What is consciousness and in which forms can it appear?

[Siemens]

When I think about myself and ask who or what I am the answer is: I AM CONSCIOUSNESS!


But have you ever asked yourself what consciousness actually is? I continued thinking about the issue and realized that consciousness can realize itself through three forms, namely: Feelings, Perceptions, and Thoughts. All I ever experienced consciously was either a feeling, or a perception, or a complex of thoughts. I experienced the feeling of inner harmony; the perception of a colorful garden; or the thoughts about a diversity of subjects. It further seems to be the case that perceptions are just complex feelings. And thoughts are consciously experienced in form of perceptions.

By my understanding the soul is the thing that generates consciousness. And to approach the question: “What is consciousness?” one answer could be that a feeling (the first form of consciousness) appears if the soul vibrates in a certain frequency. Experiencing different feelings would mean to vibrate in different frequencies. If you would feel pain, for example, your soul would vibrate in a pain-frequency. If you would feel joy, your soul vibrates in another frequency, a joy-frequency.
A perception (the second form of consciousness) could be something were many feelings mix which each other to form a complex image. For example, only experiencing the color red and nothing else than red could be considered as a feeling. You feel the redness. If you feel many colors next to each other (like the pixels on a computer screen), then your experience would be a perception: you see a picture.
When, in turn, you are consciously experiencing thoughts, you experience them in a form similar to perception: You experience your thoughts in form of “hearing” your inner voice what is equivalent to hearing something with your ears. Or you see images, inner pictures, when you think, what is equivalent to visual perception.

So my question is: Can consciousness only exist in these three forms: feelings, perceptions, and thoughts (whereby perceptions are a complex of feelings and thoughts are experienced in form of inner perceptions)? Or are there other possible forms of consciousness we can experience (for example outside the material world) that are not feelings, not perceptions, and not thoughts? Have you ever consciously experienced something whereby the content of your conscious experience was neither feeling, nor perception, nor thought?

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Siemens

When I think about myself and ask who or what I am the answer is: I AM CONSCIOUSNESS!


But have you ever asked yourself what consciousness actually is? I continued thinking about the issue and realized that consciousness can realize itself through three forms, namely: Feelings, Perceptions, and Thoughts. All I ever experienced consciously was either a feeling, or a perception, or a complex of thoughts. I experienced the feeling of inner harmony; the perception of a colorful garden; or the thoughts about a diversity of subjects. It further seems to be the case that perceptions are just complex feelings. And thoughts are consciously experienced in form of perceptions.

By my understanding the soul is the thing that generates consciousness. And to approach the question: “What is consciousness?” one answer could be that a feeling (the first form of consciousness) appears if the soul vibrates in a certain frequency. Experiencing different feelings would mean to vibrate in different frequencies. If you would feel pain, for example, your soul would vibrate in a pain-frequency. If you would feel joy, your soul vibrates in another frequency, a joy-frequency.
A perception (the second form of consciousness) could be something were many feelings mix which each other to form a complex image. For example, only experiencing the color red and nothing else than red could be considered as a feeling. You feel the redness. If you feel many colors next to each other (like the pixels on a computer screen), then your experience would be a perception: you see a picture.
When, in turn, you are consciously experiencing thoughts, you experience them in a form similar to perception: You experience your thoughts in form of “hearing” your inner voice what is equivalent to hearing something with your ears. Or you see images, inner pictures, when you think, what is equivalent to visual perception.

So my question is: Can consciousness only exist in these three forms: feelings, perceptions, and thoughts (whereby perceptions are a complex of feelings and thoughts are experienced in form of inner perceptions)? Or are there other possible forms of consciousness we can experience (for example outside the material world) that are not feelings, not perceptions, and not thoughts? Have you ever consciously experienced something whereby the content of your conscious experience was neither feeling, nor perception, nor thought?

From a Buddhist perspective Buddha Nature has 3 aspects.

Emptiness, Clarity and Energy.

