Consciousness Is
A Consciousness Meditation.
Consciousness is
Seek and you shall find
In the act of looking we see
To create is to look for what we expect to see
The ego keeps our attention absorbed in illusion
Knowing is not feeling so the ego divides and conquers
We look at the world through a tiny window and proclaim reality
The frequency of the vibration determines the form so why tune in to fear?
We wake up in the morning and enter a different kind of sleep called life
We go to bed at night and sleep between dreams we imagine as real
We laugh and cry at images and experiences we play in the mind
We see the stars inside our heads and say they are light years away
We talk of love and shoot our brothers with words of poison
We are afraid and hide behind ideas safe from feeling
The activity distracts us from our pain
Waking up requires our effort
Sleeping requires none
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Comments
True words and important images in free verse.
Very enjoyable...Bob
- Author
Thank you diogenes for your much appreciated support.
I feel you have not passed your own illusion you have created.
Fear is an illusion of truth, you only see the truth when you have faced your's and the ego's fears.
Fear is the pole opposite of happiness.
You cannot have one without the other for that is the balance, of dark and light, yin and yang.
So the spirit decides to what level it is to learn.
KNOWING it is true in one sense is not feeling, but not in the way portrayed.
KNOWING is knowing that those that don't know have a lot of pain to face before they do know.
You cannot have feelings of sympathy for where you have already been as you know they created the parallel to learn.
KNOWING IS FEELING MORE THAN YOU DREAMED POSSIBLE IN BOTH PARALLELS.
Please comment on my hub's if need be.
I am a world spirit guide, If I see it is slightly misleading my light side pulls the line to a deeper truth.
- Author
Thank you Misty95 for your comment and expressing your opinion. I am glad you like the hub.
I enjoyed reading this SW... much wisdom and contemplation here.
- Author
Thank you Ashantina.
"Consciousness is"
As in: it exists? Yes, but what is it? How does it work?
"Seek and you shall find"
To be sure.
"In the act of looking we see"
By seeing do you mean understand? Seeing in and of itself does not mean we understand what we see.
"To create is to look for what we expect to see."
A lot more explanation is required to understand your meaning here.
"The ego keeps our attention absorbed in illusion."
It is good to break down the ego to the point that you understand it and can use it. Rid yourself of false pride and the illusion of an isolated self. Rid yourself of greed and a false sense of self importance.
In other words, rid yourself of the negative aspects of ego and delusions about yourself. But ego is you. So don't dump the baby with the bath water. Without ego there is no love. Love of self is the first step to being able love others.
"Knowing is not feeling so the ego divides and conquers."
Knowing is not feeling, but knowing is knowing what the feelings are about and how to come to terms with them. Ego divides when one does not know one's self.
"We look at the world through a tiny window and proclaim reality."
Reality is. And yes we look through a tiny window at it and interpret it according to our understanding of it and of ourselves. Much of the time or interpretation is just imagination and does not reflect reality at all. Sometimes we have a revelation and see the patterns themselves for the first time. When that happens we become enlightened.
"The frequency of the vibration determines the form so why tune in to fear?"
To release fear one must bring it out into the open and confront it. Only then can you understand it and do something about it. Worry is useless. To worry about something you can do something about is needless. Do something about it. To worry when there is nothing you can do is useless. At that point you must simply accept.
Not to "tune into it" seems like running away from it and pretending it is not there. For it not to be there it must be resolved.
"We wake up in the morning and enter a different kind of sleep called life."
I prefer to think of it as a state of confusion for most as they live on emotion rather than using it as a tool and trying to find reality with it.
"We go to bed at night and sleep between dreams we imagine as real."
One has to, of course, understand that a dream is not reality and imagination does not always reflect reality. The imagination can be altered by what we eat and drink.
A stomach upset in a dream may become a knife in the stomach or a fall. But once we wake from the dream the truth emerges. We discover no knife in our belly, just pain from something we ate or a from a virus.
A dream may well tell you about reality but in metaphor without understanding what is really going on. But we dream in the middle of the day through imagination and flawed interpretation of what we feel and see.
"We laugh and cry at images and experiences we play in the mind."
The subjective can do little else.
"We see the stars inside our heads and say they are light years away."
well that one happens to correspond to reality.
"We talk of love and shoot our brothers with words of poison."
Yes. But forgive us. We are often frustrated and lash out without thinking. Acting from raw emotion. That is something to be guarded against. However, there are times we shock out of love with intent to wake some one up.
