Is consciousness all there is?

[MarkusSweden]

Or is there anything else as well? 

[Prabhaker]

6 minutes ago, MarkusSweden said:

Or is there anything else as well? 

Yes , unconsciousness ! 

[Patang]

there can be only one unlimited absolute infinity. another "thing" would limit the unlimited. some call it "god", "consciousness", and so on. actually it's nothing, not a thing...

[MarkusSweden]

3 minutes ago, Prabhaker said:

Yes , unconsciousness ! 

HAHA!  

[egoless]

40 minutes ago, MarkusSweden said:

Or is there anything else as well? 

Consciousness is not a thing - it is undefined. You may better understand it as the being  - consciousness=being=presence. Unmanifested = infinite is the source of every "thing".

[cetus]

@MarkusSweden   

"It is sufficient to understand without the slightest doubt and with great conviction that there is a state prior to the arising of consciousness.  Nisargadatta

[robdl]

I think you guys may be using "consciousness" to mean different things.  Is the original poster talking about Absolute Consciousness/Being? Or relative consciousness?

When Nisargadatta talks about consciousness, and a state prior to the arising of consciousness, he's talking about relative consciousness -- consciousness of thought and sense objects.

These discussions are pretty confusing and cumbersome without being on the same page about the terminology used.

Edited March 27, 2018 by robdl

[who chit]

Consciousness is always conscious and never unconscious. Pure, objectless,formless consciousness,the One reality,is all there is. 
The beginning of ignorance or unconsciousness,is when we mistakenly believe we are the objective "personal I" thought/idea, and forget our true original nature. The "I" thought is the first most subtle object of perception to appear in consciousness,and from which all other thoughts and objects of perception manifest. Consciousness is conscious. There is no "I" that is conscious. Proper Self inquiry leads to this realization. "I" is a thought appearing in, and perceived by, the pure reality that is prior to all manifestation.

Who/what is conscious? The mind thought, "I am", may arise.
To which you question "who/what am I". The I thought will disappear,proving it to be an illusion. Thus revealing the one pure reality..Consciousness, that is prior to "I-ness",objects or otherness. Nothing exists without the knowing of it,therefore consciousness is the knower and known. Not 2 but One.
It's the same thing when J.Krishnamurti said "the observer is the observed".

Edited March 27, 2018 by who chit

[Monkey-man]

we can say that everything is consiousness and also we can say that there are many degrees of expression of consoiusness or light

minerals are lower animals are higher and humans are higher than animals etc

 

[Joseph Maynor]

Before Enlightenment: carry water chop wood.  After Enlightenment: carry water, chop wood.

I don't know if this resonates with the rest of you, but I kinda feel like Enlightenment is a full circle.  When you're too much in la la land that is a sign that you don't quite got it.  You're still in the mind about it.  The la la land part should go away after a while.  You should come back into the dream, but now your whole perspective on the dream is totally different.  But it's not like you're stunned like you are when you're still trying to figure things out.  I think it's normal to go through that stunned stage for a good long while -- maybe a year or more.  That's the awakening phase.  For me it was a little over a year.  

Edited March 29, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[robdl]

On 3/27/2018 at 0:49 PM, who chit said:

Who/what is conscious? The mind thought, "I am", may arise.
To which you question "who/what am I". The I thought will disappear,proving it to be an illusion. Thus revealing the one pure reality..Consciousness, that is prior to "I-ness",objects or otherness. Nothing exists without the knowing of it,therefore consciousness is the knower and known. Not 2 but One.
It's the same thing when J.Krishnamurti said "the observer is the observed".

would you mind elaborating a bit more on Krishnamurti's notion of "the observer is the observed" and how it compares to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi/self-inquiry?    Is the "observer" the illusory personal 'I'?  So the "observed" would therefore also be the illusory personal 'I"? 

Edited April 12, 2018 by robdl