Ann:

Surely you can see the difference between yourself as a person (a body and a mind) and yourself as consciousness?

Mary:

Well, I can certainly see that I have or am conscious and that consciousness is different from the physical body, but I'm not sure there's any meaningful distinction between mind and consciousness. Isn't it the case that it is the mind that is conscious? Consciousness is a function of the mind, isn't it?

Ann:

Well, I would say it clearly isn't! Let's look at the proof. Firstly, what do we mean by 'mind'? According to present-day science, the mind is essentially a functioning of the brain. Considerable research has shown that most (if not all) mental functioning is completely dependent on the brain. So, according to this point-of-view, there is no mind without the brain. The brain is a physical structure and so the 'mind' is of the body, really.

Now today's brain scientists think of 'consciousness' as some sort of epiphenomenon of the brain or just simply as part of the brain's functioning. These scientists, of course, (in common with all of us) have been deeply conditioned to assume and believe that what we call the 'physical world' exists in some kind of absolute sense that is independent of any experience or awareness of it. A not unreasonable assumption but an assumption nonetheless. Does this assumption stand up to hard analysis, however? Well, much has been written on this subject in the field of philosophy, but if we stick to the evidence of our actual direct experience we may see where the truth actually lies.

Ann:

Look at that chair by the window. Can you see it is an object with definite characteristics (shape and colour) and is 'over there'?

Mary:

Yes.

Ann:

Now what exactly is experiencing that chair?

Mary:

I am.

Ann:

Yes, but can you be more specific. What exactly is this 'I'?

Mary:

Well, it seems I am conscious of that chair when I look at it. When I am not looking at the chair I am not conscious of it. If I look at another object, the table, say, I become conscious of the table. So the common factor here is 'conscious of'.

Ann:

That's right! So, in other words, 'consciousness' is the common factor here. In order for any object to be experienced consciousness has to be present. So the 'I' actually refers to consciousness. They are one and the same thing. 'I' or consciousness is the 'subject' of any experience and what is experienced is the 'object'. The chair you pointed to wouldn't exist as an experience for you without you as consciousness being present. Is that not so?

Mary:

Yes, that seems correct.

Ann:

Now, as you said, if you stop looking at the chair and look at the table you become conscious of the table. If you now look at the window you become conscious of the window. Notice that regardless of the object that is looked at 'consciousness' is always the common factor. It's the one thing that never changes. Objects and experiences come-and-go, but 'consciousness' or 'I' remains always the same.

Mary:

Right! So, we're basically distinguishing between the 'subject' that never changes and the 'object' which is changing all the time.

Ann:

That's right! In an average day what we experience is in a state of constant flux. We catch a bus or a train to work, at work we do what is required, we go for lunch with our work colleagues, etc, etc. But throughout all these comings-and-goings 'consciousness' (which is our 'I', our self) remains as it is unchanged.

Mary:

Ah, yes, but doesn't the mind affect …..

Ann:

Wait a minute! Let's be clear that 'mind' or mental functioning is just that. It's a functioning! In terms of what we actually experience we're talking about 'objects' again. This time, however, we're talking about mental objects. This includes thoughts and feelings or any type of psychological functioning, for that matter.

The mind may contain reflections of past events or imaginations of future events, or we may have feelings of various kinds, happy and sad, etc, etc. But this all 'stuff'! It's all mental or feeling 'objects' of various types.

Consciousness is radically different! It's not 'stuff'. It's that in which or to which 'stuff' arises. It's the 'subject' in which or to which 'objects' come, exist momentarily, and then go. Every perception, thought, feeling or sensation we've ever experienced has come into consciousness, stayed briefly, and then gone.

Mary:

So consciousness or the 'I' is never affected by anything.

Ann:

That's right! Consciousness is not a 'thing'. It's that which 'things' are dependent on for their momentary existence. For things to have existence, in terms of experience, consciousness is absolutely necessary. And, of course, to imagine things having existence without any type of experience of them is just that. It's imaginary. It's a type of metaphysics, in fact. It requires belief not based on actual fact. A lot of today's scientists, brain scientists included, are stuck in this type of metaphysics, so it's hardly surprising they have made little progress in the understanding of the nature of consciousness.

Mary:

But surely what you're saying here implies 'solipsism', the belief that only 'I' and my experiences exist.

Ann:

Well, hang on a minute, it depends on what type of 'I' we are referring to. Remember that mind (or mental functioning) and 'consciousness' are not the same. Quite definitely not the same!! The 'I' which is 'consciousness' (or 'Consciousness') is completely different to the mental 'I' or mental self-image we have of ourselves – a problematic and essentially false imaginary self-image hugely constructed on that face we see in the bathroom mirror every morning. This mental image we have of ourselves we can call the 'separate self-sense' and the cause, in passing, of a lot of misery and suffering as we can see from the world and its troubled history.

Now this 'Consciousness' which we really are, our true 'I', is radically different to 'stuff', as I said. It's not limited to any individual body-mind and its experiences. All experiences of all beings throughout the whole Universe depend on 'Consciousness' for their existence. No experience can possibly exist without 'Consciousness' being present. 'Consciousness' is always the common factor. We've already proved this earlier from examining the facts in relation to our experience of a chair and a table.

Mary:

Ok. But how do we account for our deep sense that there's a real world out there which is independent of our particular existence?

