The importance of low consciousness states

[kamwalker]

So I know that most people here like to discuss high consciousness and almost tend to demonize low conscious states, but I want to take a second to give my take on how being in these "low conscious" states are actually not something to write off. It's easy to get very lost in the spirituality realm and go through moments of crisis before coming to a certain awakening. You might think powering through it is the only option. In my experience going through periods of just letting all of it go are incredibly helpful.

I've just sat home, took some edibles, drank some alcohol, put on some dance music, raved out of my mind, and induced states of euphoria most people probably won't ever understand. I've gone to a club and grinded on a stranger with the same feelings being felt. After doing stuff like this it has actually helped me with continuing the work of feeling true Self. Having said that I was only able to experience these moments through recontexualization of reality via spirituality. It confirms to me the importance of balancing it all. One foot on both sides of the field. Everything. 

[Preety_India]

So simply turning on some hippy music and dancing is a way to be your true self? 

Your zen devilry is showing. 

Try putting in some hard work to actually be spiritual. 

Because what you're doing has hardly anything to do with spirituality. It's like hugging a tree 

 

Maybe don't make everything so superficial. 

 

[kamwalker]

@Preety_India if you are under the assumption that engaging in materialist pleasure is not part of the process then you and a lot of people are going to have to rethink a lot about your life 

[Preety_India]

Just now, kamwalker said:

@Preety_India if you are under the assumption that engaging in materialist pleasure is not part of the process then you and a lot of people are going to have to rethink a lot about your life 

You're trying to make it like spirituality is all about engaging in material pleasures. Who told you that spiritual people don't enjoy a material life? But they don't mix the two. Do what you want but your judgement is a gross error 

 

 

[kamwalker]

You are literally mixing the two right now. And will continue to do so for the rest of your day. 

[4201]

Consider that consuming pain killers like alcohol induce a pleasure that isn't caused by taking good care of your body but rather induced by incapacitating your body from feeling pain and thinking too much.

If you were to feel the same thing without the alcohol it would be a sign of true self-care. You can argue that a balance between true self-care and bypassing feelings using pain killer is "good". In any case it's up to you to decide what you want for your body and your body will always let you know what it truly wants if you feel anyway.

I would argue however that consciousness has no states, this is just an idea one can have about consciousness. This idea is experienced as content in the consciousness. If you have different experiences with different drugs, different energy levels, consciousness does not change, only the content of the experience change. Consciousness is always there, you can judge it to be low or high but it doesn't stop from being here and now, unchanged by the content of your experience.

One could say "Higher consciousness = the experience of fewer thought identifications" and "Lower consciousness = the experience of more thought identifications" in which case the irony becomes clear, why would one ever identify with the idea that they are lower consciousness?

[kamwalker]

I think that's a reasonable take for why someone would be consuming alcohol and is true much of the time. My point of the post wasn't really supposed to be about alcohol though, it was just an example of how I've found it helpful for my own growth to occasionally dabble in what people view as hedonistic pleasures. 

I agree with your second point about consciousness. It ties into what I said about recontexualization of reality. The content of that experience is dictated by the awareness of the experience itself.