"We are afraid and hide behind ideas safe from feeling."
Or hide in feeling, safe from the scrutiny of rational dissection. People love to live in fantasy. My ideal world would be to live in the book: Lord of the Rings. With elves and dwarfs and noble men. But it is not reality. Therefore we can not allow imagination or feeling to rule, or it will it bring us into worlds of delusion. So happier than others, I grant you. But still delusion.
But as long as I can keep imagination and reality separate, I can visit that place and bask in the strange and wonderful feelings, can still wake up to pay my electric bill.
"The activity distracts us from our pain."
The subconscious only allows temporary distraction. The pain will out. Whether it comes in an illusion of a knife in the stomach or a sudden epiphany of truth, it will come out.
As a troubleshooter by trade I often come to problems that seem insurmountable. But there is always a solution.
In situations where there is time to ponder, I found that particularly difficult problems are often best forgotten about temporarily. I remove the problem from my consciousness by distracting myself. It has never failed that I suddenly get the solution thrown into my consciousness as if put there from an outside source. At times it comes in a dream.
Of course I know where it came from. My subconscious has access to all my previous experience and technical knowledge. I have not distracted myself at all. I simply pushed the problem into my subconscious and allowed my brain to process the problem there.
"Waking up requires our effort
Sleeping requires none"
No pain no gain? ;)
Thanks for another thought provoking hub.
Oh yes. I just wanted to tell you it is interesting that we have both done hubs on this subject. Mine is: https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/What_is_C
- Author
Hi Slarty, I was just settling down to write a reply to your latest on your hub Exploring Time when I see your comment here. Do you do any work? Where do you get the time to write such thorough comments? Corresponding with you alone could cost me my marriage. My children are beginning to ask who the guy on the computer is. LOL
I will try to answer each point as honestly as I can.
"Consciousness is"
Slarty asks:
As in: it exists? Yes, but what is it? How does it work?
SW answers:
It is. Nothing more can be said. To attempt to do so is futile and will only result in more layers of illusion. That is why I say Consciousness and no more.
"Seek and you shall find"
Slarty says:
To be sure.
"In the act of looking we see"
Slarty asks:
By seeing do you mean understand? Seeing in and of itself does not mean we understand what we see.
"To create is to look for what we expect to see."
Slarty asks:
A lot more explanation is required to understand your meaning here.
SW answers:
An example of this is in the way scientists keep finding what they look for because the act of looking in some way causes the creation of what they look for. They go eureka we have found it until they realise that they still haven't found it all and go looking again for another say particle and this goes on ad infinitum. James Allen wrote a great book about how thoughts create reality and he explains the dynamic very well. Rhonda Byrne in her book the secret uses his ideas to explain the Law of Attraction. There is more to it than what these people say but that is a good place to start if you wish to understand what I mean by those words.
"The ego keeps our attention absorbed in illusion."
Slarty states:
It is good to break down the ego to the point that you understand it and can use it. Rid yourself of false pride and the illusion of an isolated self. Rid yourself of greed and a false sense of self importance.
In other words, rid yourself of the negative aspects of ego and delusions about yourself. But ego is you. So don't dump the baby with the bath water. Without ego there is no love. Love of self is the first step to being able love others.
SW clarifies:
My words simply mean that as long as you identify with any part of the illusion then you cannot be objective about what you observe or experience in this world. Your ideas about ego are no better or no worse than anyone else's because they are still ideas and as such are interesting just as mine may or may not be of interest to you. I have not said anything about throwing out the ego so I don't know why you said that. On the subject of love I am surprised that you would say "Without ego there is no love." This is like saying without a light bulb there is no electricity!
"Knowing is not feeling so the ego divides and conquers."
Slarty states:
Knowing is not feeling, but knowing is knowing what the feelings are about and how to come to terms with them. Ego divides when one does not know one's self.
SW comments:
Thinking about a feeling is like saying the menu tastes good. It is only by eating the food that you taste it. Reading and tasting are are not one and the same. In the same way knowing a feeling is not the same as feeling it and this seems to be something that we do not agree upon so I agree to disagree with you. For there is no more I can say about that.
The ego survives through division the way an amoeba reproduces asexually and also the way it presents opposites in order to maintain the illusion so experience happiness and sadness one requiring the other.
"We look at the world through a tiny window and proclaim reality."
Slarty comments:
Reality is. And yes we look through a tiny window at it and interpret it according to our understanding of it and of ourselves. Much of the time or interpretation is just imagination and does not reflect reality at all. Sometimes we have a revelation and see the patterns themselves for the first time. When that happens we become enlightened.
