Is consciousness more than just sensory perception?

[Raider15]

I am wondering whether consciousness can exist without senses and thoughts to be conscious of. Can there exist pure consciousness, without observing anything?

[molosku]

Remember the time between the big bang and your bodys birth, that timeless place? Thats consciousness, although me pointing to it is a story. Also the big bang is a story. 

[Shin]

Yes, you can prove that to yourself by meditating quite a long time or sometimes you can even be aware of your deep sleep.

[Leo Gura]

@Raider15 Yes, but your question is rather misleading because you are assuming consciousness is a thing. Pure consciousness is not a thing. It is blank, void, nothing. It is like the hole in your coffee cup. You're asking: "Can a pure hole exist without a coffee cup?" Yes, except it is then no longer a hole as you've always thought of it. It is just infinite emptiness.

[Emanyalpsid]

No, consciousness is perception as such. Without perception there is no consciousness, cause what would you be conscious of if you don't perceive it?

You are on the right track. Read http://www.foundationsofhumanlife.com if you want to know more about consciousness from a Buddhist perspective.

[molosku]

5 hours ago, Emanyalpsid said:

Without perception there is no consciousness

Doesn't that imply that consciousness dies with the body? 

[Rilles]

When youre sleeping or dead consciousness/reality exists but it is not conscious of body-mind. The reason you think it doesnt is because you still think consciouness is something YOU have and can find in the sensory world somewhere.

[Emanyalpsid]

42 minutes ago, molosku said:

Doesn't that imply that consciousness dies with the body? 

Sadly, yes or are you aware that there is a consciousness outside of your body?

Edited November 10, 2018 by Emanyalpsid

[Emanyalpsid]

25 minutes ago, Rilles said:

When youre sleeping or dead consciousness/reality exists but it is not conscious of body-mind. The reason you think it doesnt is because you still think consciouness is something YOU have and can find in the sensory world somewhere.

You are saying consciousness is the same as reality. One can think this but then you live in your own mind. You think this is so and you thereby reject 2000 years of empirical scientific evidence and language as a whole. It is the other way around, you think that it exists outside of the body. Consciousness is what you are. How can consciousness exist when it is not conscious of itself? By dillusion.

[Rilles]

4 minutes ago, Emanyalpsid said:

You are saying consciousness is the same as reality. One can think this but then you live in your own mind. You think this is so and you thereby reject 2000 years of empirical scientific evidence and language as a whole. It is the other way around, you think that it exists outside of the body. Consciousness is what you are. How can consciousness exist when it is not conscious of itself? By dillusion.

We can agree to disagree, only you can find out for yourself.

[molosku]

40 minutes ago, Emanyalpsid said:

Sadly, yes or are you aware that there is a consciousness outside of your body?

 

[Emanyalpsid]

1 hour ago, molosku said:

Instead of looking for the answer in your own experience, you just post a link to a movie where some guy explains that indeed we can not experience without consciousness and that consciousness constitutes our experience, without you giving any further comment.  Although the part where he talks about rejecting the world as `conceived as matter is ignorance,`doenst make sense at all and is ignorant by itself cause perceiving matter is not the same as conceiving something as matter. If you make that step, then you think that everything you perceive is conceived. 

Then you create a barrier in your mind where everything you perceive is conceived, thus you live in your own mind and everything could be a dream. The self is then the believe that everything is an illusion from the mind and you can reject everything with this conviction leaving you in a blissfull state as long as you dont have to deal with reality outside of your own action. You can then give meaning to the things you perceive the way you want to, like Leo did with the coffee cup analogy. For other people it is then very easy to be open to talkings of others who believe in the same way they do, as everything is a dream and can have any meaning.

Although, I know I am blowing against the wind here.  This forum is full with believers. With people who believe it, consciousness or reality or infinity, exists upon itself.

 

Edited November 10, 2018 by Emanyalpsid

[PsiloPutty]

@Leo Gura  The coffee cup metaphor was one of the best that I've heard for that sort of explanation.