The Human Awareness System and Consciousness

In my last blog, I introduced the subject of what I have labeled the, "Human Awareness System," as being the doorway to forms of consciousness. In that blog, I also questioned the general belief that mental activity is equivalent to consciousness.

In my writing in the '70s, I explored the various aspects each of us humans possess; one of the primary aspects I placed in the category of an Awareness System. The Awareness System, I wrote, is made up of the input our senses--sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste, and the elusive, "sixth" sense. While I am sure none of the, "experts" in the field of the physical body would deny the existence of the five senses, only a few specialists have explored any of them; fewer still their potential. The idea of a sixth sense is hard for them to accept, because it would be non-physical in nature.

As indicated in my previous blog, a major factor of modern life is the bombardment of our physical senses by modern technology; stimuli from those sources goes on from morning until most of us go to bed at night. And, that this is true, "in Spades" of the, "younger" generation. I indicated that I believe that this is intentional; it largely prevents the possible awareness of input from the sixth sense everyone possesses, as well as the Awareness System.

The amazing aspect of our senses is that they are aware of, and record, everything they take in, whether the physical body is awake, or asleep. This includes our dreams, as well as details taken in by our Awareness System of which we are not aware in our awake state.

This Awareness System is incapable of being overwhelmed, however, being kept occupied with our continual bombardment of it with constant irrelevant input almost guarantees that we will be unlikely to become aware of the more subtle input that the Awareness System receives.

In previous blogs, I have written of some of our super-powers regarding our physical senses; those awareness' we sometimes experience, coming through what has been called the sixth sense, are routinely debunked by the Establishment as being figments of peoples imagination, and/or, "impossible."

Lately, it has been grudgingly acknowledged that some animals are aware of impending danger, established by the fact that they flee an area that will be affected, if possible, or exhibit signs of distress, if they cannot. Many humans also are capable of picking up major impending events, usually either physically or in dreams, but generally keep the information to themselves.

Consciousness, if it is not a form of mental activity, then, it is my contention, that it is achievable through the Awareness System. The most common, and traditional, way of becoming conscious is the practice of meditation. Currently, there are a number of ways to practice meditation, some of which employ the aid of modern technology.

It seems to me that many modern practitioners of Eastern types of meditation are striving to achieve a state of, "no mind," or "empty mind," rather than a state of heightened and/or altered Consciousness. While such a state is beneficial in-and-of-itself, it can also result in an unintended experience of altered consciousness. Those meditation teachers who discourage such experiences as being counter to the true meditative state, are, in actuality, suppressing the development of a conscious state of being.

Interestingly, to me, I came across a new word, in the comic section of the newspaper a few days ago, (which referred readers to Dictionary.com, for the definition, a web site I frequently use when writing this blog). The word is, "anoesis." Dictionary.com defines, "anoesis" as: "a state-of-mind consisting of pure sensation or emotion without cognitive content." It was clear in the comic, and implied in the definition, that this is not a state-of-mind to be desired. If one were to achieve a state of "no mind" the state of anoesis would also be discouraged by traditional types of meditation as being distractions.

In Fritz Perls Gestalt Therapy, clients are encouraged to achieve a state of living in the now, expressed as, "Be Here Now." While not a form of meditation practice, by practicing, "living in the now" one can begin to eliminate the mental chatter that passes for, "thinking" for most individuals in the Western World.

With that, I end today's entry.

Shirley Gallup