The Riddle of Consciousness
TvF:
"Summary of the Essential Principles of the Science of Consciousness.
1. Consciousness is the formless, invisible, field of energy of infinite dimension and potentiality, the substrate of all existence, independent of time, space or location, of which it is independednt yet all inclusive and all present."
Let's look at the statements made in this quote:
A. Consciousness is all.
B. Existence has consciousness as it's substrate.
C. Consciousness has two relations to existence:
Firstly, consciousness is totally independent of it.
Secondly, consciousness includes all existence from within existence itself.
The total completeness, and the total separateness of consciousness in relation to existence is what strikes me here. In reflecting on this statement I am also struck by the riddle of consciousness, as expressed thus:
"The end point of intellectual investigation arrives at the obvious conclusion that the mind and the intellect are each inherently defective and therefore incapable of arriving at absolute truth."
The riddle for me arises as I investigate this. If I compare my mind at my present age to my mind when I was a child, clearly it was different, and the awareness of it was the same. So the mind is existence and the awareness of it is consciousness.
But it was precisely the failure of the mind to comprehend absolute truth (among many other conditions) that has brought me to spirituality! Without this mind, I would not be seeking to comprehend consciousness.
So I return my mind to another quote, which tells me that I cannot simply expect truth to reveal itself. "The field of consciousness exists independently of humanity, yet is included within it." It is not a given that, just because I am capable of knowing about truth, that I am capable of knowing truth as I am.
The condition of awareness is altered by intention and taking non-attached responsibility for what arises in the field of consciousness. The riddle of consciousness is that what one is, one is by virtue of choice, intention, and perceived limits.
"Summary of the Essential Principles of the Science of Consciousness.
1. Consciousness is the formless, invisible, field of energy of infinite dimension and potentiality, the substrate of all existence, independent of time, space or location, of which it is independednt yet all inclusive and all present."
Let's look at the statements made in this quote:
A. Consciousness is all.
B. Existence has consciousness as it's substrate.
C. Consciousness has two relations to existence:
Firstly, consciousness is totally independent of it.
Secondly, consciousness includes all existence from within existence itself.
The total completeness, and the total separateness of consciousness in relation to existence is what strikes me here. In reflecting on this statement I am also struck by the riddle of consciousness, as expressed thus:
"The end point of intellectual investigation arrives at the obvious conclusion that the mind and the intellect are each inherently defective and therefore incapable of arriving at absolute truth."
The riddle for me arises as I investigate this. If I compare my mind at my present age to my mind when I was a child, clearly it was different, and the awareness of it was the same. So the mind is existence and the awareness of it is consciousness.
But it was precisely the failure of the mind to comprehend absolute truth (among many other conditions) that has brought me to spirituality! Without this mind, I would not be seeking to comprehend consciousness.
So I return my mind to another quote, which tells me that I cannot simply expect truth to reveal itself. "The field of consciousness exists independently of humanity, yet is included within it." It is not a given that, just because I am capable of knowing about truth, that I am capable of knowing truth as I am.
The condition of awareness is altered by intention and taking non-attached responsibility for what arises in the field of consciousness. The riddle of consciousness is that what one is, one is by virtue of choice, intention, and perceived limits.
posted by gaiawriter at Friday, October 14, 2005
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