The definition of energy would be that all things in all dimensions are made up of energy.

All things are non dual.. you are one with it all.

Experiencing neither feeling, perception or thought would be emptiness. Emptiness is beyond or is not a thing.

[Unseeking Seeker]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

From a Buddhist perspective Buddha Nature has 3 aspects.

Emptiness, Clarity and Energy.

The definition of energy would be that all things in all dimensions are made up of energy.

All things are non dual.. you are one with it all.

Experiencing neither feeling, perception or thought would be emptiness. Emptiness is beyond or is not a thing.

***

To elaborate a bit please ...

Emptiness: disassociating from attachments, fears & desires makes us empty. Yet Divine presence of Love in colourations of joy, bliss, compassion and purity fills us. We are One with It. Is this emptiness?

Clarity: direct wisdom ... yet there seem to be layers and each manifestation appearing as reality becomes illusionary at a higher vibration. Is clarity then the knowing of non duality within duality for if not how is it that even in the Oneness experience or engagement in the vibrant void of nothingness we are dissolved in the stream and yet distinct?

Energy: vibration ... manifesting everything both seen and unseen

***

[Starman]

I subscribe to the premise that consciousness, as we know it, is a product of awareness,
and so we might ask what is awareness, and I would say that awareness is light; it is a
specialized refined energy. Light that allows us to see and be aware of ourselves.

Keeping in mind that human beings are also said to have a subconscious-ness, a sublime
consciousness that most are not aware of. Which begs the question that consciousness
can exist without awareness. There can be existence without one being aware that
they exist

Exist in and absolutely unconscious state. I think to understand consciousness we must
also try to understand unconsciousness. I feel consciousness exists separately from
awareness, but consciousness has the potential to develop awareness. Consciousness
has the ability to develop countless features.

Still, we refer to ourselves and identify ourselves in our own awareness. A growing
awareness gives us a greater perception. I feel like we are consciousness here on earth
growing a greater awareness of ourselves.

I am of the belief that everything is consciousness existing in various levels of awareness,
or we might even say self-awareness. That includes microbial life, vegetation, minerals,
insects, water, fire, animal life, including humans, the Earth, other planets, stars, etc.
Everything is consciousness but everything does not have the same awareness.

[Starman]

From the Hebrew Qabbalah, it is said that we have and automatic consciousness and a manuel consciousness.
The automatic consciousness is sublime while the manual consciousness is what we use during our waking hours.

The automatic consciousness develops patterns and works within those patterns, while our manual consciousness
can be transformed to give birth to all sorts of features. Our everyday waking consciousness is inductive and our
automatic sublime consciousness is deductive.

Our waking consciousness gives suggestions to our subconscious-ness and that determines its’ patterns of behavior.
These patterns are developed by our internal dialogue, and what we think, say, and do. The process of
self-transformation involves making ourselves conscious of what we may be doing unconsciously.

The Qabbalah has a lot of stuff on this, as I am sure other esoteric, metaphysical, spiritual, and mystical
writings do. But having worked in the medical and mental health fields myself, I try to find a connection between
science and metaphysics. I think Dr. Deepak Chopra, MD does and excellent job at doing some of this.

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

***

To elaborate a bit please ...

Emptiness: disassociating from attachments, fears & desires makes us empty. Yet Divine presence of Love in colourations of joy, bliss, compassion and purity fills us. We are One with It. Is this emptiness?

Clarity: direct wisdom ... yet there seem to be layers and each manifestation appearing as reality becomes illusionary at a higher vibration. Is clarity then the knowing of non duality within duality for if not how is it that even in the Oneness experience or engagement in the vibrant void of nothingness we are dissolved in the stream and yet distinct?

Energy: vibration ... manifesting everything both seen and unseen

***

Emptiness is the true nature of everything, think of it as infinite potential.

Clarity in one aspect is the pure thoughts without judgement. You see a flower. It is perfect as it is. Clarity is before the local mind steps in and says it is short, too big, I don't like that color or type of flower.