SW comments:
What we see with our eyes is determined by the frequency and wavelength of the waves picked up by the nerves in the retina. This means that our eyes are receptive to a very narrow band of wavelengths and so limits our view. Imagine everyone in the world woke up with eyes that were receptive to X-Rays or Gamma rays? We base so many of our judgements on what we see and my words highlight this.
"The frequency of the vibration determines the form so why tune in to fear?"
Slarty says:
To release fear one must bring it out into the open and confront it. Only then can you understand it and do something about it. Worry is useless. To worry about something you can do something about is needless. Do something about it. To worry when there is nothing you can do is useless. At that point you must simply accept.
Not to "tune into it" seems like running away from it and pretending it is not there. For it not to be there it must be resolved.
SW clarifies:
Electricity is readily available when we need it but to keep the lights on during the day makes little sense. Fear is readily available and can be conjured up at a moments notice. It is an essentail emotion in our survival and seeks to protect us when we are in danger but when the danger has passed we do not need to keep it turned on.
"We wake up in the morning and enter a different kind of sleep called life."
Slarty says:
I prefer to think of it as a state of confusion for most as they live on emotion rather than using it as a tool and trying to find reality with it.
SW says:
When you say live on emotion I take that to mean that they react rather than act. I am however unable to comprehend what you mean by using emotion as a tool. I say this because you are implying that emotion is in some way subservient to the intellect which uses it to KNOW reality. This comes across the way a male chauvinist would speak about women and I do not share your view here about emotion being used or manipulated by something as the intellect in comparison. When the emotions and logic are in conflict it is almost always the emotions that win. Why else do you thing the over weight person cannot walk past the freezer without eating something? Your emotions are as important a part of you as any other part of what you call you and is not subservient to any part either.
SW line of poetry:
"We go to bed at night and sleep between dreams we imagine as real."
Slarty says:
One has to, of course, understand that a dream is not reality and imagination does not always reflect reality. The imagination can be altered by what we eat and drink.
A stomach upset in a dream may become a knife in the stomach or a fall. But once we wake from the dream the truth emerges. We discover no knife in our belly, just pain from something we ate or a from a virus.
A dream may well tell you about reality but in metaphor without understanding what is really going on. But we dream in the middle of the day through imagination and flawed interpretation of what we feel and see.
SW clarifies:
Why does one, of course, understand that a dream is not reality? What you term reality is what you are seeing and experiencing in the brain. The brain is using electrical impulses from our senses to create what we see. So that tiny dark place in the back of your head where there is no light is seeing the reality you talk about! Hmmm...
So when you go to sleep and dream where are you seeing your dream images and are they created from different stuff to the images you say are real during your “waking” day? For me the drem world is a metaphor for what we call reality. Our sleeping and dreaming is telling us that we are indeed asleep and when we wake up in the morning we are simply waking up to another kind of dream.
"We are afraid and hide behind ideas safe from feeling."
Slarty says:
Or hide in feeling, safe from the scrutiny of rational dissection. People love to live in fantasy. My ideal world would be to live in the book: Lord of the Rings. With elves and dwarfs and noble men. But it is not reality. Therefore we can not allow imagination or feeling to rule, or it will it bring us into worlds of delusion. So happier than others, I grant
- Author
continued...
"We are afraid and hide behind ideas safe from feeling."
Slarty says:
Or hide in feeling, safe from the scrutiny of rational dissection. People love to live in fantasy. My ideal world would be to live in the book: Lord of the Rings. With elves and dwarfs and noble men. But it is not reality. Therefore we can not allow imagination or feeling to rule, or it will it bring us into worlds of delusion. So happier than others, I grant you. But still delusion.
But as long as I can keep imagination and reality separate, I can visit that place and bask in the strange and wonderful feelings, can still wake up to pay my electric bill.
SW clarifies:
There are many who hide from their feelings and seek solace in over analysing everything. These are the people who fear their feelings and they keep them at bay by counting the slates on roof tops when they are stopped at the traffic lights, count the paving stones as they walk and perform rituals and act compulsively as ways to run from feelings that are in constant pursuit. These people constantly proclaim the importance of keeping feelings under control for fear of disaster if they are allowed to run loose. Imagination is one thing and but what I refer to here is the world of the neurotic who hides from that which would ultimately free him of his neurosis.
"The activity distracts us from our pain."
