what does it mean for consciousness to be fundamental?

Originally Posted by django

I don’t think we should devalue local consciousness

I'm not devaluing it. What I'm saying is there is no ordinary (local) consciousness. That what's perceived as ordinary/local consciousness is in fact Extraordinary non-local Consciousness or what you label Superconsciousness.

In other words there's nothing special to be done except to Realize this. No need to expand or attain something. It's already right here. Of course the trick is to get mind out of the way in order to facilitate Realization and that's the hard part.

[django]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

I'm not devaluing it. What I'm saying is there is no ordinary (local) consciousness. That what's perceived as ordinary/local consciousness is in fact Extraordinary non-local Consciousness or what you label Superconsciousness.

In other words there's nothing special to be done except to Realize this. No need to expand or attain something. It's already right here. Of course the trick is to get mind out of the way in order to facilitate Realization and that's the hard part.

I imagine the thing that does need to be done is to express this superconsciousness in our conscious minds, to realize it mentally without actualizing it seems empty to me.

In other words, if I can’t translocate, if I’m not clairvoyant, Clairaudient, and all the other clairs, if I can’t heal miraculously, then I have not succeeded in actualizing superconsciousness.

Originally Posted by django

I imagine the thing that does need to be done is to express this superconsciousness in our conscious minds, to realize it mentally without actualizing it seems empty to me.

In the Eastern traditions and especially the non-dual traditions any extraordinary powers are merely a byproduct and not the goal. The goal is Realization and liberation from suffering and pursuing the byproducts is a distraction. Why? Because the byproducts are of mind and body and transient whereas Realization and liberation are eternal and without limit. The point is to transcend the limited, not to desire, pursue and attach to that which is transient. In essence that's no different than the pursuit of name, fame, wealth, power, etc... and that is at the root of all suffering.

[django]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

In the Eastern traditions and especially the non-dual traditions any extraordinary powers are merely a byproduct and not the goal. The goal is Realization and liberation from suffering and pursuing the byproducts is a distraction. Why? Because the byproducts are of mind and body and transient whereas Realization and liberation are eternal and without limit. The point is to transcend the limited, not to desire, pursue and attach to that which is transient. In essence that's no different than the pursuit of name, fame, wealth, power, etc... and that is at the root of all suffering.

This is the devaluing of earth level stuff that I don’t like. Extraordinary powers are byproducts of spiritual development, but without these byproducts there has been no authentic spiritual development. They remain as a proof, non-dual traditions have merely found a way to avoid the need to have these proofs.

If I could heal someone who was suffering physically, is this merely a useless byproduct, or a really useful skill for people with physical health problems? If I could see the state of someone’s energy body, is this a useless byproduct or actually helpful for someone to know what they need to work on?

[veritliber]

Originally Posted by traceyacey12

what does it mean for consciousness to be fundamental
thanks in advance for your help :)

This phrase means to me that everything is built on top of consciousness.

[Miss Hepburn]

adjective: fundamental
forming a necessary base or core; of central importance.

If consciousness is 'core'...sounds like consciousness would be at the core of All That Is!
(The rock, the air, the whole enchilada) Still is best to experience it personally, tho.

Originally Posted by django

In other words, if I can’t translocate, if I’m not clairvoyant, Clairaudient, and all the other clairs, if I can’t heal miraculously, then I have not succeeded in actualizing superconsciousness.

Where do you get that from? I'm clairsentient with a high degree of intuition and I don't consider myself to have any kind of superconscious. If you go into the mediumship forum I'd guess that they would tell you the same thing.

Originally Posted by django

This is the devaluing of earth level stuff that I don’t like. Extraordinary powers are byproducts of spiritual development, but without these byproducts there has been no authentic spiritual development.

There are psychological reasons the earth level stuff has been devalued, and it's usually either denial or to give the non-earth stuff value. And I had some 'extraordinary powers' as a child, even before I knew there was such a thing as Spirituality.

Originally Posted by django

If I could see the state of someone’s energy body, is this a useless byproduct or actually helpful for someone to know what they need to work on?

It's how you perceive it that makes you more or less Spiritually developed and frankly, I have a question mark as the what Spiritual development really is. Using your healing skills for the good of others, in my book, makes you more Spiritual and less self-centred

Originally Posted by veritliber

This phrase means to me that everything is built on top of consciousness.

Everything is a manifestation of consciousness and specifically, everything that you express is a manifestation of your conscious. You used the words 'built on top of', that tells you something about your consciousness.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

adjective: fundamental
forming a necessary base or core; of central importance.

If consciousness is 'core'...sounds like consciousness would be at the core of All That Is!

Yes it is but the interesting thing is that while it's fundamental it's also emergent.

Originally Posted by Greenslade

Yes it is but the interesting thing is that while it's fundamental it's also emergent.

Advaita would say the emergent part is the illusion of Ahamkara. It's like the Moon isn't the source of the Moonlight that illumines Earth. It's but a reflection of Sunlight. It appears to be light from the Moon but in reality it's nothing more than Sunlight.