Consciousness (in Hinduism)
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States of consciousness
The Times of India, May 12 2016
V N Mittal
Is the mind capable of perceiving the relationship between self and environment without consciousness and being aware of the inner being? The process of inner awakening enables us to shed negative thoughts, beliefs and ideas and unreal concepts. The inner awakening process uncovers the inherent spirit by removing the veil of ego. In fact, we are here to evolve and raise our consciousness to a higher level celebrate life and make other's life happy with whatever means we have at our command.
As we try to raise our consciousness, it becomes universal and awakens to universal truths, putting us on the path of spirituality . Devoid of qualities like the ability for perception, self-awareness, sentience and sapience, our spiritual growth is scuttled. So the quality of consciousness is indispensable for a harmonious life for everyone free of tension, fear and anxiety to improve quality of life.
Consciousness is a state of awareness of being aware of an external object or something within oneself. In the Bhagwad Gita, chapter 13 is devoted to Prakiriti, Nature, Bhogta, the enjoyer and Chetna, Consciousness, that enables us to understand the difference between the body , the owner of the body, and the super soul.
You can understand that the body is matter, gross manifestation, with its 24 elements. The mind and psychological effects are subtle manifestations. Over and above this, there is soul and super soul two different entities.The material world is working with the conjunction of soul and 24 material elements. If you can comprehend the constitution of the whole material manifestation as a combination of soul and matter and visualise the super soul you become eligible to enter the spiritual world.
It is difficult to assess the level of consciousness in a person. However, researchers have now, come up with a method that uses the brain's response to magnetic stimulation to judge a person's awareness, reducing it to a numerical score they call an index of consciousness.There are two types of consciousness: Chaitnya, pure spiritual consciousness and Chetna, the materially contaminated consciousness. Philosophers seem to divide consciousness into `phenomenal conscious ness' which is experience and `access consciousness' which is processing of the experience.
Many cultures place the seat of consciousness in a soul separate from the body .
Scientists link it to neural function of the brain, the way the world is experienced. Freud says. “Properly speaking, the e is the real psychic: its inner universe is the real psychic: its inner nature is just as unknown to us as the reality of the external world and it is as imperfectly reported to us through the data of consciousness as is the external world through the indications of our sensory organs.“
Consciousness can be raised in more ways than one. It is simply the process of shedding our load of baggage and lightening up in order for us to move freely as light beings. Tantric literature is replete with references to the subtleties of levels of consciousness and their relationship to the physiological vital energy centres within the body . Tantras also explain how, by manipulating various physiological factors through specific meditative yogic practices, one can bring about various states of consciousness. Reiki, `the art of tapping universal life force energy' is found to be quite effective in manipulating vital energy centres in the body known as chakras, for holistic healing and tuning of the soul. The moment your body , mind and consciousness begin to dance in togetherness, you begin to experience harmony and the divine.