These lines also refer to what I say above about the neurotic character.
Thank you Slarty, and now I am off to the lawyers to sign those divorce papers LOL!
I feel as if I am now annoying you so I will refrain from a detailed rebuttal. However that you can not accept that I do not fear my feelings is rather odd. But I do see you why you might not trust my claim so I forgive you. ;)
I do like the fact that you decided to be a little passive aggressive, and that you so skillfully allude to the idea that am a neurotic. Very good. Most amusing, and completely off the mark, of course. ;)
But this is what I was talking about. One can say what ever one likes if they are subtle, and not be convicted of trying to insult. See you already have some of the skills you seem to dislike for some reason. Instead you should perhaps tune them, and so become reticent to just agree to disagree.
But I will probably never convince you of that or the fact that you are just closing your eyes to reality by concentrating too much on an artificial division between feeling and rationality.
But be that as it may, I don't want you to get a divorce over this so don't worry about replying right away to anything I may say. I type fast so for me to write a lengthy comment takes an average of 15 minutes.
When I started to write it used to take all day to write a few pages. But I've educated the instinctive to take over for me. It works well. ;)
You have a great day.
Sorry. I type fast and often don't have/make time to reread. That should have read: become less reticent to just agree to disagree. ;)
- Author
Slarty says:
I feel as if I am now annoying you so I will refrain from a detailed rebuttal. However that you can not accept that I do not fear my feelings is rather odd. But I do see you why you might not trust my claim so I forgive you. ;)
SW answers:
No you are not annoying me at all and this is an example of you creating something that isn't real. I enjoy your rebuttals but will not always have the time to reciprocate in like manner. It would help if you concentrated on the key elements that are of interest and that will focus our discussion. I feel that we have a lot more in common than our communication might otherwise suggest but language is always the barrier. Words a themselves are symbols that we invest with our own energy and associations and so it is very easy to misunderstand or imagine someone means something that they don't.
There is one thing that I feel you have completely misunderstood and that is the poem is not about you. I merely answered your comments to expalin what my words meant in the poem and nothing to do with how I imagine you. I hope that is clearly understood. I am beginning to hear Carly Simon singing "You're So Vain" LOL
Slarty says:
I do like the fact that you decided to be a little passive aggressive, and that you so skillfully allude to the idea that am a neurotic. Very good. Most amusing, and completely off the mark, of course. ;)
SW says:
Once again Carly Simon is blaring in the background.LOL
I think the rest of your comment is based on the abovemisunderstanding and that I am not in any way trying to get at you or insult you covertly. I deal with neurotic people in my profession and I am referring to them and telling you that parts of my poem also refers to them. (Not you.)
I am an honest guy and though things can upset me I will tell you if they do as you have experienced in our very first communication in which I perceived Qwark to be offending hubbers. You are not upsetting me and I only wish I had the time to reply to all your very valid questions and comments.
By joking about divorce I am telling you in my own light hearted way please don't be offended if I don't always reply in as much detail as you do and if there is a delay it is due to my other commitments.
I have grown very fond of you very quickly and I look forward to hearing your ideas. Your hubs are superb and anyone reading them can glean so much knowledge and insight from them.
I would love you to take some of your hubs like the one Spirituality Explained https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/Spiritual and break it up and make a series of hubs explaining each phase of your journey in more detail. You have not done yourself justice there and I for one would be looking forward to reading the details of that quite amazing journey. The journey sounds like what Buddha must have had to go through on his journey to enlightenment and even he describes how terrifying it was toward the latter stages.
Finally I am a feeling thinking man and I try not to judge what either my thoughts or my feelings. In my professional life I deal all day with peoples' feelings and emotions and I spend most of my time dealing with the subconscious. Most of what I write is based on my own personal experiences and those of my clients. I hope that people may more fully appreciate feelings and emotions and the huge part the subconscious plays in our lives. at the end of the day I am a man warts and all and I do not claim to anything more than that. You too have a great day as mine is starting to close.
SW - I love the poem! I do think poems are mysterious. I love poetry smply because of the clues, subtle references that the reader is supposed to decipher.
Very interesting. Up and awesome!
Oh come on now admit it. It was about me, all about me! lol... I do come off vain at times don't I? It's all a pretext, I assure you. ;)
Seriously though if you read it again and put it up against what we have been talking about then it does seem as if you are talking about me and that would have been fine. ;) After all you have accused me of this before: "There are many who hide from their feelings and seek solace in over analysing everything." So in effect, even if you were not talking about me directly this time, I now know what you were thinking when you did direct that comment at me. lol... You aren't getting away with anything. ;)
I too have grown fond of you and your style. Your opinions help me hone my own and for that I am always grateful.