Ann:

I was just getting to that. Yes, of course, there is a 'real world out there' independent of our particular body-mind and its experiences. But this doesn't mean that the 'real world', so-called, is independent of Consciousness. A way to understand this is to think in terms of a sort of Divine Solipsism. Only Consciousness and its infinite experiences through infinite types of beings Exist. Each individual being, each finite individual body-mind, while being the 'One Consciousness' in essence, only has a very small and limited amount of experiences during its brief life.

Mary:

So it's as though each of us is a pair of eyes through which the 'One Consciousness' looks out of.

Ann:

Yes, that's a good way to look at it. The 'One Consciousness' is like a 'Universal Peacock' with infinite eyes upon which to gaze at its own Creation, its own work of Creative Art, so to speak. In some Eastern philosophies the Creator dreams Creation into existence out of Itself. Also, in deeper systems of philosophy, the Creator is one with his/her/its Creation, as we see in the sublime image of Shiva Nataraja. Shiva as the 'One Consciousness' takes the form of the Cosmic Dancer where the Creation is the Dance.

Another way to understand this is to consider a single image in a glass hologram. If you smash the hologram into hundreds or thousands of pieces each piece still retains the whole image but from the point-of-view of that particular piece. Each human being is like one of these pieces. Very small and very limited, but yet still being in essence the whole.

I should say here, in passing, that our human minds, being finite, have their limitations in what they can understand. This especially when we consider that the intellectual function within us is essentially a dualistic comparative function. So a full and proper understanding of these particular matters is probably beyond our human-based comprehension.

Mary:

Yes, I can understand our mental understanding will always be limited. Anyway, so what more is there to say about Consciousness other than it is what we essentially are, that it is the unchanging 'Subject' experiencing perceptual and mental 'objects' coming-and-going.

Ann:

Well, let's look in greater depth at what Consciousness (i.e. what you and I actually are) actually is. Firstly, consider what 'unchanging' really means. This is no small point! This Consciousness that we actually are never changes, as we have seen, so it must therefore be timeless. Being a bit more colourful, you could say that this Consciousness we are is of the Eternal. Of course, this doesn't refer to any element of our body or mind which is quite clearly not Eternal, but this Consciousness that we are right now is in its essence of Eternity, so to put it.

Mary:

Wow!

Ann:

Also, as Consciousness is not a 'thing', this Consciousness that we are can never be touched or affected by any physical or mental-psychological happening. It can't be damaged or hurt or destroyed or affected in any way by any event in the world. It is therefore deathless, you could say. In fact, some have pointed out that just as Consciousness is not subject to death it is not subject to birth either. Consciousness just always is. It's timeless or a 'factor' beyond the linear time construct. Let us remember it is not life and death which are opposites, rather it is birth and death that go together. Life is rather what Consciousness is. They both imply each other. Consciousness is the real life within us, in fact.

Bodies and minds are born. They function, mature and exist for a while (in the context of Consciousness) and then they die. Consciousness or Life on which they depend remains ever the same unaffected and inviolable.

Mary:

Cool!

Ann:

And, furthermore, as Consciousness is not a 'thing', this Consciousness we are is not limited as things and 'objects' are limited. Usually, we think we are a tiny little thing confined to the body and mind. The truth is this Consciousness we are is unlimited. It extends, so to speak, to whatever our environment is. If we are out by the seafront then this Consciousness we are is as wide and vast as our perception is, embracing the expanse of sea and sky. If we are in a small room, then our Consciousness embraces the things of the room. Consciousness knows no bounds and is present in the smallest of the small and the largest of the large.

Mary:

I never really looked into this matter properly or gave it much attention.

Ann:

And we haven't finished yet! Consciousness being inviolate and empty of any 'thing' is always perfectly still, silent and at peace. Free of motion, noise and aggravation, unlike the things of the world, of our bodies and minds, consciousness in and of itself is characterised by stillness, silence and peacefulness.

Mary:

So, in summary, you could say that the characteristics of the 'subject' (this consciousness we are) are opposite to the characteristics of the 'object', whether physical or mental?

Ann:

Yes! That's right! So the question now is, having got the Recognition of this fundamental distinction, how do we go about making it stick, so to speak? How do we give it some depth in our lives rather than just intellectually grasping it? Firstly, the clear understanding or Recognition of this distinction has to be 'experiential'. In fact, the very the word Recognition implies 'experiential'. By looking or putting our attention in practice on the 'object' and then reversing the attention to this ever-present 'subject', as we did with the chair and then the 'I', should 'trigger' the 'experiential' Recognition of this. Following this Recognition, deepening it or expanding it into our day-to-day lives requires that we need to 'invoke often' as an old mystery teaching once taught. In other words, the more we bring our attention to this ever-present boundless Consciousness we are the more it will seep and expand, so to speak, into our everyday lives. It's a question of building up the habit. Usually, our habit is a type of unconsciousness where we are more-or-less completely focused on the 'stuff', typically mental 'stuff', of our lives and where what we actually are in reality (Consciousness) is simply not recognised, understood or even acknowledged. It's an incredible and staggering blindness!

Mary:

So you're advocating a type of practice, then.

Ann:

Yes, because sitting around just watching TV, for example, and/or not bothering to put much attention on the Recognition we have just acquired isn't going to result in much depth to our Recognition, is it! There's the whole weight of unconscious habit and deluded conditioning to contend with.

Mary:

Point taken!