Questions about levels of consciousness

[Seth]

What does it mean to increase consciousness?

How can there be more or less consciousness if everything is consciousness? This might be a pedantic thing to ask, I assume there are two meanings here for different contexts.

Leo talking about bandwidth got me thinking; is consciousness just awareness? If I increase my awareness then is that what it means to increase my consciousness?

For example, I've never taken a psychedelic but I imagine that such a drastic change in state of consciousness increases one's awareness of how all encompassing consciousness is and thus "increases consciousness".

[The0Self]

One way to put it: increasing conscious power, but in such a way that gratitude and love is more pervasive in every day life. Psychedelics are a sort of cheat code for opening up a sneak peak into what this can look like, in a sense. But desire and curiosity + practice and inquiry is the driving force for getting to higher levels in an abiding way.

[Seth]

@The0Self That doesn't really answer my question(s).

[The0Self]

1 minute ago, Seth said:

@The0Self That doesn't really answer my question(s).

Sorry, I'll answer directly. What you describe simply conflates the term consciousness. "Everything is consciousness" <-- the word consciousness there, is totally different in meaning from the term used here: "increasing consciousness."

Two different things, just spelled the same.

[Seth]

@The0Self What are the meanings?

Edited May 18, 2022 by Seth

[Shambhu]

@Seth

19 minutes ago, Seth said:

What does it mean to increase consciousness?

How can there be more or less consciousness if everything is consciousness? This might be a pedantic thing to ask, I assume there are two meanings here for different contexts.

Leo talking about bandwidth got me thinking; is consciousness just awareness? If I increase my awareness then is that what it means to increase my consciousness?

For example, I've never taken a psychedelic but I imagine that such a drastic change in state of consciousness increases one's awareness of how all encompassing consciousness is and thus "increases consciousness".

Many here with disagree with me, but I would say that there are no levels to Consciousness.  It cannot be increased or decreased.  It is Absolute, and as Absolute, it cannot change (i.e. expand or contract).

I repeatedly see people confusing the mind with Consciousness, but this is an error.  It's understandable, since Western culture has traditional seen the two as synonymous.  This is a problem even in academia.  Consciousness studies at the University level is usual just the study of mental states.

The mind has states.  It can increase or decrease.  It is what appears to Consciousness, but they are not the same.   The images in a mirror are not separate from the mirror, yet the mirror is not the images.  It is the same with Consciousness and the mind.

You could also use the analogy of space.  The contents of space can change, but the space remains the same.

[zurew]

4 minutes ago, Shambhu said:

Many here with disagree with me, but I would say that there are no levels to Consciousness.  It cannot be increased or decreased.  It is Absolute, and as Absolute, it cannot change (i.e. expand or contract).

I repeatedly see people confusing the mind with Consciousness, but this is an error.  It's understandable, since Western culture has traditional seen the two as synonymous.  This is a problem even in academia.  Consciousness studies at the University level is usual just the study of mental states.

The mind has states.  It can increase or decrease.  It is what appears to Consciousness, but they are not the same.   The images in a mirror are not separate from the mirror, yet the mirror is not the images.  It is the same with Consciousness and the mind.

You could also use the analogy of space.  The contents of space can change, but the space remains the same.

If we want to be reductive we can say that consciousness has its own levels, because even the mind is consciousness. But i can see why you are making a distinction between the levels of mind and consciousness. It maybe more understandable for some people.

[Breakingthewall]

Id say that what you can do is blur the barriers of the ego. a dimmer ego will allow you a broader vision. a more opaque ego will make you feel locked into its limitations. you can increase your levels of awareness by going beyond those limitations, I guess that's what they mean by levels of consciousness since actually the level of consciousness of a heavy ego is the same as that of no ego, just change perception

[The0Self]

49 minutes ago, Seth said:

@The0Self What are the meanings?

1. All there is.

2. Increasing power (and brightness; wieldiness; steadiness) of mind in such a way that facilitates gratitude and love.

 

3. Also, one could say yet another is freedom from delusion and perceptual filters.

Edited May 18, 2022 by The0Self

[Shambhu]

@zurew

17 minutes ago, zurew said:

If we want to be reductive we can say that consciousness has its own levels, because even the mind is consciousness. But i can see why you are making a distinction between the levels of mind and consciousness. It maybe more understandable for some people.

Yes, there is good reason to have such a distinction.  The mind is ultimately Consciousness, but Consciousness is not the mind.  

If I have a wood desk, it is correct to say that the desk is wood, but it is incorrect to say wood is a desk.  If that were true, I could send you out into the forest looking for a desk and you would be able to successfully find one ;-)

When we conflate the mind with Consciousness, or try to justify it by saying "the mind is consciousness," then we could say "everything is anger (or red or hunger or...you get the point) because anger is consciousness" and things like that.  

Even when the mind dissolves into deep sleep at night, Consciousness is still present.  The mind is dependent upon Consciousness, but Consciousness is not dependent upon the mind.

[Batman]

It is about the degree/depth to which you are conscious of what is truth.

