Unconsciousness vs. Death

When I've had surgeries in the past and have been put under (anesthesia), I've always experienced...nothingness. I blink, and I come back (we hope).

It always made me question how this experience related to death -- if there's nothing when I'm unconscious, will death be the same?

I always kind of put it aside because - well - there was medication blocking things in my brain and who knows how that interferes with the "experience."

And then, last night, I was injured and my blood pressure dropped very low...and I passed out (briefly). Again. Nothingness... and now I'm really just questioning this idea that there's ANYthing after death because, well, whenever I lose consciousness, there's nothing...

Has anyone else investigated this further?

[kris]

I have thought about it. I have gone under the knife twice. Each time I wondered about the time when I did not exist or did not know that I existed. But then when I am in deep sleep, I don't know that I exist either. I think that there are important lessons to be learned here.

Upanishads describe four states of consciousness:
(1) waking state
(2) dream sleep
(3) deep sleep
(4) turya or the fourth (state).

In the first state, we are aware of ourselves and of the objective world around us. In the second state, we are aware of ourselves, but we are experiencing a different state of reality that is unique to the dreamer only. In the third state, we are aware of neither ourselves nor anything else. This is most like being under anesthesia. In the fourth state, we are said to be in extraordinary state of consciousness that solves the riddle of existence.

My take away from this is that something about us continues even when we are not conscious. This something must then be important for it reconnects us after regaining consciousness to who we were when we lost it, albeit temporarily. This something is what the Upanishads have called karma. Losing consciousness is no way to escape karma and neither is death.

[amylou]

I don't think we are unconscious when we die. In our human body we lose consciousness only because we are not aware enough to remember. Our brain doesn't have the capacity to.But it's very possible to change that and become conscious during times when we are supposed to be unconscious. People have become conscious during surgery and saw what the surgeon was doing and even explained what they saw (during OBE) while in surgery.

People can unlock this by meditating more. So the more you meditate, the more you tend to become conscious when normal people are unconscious, so you start to lucid dream (having higher awareness in a dream), astral project, OBE all because you have a higher level of consciousness during the sleep state.

I think death is awakening to full consciousness. Our consciousness is always existing. It's whether or not we (our brain) remembers. Are we still conscious when we dream and then forget the dream? Yes. We just don't have the capacity to remember it yet, but it can be developed. So it's our human brain that is flawed, not the consciousness. Your consciousness was aware when you passed out, but you didn't retain the memory of what went on. Someone I was listening to said it best I think. She had an NDE and she said coming out of the body when you die is like waking up from a really long nightmare. To live this life on Earth is to sleep and to die is actually to live again. You are awakened to everything. She said it was like that feeling of first waking up when you are groggy and then you start to remember everything.

[Arcturus]

i've had consciousness outside of my body before. i could see in all directions at once, most peculiar. my guess is that if you had passed over, sooner or later, if not immediately, you'd awaken apart from the body. i'd imagine it would be an altered consciousnesss to what you're used to. can you even "think" as we know it now, without a brain? the complete ending of everything you know. big stuff, massive

[Eternal Paradox]

Just because you are unconscious doesn't mean there is nothing. When you sleep it often feels as nothing even though we supposedly dream every night.

[sandalwood]

through growth of consciousness, you can be conscious during deep sleep and similar 'off' states. and the ultimate goal, being conscious during the transition into death.

In the second state, we are aware of ourselves, but we are experiencing a different state of reality that is unique to the dreamer only.

[mogenblue]

If there is nothing at all after death, then why are you conscious of yourself right now?

Consciousness is an attribute of the soul that took a very long time to develop.
In our evolution from when we were created as a Divine Spark of God until we reunite consciously with God, developing consciousness is one of many milestones.

Millions of years have passed before you became conscious of yourself.
Your soul is very, very old.
And it will still take many millions of years before you will reunite with God consciously.
There is still very much to learn.

When you move on to higher planes of life you will remove all darkness from your soul. So in a matter of a number of thousands of years there will be no more darkness in your soul anymore. That means you will experience no more unconsciousness by then.
By that time you will have developed yourself into a King of Love.
Do you believe that? Are you willing to work in that direction?

I love this topic. A few months ago I was struggling with the same idea. For me, I just needed to reconnect with my spiritual self to remember we are more than just this body. My ego is what felt frightened of the notion, and my ego isn't actually me.