The Brain & Consciousness

[Wes Thoughts]

I have been contemplating and researching what role the brain plays in consciousness/awareness and I would like to hear what role you guys believe it plays. It is very obvious to me that the brain does play some role in consciousness. Whether it is a creator or a receiver of consciousness I am unsure.

Here are the main reasons I believe the brain has a very important role in consciousness:

• I did not perceive any consciousness before I was born (or had a fully functioning brain). 
• I know that adding different substances to my brain affects my consciousness.
• Science proves that damage to certain areas of the brain effects consciousness.

For these reasons I am still very stuck in the scientific belief that consciousness/awareness is created by my brain. Any thoughts on how this could not be true would be appreciated.

Thanks. 

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by Wes Thoughts

[Viking]

11 minutes ago, Wes Thoughts said:

I did not perceive any consciousness before I was born (or had a fully functioning brain).

you dont have a memory of it, all there is is only the present moment, all else is thoughts, memory is thought, past and future are thoughts.

12 minutes ago, Wes Thoughts said:

I know that adding different substances to my brain affects my consciousness.

your consciousness is always the same but mind stuff is clouding it. by mind stuff i mean everything that's in your head, in other words your whole life, thoughts, feelings, senses, everything is in your brain and it's clouding consciousness. when you take substances they affect the brain, making it less cloudy.

14 minutes ago, Wes Thoughts said:

Science proves that damage to certain areas of the brain affect consciousness.

again, doesnt affect consciousness, affects the brain and what "you" perceive. the "you", as you probably know is also mind stuff. it's what consciousness perceives.

 

on other note, how could matter create consciousness? think about it, if there's an objective world with only matter in it, how could there possibly be consciousness? it's kind of a mental jump to assume that. think about it in terms of instead objective world and in it consciousness, first comes consciousness and creates your world, everything will make much more sense then. if you will see from that point of view much more stuff will make sense, and that will make you more convinced than you are right now.

 https://www.trinfinityacademy.com/ i suggest look at the courses in this site. they're free and will clear a lot of stuff for you.

[Wes Thoughts]

21 minutes ago, Ilya said:

your consciousness is always the same but mind stuff is clouding it. by mind stuff i mean everything that's in your head, in other words your whole life, thoughts, feelings, senses, everything is in your brain and it's clouding consciousness. when you take substances they affect the brain, making it less cloudy.

Does mindfulness meditation with labeling help make your mind less cloudy?

@Ilya Thanks! I have been going through the empowerment 1 course on https://www.trinfinityacademy.com/ I do like the course structure and teachings but I can't totally buy into his theories yet that's why I am trying to break down the areas where I am getting stuck. I realize that I still have some belief that our brains create consciousness so I am addressing that right now. Would you recommend Empowerment 1 or Enlightenment 1 first? I know he says to chose whichever resonates with you but I feel like I am skipping by taking empowerment first.

[cirkussmile]

Hey man. You can't choose enlightenment course 1 or 2 because the one who is choosing is illusory and the options is also illusory. 

I'm sorry but you can't think your way out of this. 

Find what you like but go directly after the truth! 

[Wes Thoughts]

4 minutes ago, cirkussmile said:

Hey man. You can't choose enlightenment course 1 or 2 because the one who is choosing is illusory and the options is also illusory. 

@cirkussmile But the course teaches that there is free will... 

[cirkussmile]

And about your question. The brain makes you become aware of yourself. But you don't need a brain to be here. 

[Viking]

@Wes Thoughts 

any meditation works really. im doing that.

 

If you feel like you're skipping then do enlightenment, just to get rid of that feeling. I also kinda feel that enlightenment is really the first thing to do because after realizing yourself all of your ideas about life will change and also goals will, so stuff like life purpose, for me, doesnt resonate at the moment.

 

people misunderstand what is meant by free will.

i find it easy to think that way: there is no "you" that can choose stuff, because you are consciousness, therefore no REAL free will. however, your brain acts based on information, and if it sees that it has no free will, it will absorb that information and do something with it. your brain is the thing that does the decisions. because we're identified with it, in other words with beliefs, emotions and thoughts, we think "we" do the choices. but the choices simply happen based on information. it's ok if you dont understand, YOU DONT HAVE TO AT THIS POINT. drop all that free will and all advanced stuff bullshit and just meditate and study. there's stuff u simply cant understand right now and it's ok. the enlightenment course doesnt bring you concepts you dont understand until later on, only then you will understand them, so just do that for now and later you will look back and maybe get it then.

[Viking]

and very important: dont use enlightenment as a means to escape the world you live in and dont rush, take everything with ease. dont underestimate enlightenment, I realized how scary and absurd it can be just recently. this road you chose is not easy at all. you can go literally insane if you dont be careful.

dont rush, get some people in real life to support you, meditation retreats and the like (there are free ones). it is very important to not be alone, that's coming from personal experience of a 24/7 loner. Im kind of getting through it, but you might not, take my words seriously please.

it is healthy to not be in "spirituality mode" all of the time. at the start at least, to get to know the basics first.

im probably exaggerating a bit here, it doesnt have to be scary, my main point is take it slow and be sure to digest all of the stuff really good in the trifinity courses and take it all with fun, as something that at the end will give you 100% well being. have that belief if you can. it is true that life is beautiful, but you gotta realize it for yourself.

[Nahm]

@Wes Thoughts you referenced being born, if you think about it, that's just a thought. You don't have any experience being born. you mentioned adding substances effects your consciounsness but you don't know what your consciousness is, or literally what any substance is, so those are only thoughts too. You also are not a scientist who did the research, nor have you actually experienced 'your' brain....all of that is also just thinking. 

I'm not saying this to be critical. I'm hoping it saves you some time. Science is helpful (imo) to expand the mind, but hinders when it's looked at to 'prove' things, etc. It's just the study of things, it doesn't prove things. Read or watched videos on quantum physics? It's helpful in dismantling the other sciences. What a miracle. 

[Wes Thoughts]

@Ilya Thanks for the wisdom. I do find myself rushing too. I feel very frustrated with this path sometimes. It's like Leo said in one of his videos he teaches you a lot of practical "self" improvement stuff that was really helping me get ahead according to society's point of view but then he drops the "but none of that will ever really make you happy, only enlightenment brings you true peace of mind and happiness" on me so now I feel frustrated because it is such a difficult, slippery path to follow. I think a path of empowerment while learning about enlightenment will be best for me. And I need to remember to enjoy it and take it slow.

@Nahm Thanks. That really makes sense. It's crazy to think about what little I actually know from direct experience. I have watched videos on quantum mechanics. I was a big fan of Lawrence Krauss who seemed to have it all figured out down to a quantum level how a material universe can pop out of seemingly nothing. After that I had my existential breakdown because I really felt deeply that there was no purpose at all to anything. So at least I have gone through that already, lol. Looking back on quantum mechanics after learning the "consciousness/awareness creates reality" point of view a lot more of the quantum mechanics principles make sense. Like the unified field theory and particles existing in 2 states at once until they are observed.

[Nahm]

@Wes Thoughts awesome