
magical, mythical, and rational structures, it becomes increasingly able to
marvel at itself and this existence.
Integration of these modes of
consciousness into waking awareness allows reflection on the
awe inspiring manifestation
and its source.
Whereas we know conscious thought
occurs
in all higher animals,
frequency is debatable.
 |
|
 |
This web site is not a commercial web site and
is presented for educational purposes only.
This website defines a
new perspective with which to engage reality to which its author adheres. The
author feels that the falsification of reality outside personal experience has
forged a populace unable to discern propaganda from reality and that this has
been done purposefully by an international corporate cartel through their
agents who wish to foist a corrupt version of reality on the human race.
Religious intolerance occurs when any group refuses to tolerate religious
practices, religious beliefs or persons due to their religious ideology. This
web site marks the founding of a system of philosophy named The Truth of the
Way of the Lumière Infinie - a rational
gnostic mystery
religion based on reason which requires no leap of faith, accepts no
tithes, has no supreme leader, no church buildings and in which each and every
individual is encouraged to develop a personal relation with the Creator and
Sustainer through the pursuit of the knowledge
of reality in the hope of curing the spiritual corruption that has
enveloped the human spirit. The tenets of The Truth of the Way of the
Lumière Infinie are spelled out in detail on this web site by the
author. Violent acts against individuals due to their religious beliefs in
America is considered a "hate crime."
This web site in no way condones
violence. To the contrary the intent here is to reduce the violence that is
already occurring due to the international corporate cartels desire to control
the human race. The international corporate cartel already controls the world
economic system, corporate media worldwide, the global industrial military
entertainment complex of America and is responsible for the collapse of morals,
the elevation of self-centered behavior and the destruction of global
ecosystems. Civilization is based on coöperation. Coöperation does
not occur at the point of a gun.
American social mores and values have
declined precipitously over the last century as the corrupt international
cartel has garnered more and more power. This power rests in the ability to
deceive the populace in general through corporate media by pressing emotional
buttons which have been preprogrammed into the population through prior
corporate media psychological operations. The results have been the destruction
of the family and the destruction of social structures that do not adhere to
the corrupt international elites vision of
a perfect world. Through
distraction and coercion the direction of thought of the bulk of the population
has been directed toward solutions proposed by the corrupt international elite
that further consolidates their power and which further their purposes.
All views and opinions presented on this web site are the views and
opinions of individual human men and women that, through their writings, showed
the capacity for intelligent, reasonable, rational, insightful and unpopular
thought. All factual information presented on this web site is believed to be
true and accurate and is presented as originally presented in print media which
may or may not have originally presented the facts truthfully. Opinion and
thoughts have been adapted, edited, corrected, redacted, combined, added to,
re-edited and re-corrected as nearly all opinion and thought has been
throughout time but has been done so in the spirit of the original writer with
the intent of making his or her thoughts and opinions clearer and relevant to
the reader in the present time.
Fair Use Notice
This site may contain
copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically
authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our
efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, human rights, political,
economic, democratic, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe
this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for
in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for
research and educational purposes. For more information see:
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted
material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
 Copyright
© Lawrence Turner
All Rights Reserved
|