Does Pure Consciousness Exist?

[SQAAD]

Many spiritual teachers such as Rupert Spira talk about being aware of being aware. Or being aware of Awareness itself. I have been meditating for years now. And my mind becomes really still. I feel that i am aware of awareness itself. But sometimes i even doubt that Awareness exists by itself. Maybe i am just aware of the absence of sounds.. I am definitely aware but not aware of something in particular.

Leo has said in this video that there is not even Consciousness. There is only being. But on another video about Neti Neti he kinda has different positions...

Does pure awareness/consciousness without objects exist? I have considered the possibility that only whatever we experience exist (sights, sounds etc) and maybe we don't need any awareness to be aware of these things. Also the problem is that you can never be aware of awareness because it is non-objective. 

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by SQAAD

[The Lucid Dreamer]

Consciousness is being.  I think he meant in that video that it’s not “consciousness” in the dualistic sense, as opposed to unconsciousness. Though truly, you cannot put a name on it.  Being and consciousness are just sounds we are making with our mouths in an attempt to define something that is completely undefinable. 

[Thought Art]

I think it's the only thing that exists 

[RMQualtrough]

Consciousness = Nothing. Nothing is a more appropriate term. And Nothing = Everything.

Srs not just randomly trying to sound "deep". Consciousness is nothingness when paired with somethingness. We experience Consciousness because of Something. But itself is Nothing, and the Something is also inherently nothing.

Legitimately.

Edited October 14, 2021 by RMQualtrough

[Moksha]

Who is being aware of Consciousness? Ultimately, there is no separate "who", only Consciousness being Self-aware.

[Leo Gura]

You can certainly experience empty or formless consciousness/awareness/being.

But also, form = formlessness, so don't fall into the trap of thinking that formlessness is above form.

Consciousness/awareness is Nothing. But you can "experience" this Nothing, for lack of a better word.

If you've ever had a dream in which you die, perhaps you can recall the formless consciousness that remains after all the images have stopped.

[Ry4n]

7 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

But also, form = formlessness, so don't fall into the trap of thinking that formlessness is above form.

Definitely, although I think for a lot of people experiencing that nothing on its own makes it easier to see how it relates to and is ultimately the same as the forms occurring within it. 

[Osaid]

11 hours ago, SQAAD said:

Does pure awareness/consciousness without objects exist?

Yes. It is called "turiya" in hindu spirituality, or "pure consciousness" in other spiritual circles.

You can't imagine it though, you can only experience it. When you try to imagine it, you are already putting it in a dualistic container, so it does not work. The experience of nothingness has no duality or finitude present. 

It's like trying to imagine what having no eyesight is like. It's just absent, but there is still the experience of it being absent. You don't see any colors or shades, it's just completely gone. That's what nothingness is like, but your entire reality is gone along with your eyesight, and you just exist there. If you extend the lack of eyesight to every single one of your senses, that is what nothingness feels like. It's just a complete absence of everything, but at the same time you are perceiving that absence.

 

[SQAAD]

@Moksha

11 hours ago, Moksha said:

Who is being aware of Consciousness? Ultimately, there is no separate "who", only Consciousness being Self-aware.

There is this distinction created by many gurus between Consciousness and whatever Consciousness is Conscious of. And they are trying to point the student towards consciousness without objects.

[SQAAD]

@Leo Gura

10 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You can certainly experience empty or formless consciousness/awareness/being.

But also, form = formlessness, so don't fall into the trap of thinking that formlessness is above form.

Consciousness/awareness is Nothing. But you can "experience" this Nothing, for lack of a better word.

If you've ever had a dream in which you die, perhaps you can recall the formless consciousness that remains after all the images have stopped.

Why do some teachers put an emphasis on being aware of Consciousness without any objects? Should someone when meditating try to be aware of consciousness itself without any objects and generally ignore objects? 

Edited October 15, 2021 by SQAAD

[SQAAD]

@Osaid

2 hours ago, Osaid said:

That's what nothingness is like, but your entire reality is gone along with your eyesight, and you just exist there. If you extend the lack of eyesight to every single one of your senses, that is what nothingness feels like. It's just a complete absence of everything, but at the same time you are perceiving that absence.

 

I get a similar experience to that when meditating. There are moments where i am not aware of anything in particular and there are also zero thoughts. All i know at that point is that i am aware. I can't even say that i am aware of awareness itself. I am just aware. 

It's very peaceful.

Edited October 15, 2021 by SQAAD

[HypnoticMagician]

Yes, it  does.

[allislove]

@SQAAD

There is only Consciousness. Spiritual teachers make a distinction between objects and what is aware of the objects just as temp step towards self realization. Meditate and investigate what is "me"... ultimately there is a self realization that there is only Consciousness, that everything is perfect, that this is a magical place & there is no other place. I'd call it loving placeless place.  

[BipolarGrowth]

There is just an edge of a present moment as a self, but even this edge can stop. Nothing lasts forever. Everything is change in an infinitely complicated way as far as the eye can see and in fact much further. Everything is Buddha. Nothing is Buddha. 

[Leo Gura]

6 hours ago, SQAAD said:

@Leo Gura

Why do some teachers put an emphasis on being aware of Consciousness without any objects?

Because you might say that is "pure" consciousness. And because humans are so attached to forms that they can't see the pure empty consciousness at the heart of things.

6 hours ago, SQAAD said:

Should someone when meditating try to be aware of consciousness itself without any objects and generally ignore objects? 

You could use that as a technique.

But you could also do the opposite and meditate on forms.

It goes full-circle in the end. You can traverse the circles from either direction.

[Enlightenment]

I don't think that is possible. What they call Pure consciousness experience is technically not pure consciousness

[Moksha]

8 hours ago, SQAAD said:

There is this distinction created by many gurus between Consciousness and whatever Consciousness is Conscious of. And they are trying to point the student towards consciousness without objects.

Ultimately, do you believe there is a distinction? Do boundaries exist, or are they only apparent as such? Is Consciousness all there is? If so, what is there to be aware of, other than itself?

[SQAAD]

@Enlightenment

On 15/10/2021 at 6:05 PM, Enlightenment said:

I don't think that is possible. What they call Pure consciousness experience is technically not pure consciousness

I think pure consciousness exists.

There are moments in deep meditation where you are not aware of anything in particular. Technically you can say that you are still feeling , sensing stuff but you are no longer absorbed to these things. It's like they don't exist for a while.

Also in deep sleep advanced meditators can become aware of pure consciousness.