"No you are not annoying me at all and this is an example of you creating something that isn't real."
I was just following my feelings. ;) You tell me to do that and then chastise me for the results? lol... j/k of course.
"Words a themselves are symbols that we invest with our own energy and associations and so it is very easy to misunderstand or imagine someone means something that they don't."
Couldn't agree more. Which is why most of the time people do not end up coming to an understanding of t\what the other is saying. I've found that it takes time to sort out what a person means by some of their key phrases. Once sorted out communication can flow a lot easier. But that takes time and the will to do the ground work so many are are interested in doing so or not capable.
As I said in another comment, I do really think we have a lot in common though we have different backgrounds and a different approach.
"By joking about divorce I am telling you in my own light hearted way please don't be offended if I don't always reply in as much detail as you do and if there is a delay it is due to my other commitments."
I did get that. Which is why I said you needn't feel you have to answer me right away or even at all. At your convenience and your pleasure are fine.
It was the "don't you work?" comment that made me "feel" that there may be a possibility I was annoying you.
"I would love you to take some of your hubs like the one Spirituality Explained https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/Spiritual and break it up and make a series of hubs explaining each phase of your journey in more detail. You have not done yourself justice there and I for one would be looking forward to reading the details of that quite amazing journey. The journey sounds like what Buddha must have had to go through on his journey to enlightenment and even he describes how terrifying it was toward the latter stages."
Lol... Am I not vain enough? I always "feel" as if I am coming off a bit arrogant and vain when I write about my personal experiences. I am more comfortable writing about philosophy or history or science.
I only write that hub explain to someone why we need some ego to be human and function in the world. I was not a monk and did not have the luxury of living in a monastery, so I could not pursue it farther and live.
And yes I was scared to go the last step to what i saw was oblivion of my self identity. But then, afterward I found a woman I fell in love with and had three kids. We now have 6 grandchildren and one on the way. So I am glad
that I decided to come back from the brink and not step over. And of course I would not have met people like yourself, nor been able to share my experiences.
I have often wondered what it would have been like to have had a formal teacher. But then again, I am a person who by nature has to reinvent the wheel.
At any rate, I will think about writing a series so you can study them and psychoanalysis my neurosis. lol...
"I spend most of my time dealing with the subconscious. Most of what I write is based on my own personal experiences and those of my clients."
Which is why I want to understand your take on things. I was hoping you were Hindu too but we can't have everything. ;)
- Author
I love Slarty. I wish I didn't but I do!
Right Arm Brother Man! Keep up the good work. Such a beautiful piece.
CONSCIOUSNESS, means what we think when we are awake.
SUBCONSCIOUSNESS, means what our thoughts are in dream and astral state.
I do not know if this has every been wrote yet, but the true meaning here is. THIS LEVEL is a substitute of the truth.
UNCONSCIOUSNESS, is as it says if you were unconscious, as in knocked out. Its the levels of illness.
As that is where all my teachings are from the unknown.
So to me consciousness, is the whole lot together as that is the meaning of being consciously aware.
So neither really is right or wrong.
You are just at different levels of awareness.
- Author
Thank you for taking the time to comment misty95
Very interesting. Gives one much to ponder. Thank you Spirit Whisperer. I learn from you.
- Author
Thank you W.B. Isley.I appreciate the comment. Thank you for visiting.
- Author
always exploring you are very good to read and comment on my hubs. I too learn from you and that is what makes the world go round.
He Spirit Whisperer , thanks for a thought provoking read - both your poem and the conversation between you and Slarty! Will have to read his posts now too when I’ve a bit more time.
- Author
Dear Melovy I am so happy to hear that you like this. It is just another way for me to express where I am right now which is always changing. I am never in the same place from day to day and I love that. I am also very happy to hear that you will check out Slarty's hubs because you are in for a real treat there. Thank you.
Thank you, kindly for all that,SW and slarty!
Very informative hub...voted up/useful
Thank you for sharing!
- Author
Thank you MysteriousOne I am glad you found it useful. I hope you check out Slarty's hubs too he is a good guy.
I shall do that! Thank you!
an amazing thought provoking piece of work, I thoroughly enjoyed it as I did reading though some of the comments here, voting up and up :)
- Author
Thank you nighthag. Your support is greatly appreciated as always.
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