Edited May 18, 2022 by Batman

[Dazgwny]

People seems to get far too carried away with this term. I can’t see the difficulty with it. It’s just a simple basic term that I would have assumed anyone who’s into this work could understand. It seems people start thinking too much about it. There are levels it’s quite obvious. By a low level he would mean your very unaware of what’s going on with reality, very materialistic and convinced of the material physical world being ‘real’ as such. And very egoic. By a high level your much more aware of the dream like nature, more in tune with what’s going on and how reality truly is. With much less egoic attachments. And then there’s anything in between. An infinite level would suggest your infinitely aware, a God state of consciousness as such. I don’t see the issue with using levels of consciousness as a reference to how truly aware of reality one might be. Of course there’s more depth to what I’ve just said but that’s pretty much it in simple terms. These things have to be communicated in some way to get the message across, and I think that’s a pretty good method. Of course consciousness is consciousness, but there are degrees to how expanded or contracted it can be. So levels is a good, and what I would have thought to be an easy simple way of communicating it. But for some reason it seems to trip people up or agitate them

[SamC]

Raising conciousness = you expanding your identity by deconstructing what you identify with

[Shambhu]

@Dazgwny

5 minutes ago, Dazgwny said:

People seems to get far too carried away with this term. I can’t see the difficulty with it. It’s just a simple basic term that I would have assumed anyone who’s into this work could understand. It seems people start thinking too much about it. There are levels it’s quite obvious. By a low level he would mean your very unaware of what’s going on with reality, very materialistic and convinced of the material physical world being ‘real’ as such. And very egoic. By a high level your much more aware of the dream like nature, more in tune with what’s going on and how reality truly is. With much less egoic attachments. And then there’s anything in between. An infinite level would suggest your infinitely aware, a God state of consciousness as such. I don’t see the issue with using levels of consciousness as a reference to how truly aware of reality one might be. Of course there’s more depth to what I’ve just said but that’s pretty much it in simple terms. These things have to be communicated in some way to get the message across, and I think that’s a pretty good method. Of course consciousness is consciousness, but there are degrees to how expanded or contracted it can be. So levels is a good, and what I would have thought to be an easy simple way of communicating it. But for some reason it seems to trip people up or agitate them

When communicating, words do matter.  There is a reason to make distinctions.  It's not as trivial as you may assume.

If Consciousness could expand, this implies change.  Anything that can change is not Absolute.  

[GreenWoods]

Maybe this helps:

In short, this model has 5 dimensions of consciousness:

• Illumination Dimension. Low vs high state of consciousness. High consciousness in terms of being closer to God Realisation. High clarity and recognition of your true nature 
• Void Dimension. Form vs formless consciousness 
• Intensity Dimension: subtle vs intense awareness of awakening truths
• Magnitude Dimension. The magnitude of consciousness in a human is far higher than in a rabbit. And it is far higher in a god (astral entity like Zeus) than in a human.
• Alertness Dimension. During deep sleep it's at cero. When you are conscious it has a certain value. When you take coffee it increases even more

 

Everything is a state of consciousness. 

In some states you are conscious of your true nature and in some states not. 

Edited May 19, 2022 by GreenWoods

[Shambhu]

I should add that the deeper you explore any subject, the greater the need for distinctions.  

If you are having a casual conversation with someone about your computer, you could refer to everything housed in the chassis as the "CPU."  However, if you are designing or even repairing computers, the "CPU" is something much more specific.  

So I can wink at anyone using phrases such as "expanded consciousness" in general conversation, but I would expect those who are earnestly pursing realization to have more rigor.  I especially would expect more of anyone claiming realization.  If you do not understand the difference between the mind and Consciousness, I question your attainment ;-)

[Zigzag Idiot]

A lot of good contributions,

Another perspective roughly put- 

Levels of consciousness somewhat equal to degree of being.

 

[Shambhu]

@Zigzag Idiot

1 minute ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

 

Levels of consciousness somewhat equal to degree of being.

 

Is that like being half pregnant?  LOL

[Zigzag Idiot]

1 minute ago, Shambhu said:

@Zigzag Idiot

Is that like being half pregnant?  LOL

no

[BlueOak]

Consciousness increases every second of every day. Moreso if you work directly on becoming more conscious. You cannot avoid it even if you try, life will continually find ways to make you more conscious even if you go into full avoidance mode.

It's the one thing you are taking with you when you die, so it's the only thing of value to achieve here.

What is it. That's is always a great question to ask. In that question is how you can expand it. It permeates absolutely everything that you will ever experience. It is everything.

Its perception, how you filter, perceive, what you allow, what you experience, how it relates, its awareness, its observation, how you arrange experience, what meanings are observed, what's true, what's false. Its the heartbeat of the life around you when you meditate, it's your body awareness, energetic experiences, spiritual experiences, emotional awareness, truth, being aware of yourself/others, trends, patterns, all the strands that make up life.

That's an inadequate way to explain what increasing your consciousness means from what I have experienced over my life doing so.

It's everything, and all that exists or rather what you can perceive of it.

Today when I was thinking about this, it's how and what you experience of god, the infinite, source, mind(or not mind), whatever you want to assign to that term.

*If you want a practical application. Perceiving more changes everything inside you and how you relate to the world and others.

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by BlueOak