Consciousness

In exploring consciousness, we are looking at a concept that is defined with clarity by the perennial philosophy and esotericism – but is one of confusion when looked at by conventional scientists and academics.

A brief summary of two ways of looking at our subject is as follows:

Conventional

Consciousness is seen as having three broad aspects:

Subconscious – the area where lurk the experiences that affect our day-to-day lives - but are not always available to our day-to-day awareness.

Day-to-day consciousness – the awareness in which we live our daily life.

Other aspects – the reality of intuition and the writer's 'muse' are accepted – but there is no clear definition of where these inspirations spring from.

Esoteric

Consciousness as seen by the ageless wisdom:

Lowest Self - where are be found dark thoughts and negative thinking.

Lower Self - working in the material world.

Often seen with three aspects:

The Physical body - awareness if bodily sensations.

The Vital body - feelings and thoughts.

The Mind body - working with practical every-day affairs.

Higher Self - the part of the mind that is able to access higher levels of consciousness – non-material levels. This part of the mind is always present, but can only be developed by following some form of spiritual practice.

In our Levels and Aspects pages we'll explore these themes in more detail.

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