Volume 3 number 10, November/December 2001 Living Conscious of Your Consciousness As part of my never-ending quest to better understand the world around me I have uncovered mysteries and knowledge that has completely changed my understanding of reality. We are so fortunate as humans to have the power of reality forming consciousness, and yet in general we are ignorant of what that truly means and how great a power it is. The most defining characteristic of our existence, our consciousness is itself the most difficult thing to describe. What consciousness is taken to be is partly a matter of arbitrary definition. The term "consciousness" is synonymous with "awareness" or "conscious awareness" (sometimes "phenomenal awareness"). The "contents of consciousness" encompass all that we are conscious of, aware of, or experience. These include not only experiences that we commonly associate with ourselves, such as thoughts, feelings, images, dreams, body experiences and so on, but also the experienced three-dimensional world (the phenomenal world) beyond the body surface. Physicists and shamans are now using almost identical metaphors to describe the world, both saying that everything is made out of energy and recognizing that this energy interconnects all things. A common view in shamanic cultures is that all things are swirls of energy, vortexes of moving forces. This is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, and echoed in indigenous worldviews around the globe. Yaqui Indian shaman Don Juan explains this idea to Carlos Castaneda in Tales of Power: "We are perceivers. We are an awareness; we are not objects; we have no solidity. We are boundless. The world of objects is only a description that was created to help us." Hawaiian kahunas say that everything in the universe is infinitely interconnected and that this interconnectivity can almost be thought of as a web. Shamans, recognizing the interconnectedness of all things, can see themselves at the center of that web and can affect every other part of the universe. Modern physicists have provided proof for some of these insights. They too have discovered a universally connected sea of energy underlying what our perception calls reality. After breaking matter into smaller and smaller pieces, physicists discovered that the smallest pieces of creation, electrons, protons, neutrons, anomalons and the like, no longer possess the traits of objects. They are ephemeral energies coalescing in space and they literally possess no dimension. These forces exist as waves spread out over space and yet they appear as particles when observed by scientists. In fact, there is compelling evidence that the only time that these quanta ever manifest as particles is when we are looking at them. If subatomic particles only come into existence when observed, points out Danish physicist Niels Bohr, then it is meaningless to speak of a particle’s properties and characteristics as existing before they are observed. Experiments revealed some intriguing properties of matter at this level of nonexistence. At the quantum level, there is a strange state of interconnectedness that seems to exist between unrelated subatomic events. Since most physicists resist the idea of anything being able to travel faster than light, the instantaneous communication across regions of space observed at this level can only be explained by the possibility of a smaller level of existence. They call it the quantum potential. At this subquantum level location ceases to exist. Every point contains all the information of all other points, making all points equal. To speak of separation or individuality is meaningless, every place is the same as every other, and all information is shared. This property is called "nonlocality". Since the quantum potential permeates all of space, all particles are nonlocally interconnected. At the deepest levels everything shares a common condition. The space in between matter contains as much of this galactic information as matter itself. The space that contains the particles scientists observe is as real and full of processes as the matter moving through it. Matter does not exist separately from surrounding space; it is part of the surrounding space. Space is not an empty vacuum; it is filled with energy. Every cubic centimeter of empty space contains more energy than the total energy of all the matter in the known universe. It is our conscious decision to view ourselves, our homes, and our possessions as containing more matter than the air around them, but if judged by energy volume instead of ordinary mass it is fair to say that the air contains as much, if not more, of the essence of matter than we do. The tangible reality of our everyday lives is an illusion. The table and chair is no more separate from each other or the room around them then we are from our hearts or livers. Everything is swimming in the same subquantum sea, manifesting into form and fading away again in endless cycles we have yet to fully understand. Quantum particles are not individual things, rather they are manifestations of the totality of space. When you look around at the objects around you, you are not only looking at things made up from the same materials as you, you are actually just parts of the same thing. To accept these ideas is to realize that human potential is far greater than often considered to be. Everyone contains in themselves the entirety of the universe, all that has passed, and that will be. Our waking, conscious mind is usually to preoccupied to recognize its connection to the rest of the universe, but the mind can be trained to open up to new experiences. The greatest implication of how much power our consciousness has is its ability to create reality. In the same way that the observation of a scientist causes an electron to manifest out of the quantum potential, our consciousness manifests all that it sees in the surrounding space. Everything we see is a holographic unfolding of the sea of energy that surrounds us. Imagination becomes reality because on some level the result of that thought has manifested in the universal energy that permeates and connects all things. Turning thoughts into reality is one of the most rewarding aspects of our lives. We nurture thousands of thoughts in our minds, sometimes spinning them into dreams and fantasies, and sometimes spinning them into dreams and fantasies, and sometimes forging them into plans and intentions that eventually take root and grow and become real. We have all experienced the joy of a dream or goal working out. Our lives bring serendipity and coincidence that lead to the attainment of goals. This is not chance. It is the view of many cultures and traditions that everything that has manifested in the material world had its origins in the spirit or energy world. Our consciousness is part of that world. No autopsy has ever revealed the location of the soul, or emotions, or memories, those energy patterns exist as the singularity that is you in the vast sea of energy that encompasses the universe. Our brain is an interface between our body and our consciousness. We all play a part in creation. There are levels of our soul that are fully a part of the inter-connected sea of energy. Our thoughts, our dreams, our inspirations vibrate to the extent of the universe. When you focus an idea in your mind and hold it there it will happen. You have actually created that thing in the energy world—and as above so below—anything formed in the spirit world will come to exist on the physical plane. That power is within you in conjunction with the universe. Everyone realizes that their actions have consequences but seldom do they realize that so too do their thoughts and dreams and emotions. When you smile, when you love, when you are happy, you are bringing positive energy into the world. You are actually creating love and happiness in the universe. The same is true for hate, and anger, and fear—and we all know and have experienced the results of those emotions. Be conscious of the impact you have on the world and the people around you. Be aware of the connection between you and the universe. Acknowledge and use your capability to create reality. Believe in the true power of your dreams. This is what it means to live conscious of your consciousness. | ||
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