Energy, is everything, your form, the trees, the universe is all make up of energy. Vibration is just you feeling it, rather than being it.

Wisdom in Buddhism is direct realization of.

Yes, i would agree that we are all unique, each a unique drop that makes up the ocean. Some are deeper (Buddhas) and some are more at the top so to speak.

If you like Hinduism or more specifically Kashmir Shaivism. Here is a beautiful teaching from a true master.

The Heart of Siva

The Heart, says Abhinavagupta, is the very Self of Siva, of Bhairava,

and of the Devi, the Goddess who is inseparable from Siva. Indeed,

the Heart is the site of their union (yamala), of their embrace (samghatta).

This abode is pure consciousness (caitanya) as well as unlimited bliss

(ananda). As consciousness the Heart is the unbounded, infinite light

(prakasa) as well as the freedom (svatantrya) and spontaneity (vimarsa)

of that light to appear in a multitude and variety of forms. The Heart,

says Abhinavagupta, is the sacred fire-pit of Bhairava.1

The Heart is the Ultimate (anuttara) which is both utterly transcendent

to (visvottirna) and yet totally immanent in (visvamaya) all created things.

It is the ultimate essence (sara). Thus, the Heart embodies the paradoxical

nature of Siva and is therefore a place of astonishment (camatkara), sheer

wonder (vismaya), and ineffable mystery. The Heart is the fullness and

unboundedness of Siva (purnatva), the plenum of being that overflows

continuously into manifestation. At the same time, it is also an inconceivable

emptiness (sunyatisunya).2 The Heart is the unbounded and

universal Self (purnahanta).

The Heart of Siva is not a static or inert absolute, however. In fact,

the non-dual Kashmir Shaiva tradition considers it to be in a state of

perpetual movement, a state of vibration (spanda)3 in which it is continuously

contracting and expanding (samkoca-vikasa), opening and closing

(unmesa-nimesa), trembling (ullasita), quivering (sphurita), throbbing,

waving, and sparkling (ucchalata). The intensity and speed of this move

ment is such that paradoxically it is simultaneously a perfect dynamic

stillness.4

The tradition states that the Heart is the enormous ocean (ambunidhi),

the ocean of light, the ocean of consciousness. The waters of consciousness

that in man are broken by countless polarizing and divisive waves (urmi)

may be easily brought to a state of dynamic stillness by the process of

immersion or absorption (samdvesa) in the Heart.

[Unseeking Seeker]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

Emptiness is the true nature of everything, think of it as infinite potential.

Clarity in one aspect is the pure thoughts without judgement. You see a flower. It is perfect as it is. Clarity is before the local mind steps in and says it is short, too big, I don't like that color or type of flower.

Energy, is everything, your form, the trees, the universe is all make up of energy. Vibration is just you feeling it, rather than being it.

Wisdom in Buddhism is direct realization of.

Yes, i would agree that we are all unique, each a unique drop that makes up the ocean. Some are deeper (Buddhas) and some are more at the top so to speak.

If you like Hinduism or more specifically Kashmir Shaivism. Here is a beautiful teaching from a true master.

***

Thank you for the detailed response. The heart as centre resonates being consistent with the fusion within of energy polarities in an unending slow motion cool explosion similar to what Igor Kufayev stated in his video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYZ64RgjRo

As for emptiness, even in the vibrant void during the Oneness experience awareness is akin to fullness rather than emptiness unless what is meant by emptiness is formlessness.

***

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

***

Thank you for the detailed response. The heart as centre resonates being consistent with the fusion within of energy polarities in an unending slow motion cool explosion similar to what Igor Kufayev stated in his video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYZ64RgjRo

As for emptiness, even in the vibrant void during the Oneness experience awareness is akin to fullness rather than emptiness unless what is meant by emptiness is formlessness.

***

The cool explosion is more associated with kundalini, one is still feeling the energy rather than realizing one is that.

