Oakville Zen Meditation
What is consciousness? A Zen perspective
Historically and still up to now, many of our greatest minds in philosophy, sciences, theology, A.I, have tried to explain the origin and mechanism of human consciousness (see ref.). They end-up with hundreds of different theories and explanations proving that none of them is currently satisfactory. Explaining consciousness through conscious thinking is probably impossible, since again, consciousness is needed to analyse consciousness. The study of the subject – consciousness - cannot be part of the mean that is conscious analysis of consciousness.
Einstein understood this "chicken and egg" challenge:
“No problem can be solved from the same levels of consciousness: one which created it and the other one trying to solve it.”
Or, in simple terms, one cannot see her/his own eyes, without a mirror. It is interesting to know that primitive living beings such as tiny jellyfish and mono cellular organisms don’t have an anatomic brain in its histological definition but express awareness.
Theories about consciousness:
At one neuro-scientific extreme, consciousness is simply the result of brain activities. It is material.
At the other extreme, consciousness is “something” which cannot be comprehended.
Maybe consciousness is both in different spacetimes.
An immaterial, timeless, limitless, collective entity which incarnates (literally being meat or becomes material ), and reveales itself in all individual living beings for the purpose of 1) functioning physically and mentally, experiencing current realities of the moment, and interacting with its environment. At death, consciousness dematerializes. The analogy will be the following: consciousness is like WIFI, being immaterial energy before becoming material in the multiple forms of applications that we find on our cell phones, TV, and other IT receivers.
It looks like consciousness is immaterial and comes to life in a material form.
Being conscious is to be aware, to pay attention, to interact with x, y, z.
Awareness has 2 components:
1 Cognitive awareness of our body-mind activities, and surroundings including events and people. This type of awareness implies thinking, feeling,judgment, and decision.
2 Non cognitive awareness or thoughtless awareness or paying attention to x,y,z, in a mindfulness way: no analysis, no judgment,no decision on In other words: interacting with x, y,z as they are, w/o purpose but just being one with the object.
This is being conscious the Zen way or practicing thoughtless awareness.
It defines the purest state of Being when the mind ie. thought and feeling has no grasp.
Controlling our mind is discovering serenity.
Here is a final quote:
“ We are part of the universal consciousness and our individual life is the means by which this consciousness is revealing itself by interacting with others, self, and our environment”
M. Gandhi.
Ref:
Www. consciousness.arizona.edu/
