Understanding consciousness
We all are conscious. We know we are conscious
because we can see, smell, feel, touch, experience, imagine etc. Consciousness (chaitanyam in sanskrit) is perhaps the most fundamental yet most important thing in our life. Christof
koch, the chief scientist of the Paul Allen Brain Institute, says humorously
"If you give me billion dollars and ask me to give up my consciousness
then I won't accept that money. For me consciousness is the most important
thing in life and I can't trade my consciousness with anything in the
world". And that's how important consciousness is. Without consciousness
you will still be a living body but you won't be able to experience almost
anything in the world.
In today's time there is a great interest in consciousness studies. With the development of neuroscience, there is a greater excitement in scientifically understanding the subject of consciousness. But the consciousness studies is not a new subject. Consciousness studies goes all the way back to the 'Upanishads', these very ancient texts in Hindus scriptures, the vedas. These 'Upanishads' contain the final, the highest spiritual and philosophical teachings of the vedas dating back to around 5,000 years or more. They made a remarkable breakthrough in consciousness studies so many centuries ago and those insights into consciousness were developed into the body of philosophy called Vedanta. Vedanta is an investigation into ourselves. Vedanta is a journey from not knowing to knowing.
Let's develop the idea of consciousness
For this, I will use a method found in a text called 'Drg-Drsya-Viveka' written about 700 years ago by a philosopher in the south of India. I will use two terms 'known' and 'knower' and I want to emphasize that the 'known' and the 'knower' are completely distinct from each other. Now we have all the tools necessary to march forward.
You're reading this post in the mobile or laptop which is right in front of you. you know it is mobile, it is an object. You can see it and know that it is a mobile. Now the mobile is the 'known' thing which I explained. My eyes see the mobile and know that this thing is mobile. So my eye knows that it is mobile. So here the eye is the 'knower'. My eyes are not the same thing as the mobile, the knower and the known are completely different from each other, which is an important thing to notice.
Now let's go deeper. My eyes, which is a thing or an object, I know that I have eyes. I can move my eyes around, I can wink with eyes, I can touch my eyes and I know precisely where my eyes are. So now the eyes are the known thing. Then, who knows about the eye? My mind does. All the activities done by the eyes are transmitted through electrical impulses to the mind. So the mind knows about the eye. So the mind is now the knower. And remember we are talking about two completely different things. The knower and the known are completely different entities. My eyes are not the same as my mind and my mind is not the same as my eyes. They are different from each other. Now let's reconcile what we've done till now. We said that mobile was the known thing and eyes were the knower. As we went deep we realized that eyes were too known thing and known by the mind. So till now the mind is the ultimate knower.
Now this is the moment where Science will stop. In science the ultimate knower is the mind and consciousness is the manifestation of the mind. Now let's continue our knower and known game again. My mind, I am aware of my mind. I am aware of my thoughts, emotions, actions etc. I know I am happy, I feel happy. I know that I am disappointed, I feel that. I am aware of my experience of emotions, thoughts, conscious activities etc. I am aware of my mind and I know my mind so now the mind has become the known thing, which is very interesting. Then who is the knower? Now this is the moment where Advaita vedanta comes into play and says that this knower must be consciousness. So consciousness is the knower of the mind. I think a reasonable question people will ask at this point is "Then who is the knower of consciousness?" And the answer to that is you cannot know consciousness, consciousness is the ultimate knower. If you know consciousness then it will no longer be consciousness, because you cannot know consciousness, in fact it will be the object of consciousness.
So all the things we discussed like eyes, mind these all are the object of consciousness but consciousness itself is not an object. Consciousness illuminates our mind and you cannot know it because consciousness is the ultimate knower. So you must not think consciousness as something objective because it is completely subjective and sadly you cannot know it. Consciousness is the experience that makes any experience possible. Now there is a precise definition of consciousness and that is "Anything that you are aware of is not consciousness but an awareness that makes any experience possible is consciousness". So from the basic idea of knower and known, we understood about consciousness. You deserve a pat on the shoulder for this. So, there is it, the definition of consciousness that you all were waiting for. And that is the very essential insight that vedanta can provide to modern neuroscientists.
Further into Consciousness
Swami Sarvapriyananda explains consciousness in a very elegant way. He describes consciousness in five ways.
- Consciousness is not a part of the body and mind. It is apart from body and mind. It is not a product of the body.
- It pervades and illuminates the mind and body.
- Consciousness is not limited by the mind and body. It is not something that is localized in some place. It exists apart from the mind and body. There is consciousness even there is no body.
- We can experience consciousness via our body and mind.
- Without the mind and body consciousness is still there but cannot be experienced.
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