I am a big fan of referring to the male and female aspects as two poles.

Remember emptiness is more infinite potential and yes there is a fullness.

Mind sharing what you mean by formlessness?

Originally Posted by Siemens

When I think about myself and ask who or what I am the answer is: I AM CONSCIOUSNESS!


But have you ever asked yourself what consciousness actually is? I continued thinking about the issue and realized that consciousness can realize itself through three forms, namely: Feelings, Perceptions, and Thoughts. All I ever experienced consciously was either a feeling, or a perception, or a complex of thoughts. I experienced the feeling of inner harmony; the perception of a colorful garden; or the thoughts about a diversity of subjects. It further seems to be the case that perceptions are just complex feelings. And thoughts are consciously experienced in form of perceptions.

By my understanding the soul is the thing that generates consciousness. And to approach the question: “What is consciousness?” one answer could be that a feeling (the first form of consciousness) appears if the soul vibrates in a certain frequency. Experiencing different feelings would mean to vibrate in different frequencies. If you would feel pain, for example, your soul would vibrate in a pain-frequency. If you would feel joy, your soul vibrates in another frequency, a joy-frequency.
A perception (the second form of consciousness) could be something were many feelings mix which each other to form a complex image. For example, only experiencing the color red and nothing else than red could be considered as a feeling. You feel the redness. If you feel many colors next to each other (like the pixels on a computer screen), then your experience would be a perception: you see a picture.
When, in turn, you are consciously experiencing thoughts, you experience them in a form similar to perception: You experience your thoughts in form of “hearing” your inner voice what is equivalent to hearing something with your ears. Or you see images, inner pictures, when you think, what is equivalent to visual perception.

So my question is: Can consciousness only exist in these three forms: feelings, perceptions, and thoughts (whereby perceptions are a complex of feelings and thoughts are experienced in form of inner perceptions)? Or are there other possible forms of consciousness we can experience (for example outside the material world) that are not feelings, not perceptions, and not thoughts? Have you ever consciously experienced something whereby the content of your conscious experience was neither feeling, nor perception, nor thought?

One hears consciousness described in different ways. A common one is that we are awareness, and I suppose perception could be loosely substituted. Thoughts and feelings are things that we are aware of or that we perceive. I have always preferred a slightly different definition of consciousness or (me). "Consciousness is that which is aware", or perhaps that which perceives. However, this circles back to the original question. Namely, what is "that"? It seems to me that a direct definition of, or even an experience of, "that", evades me. We only know that we exist because there has to be something doing the perceiving, something being aware. Without something to perceive, whether it be form, thought, or emotion, or even formlessness, then we would lose the ability to be conscious of the fact that we exist. And then where are we? We infer our own existence from all of the things that we perceive within, but perhaps can never directly experience ourselves in their absence. Neti neti does not stop at awareness, rather the ink in the pen just runs out.
So sorry, not only can I not add anything to your list, but I am afraid I would probably take them all away and leave only a question behind. In the end, I am still stuck at "I am", and have not gotten any farther than that. But that is ok, like the block before the carver goes to work on it, there is much flexibility in what can be created from there, the possibilities are endless. I can do quite a lot starting with that.

[iamthat]

On a universal level we can say that Consciousness arises out of the combining of Spirit (purusha) and Matter (prakriti).

On an individual level we can say that we are pure Being which individualises as consciousness. When we incarnate, then consciousness extends itself into form. So we have consciousness being aware of mind (Thoughts), emotions (Feelings) and physical sensations (Perceptions).

If consciousness identifies with these thoughts, feelings and perceptions then we have a sense of "I". But consciousness is not the thoughts or the feelings or the perceptions. The fact that consciousness is aware of these things suggests that consciousness is separate from them.

If we turn our consciousness inwards then we discover that there is no "I". There is simply awareness. Our thoughts, feelings and perceptions arise within awareness and then disappear. But awareness remains.

Peace