Let's define "awareness"

[axiom]

As some of you will know, I think "awareness" is a very misleading pointer. Probably the most misleading pointer.

It seems that very few on this forum would agree with this summation. Most here seem to consider that "awareness" is in some sense foundational. Sometimes, it can seem as if differences of opinion on this matter are purely semantic, whilst at other times there can seem to be glaring substantive differences (based on proximity to enlightenment?)

Considering this, I thought it would be interesting to pin down the meaning of the word in its context as the de facto ontological primitive of mainstream spirituality.

So... I ask you all: Is "awareness" a thing? Can it be pointed to? Or is it just inference? What is it?

[Breakingthewall]

consciousness suggests the ability to be aware of something. For me it is a very ambiguous term, which suggests an action. perceive something. before the perception there must have been the perceived. to indicate that it is reality, we can say infinity, or infinite potentiality. the infinite is conscious of itself, but it is not consciousness primarily, it is infinite, and for being so it is consciousness, intelligence, total power

[A Fellow Lighter]

The question, what are you aware of, should point to this definition you look for. 

The question, is there something to be aware of, is equally just as significant. 

However, the semantics you use for the definition is really just for you. 

[Eyowey]

Awareness can be clouded quite easily so it's not a good foundation. If god is awareness then he's like a leaf in the wind. Does not sound like much of a god to me. But what's higher than awareness?

[Moksha]

Let go of the dictionary and the need to conceptualize spirituality. God is an equally triggering term for many people. It is not about what the mind finds interesting, logical, or paradoxical. Whatever you call ultimate reality, it cannot be comprehended. It is only directly realized, beyond words.

For some reason, this conversation keeps reminding me of the poem "Songs of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross. Especially this passage:

He wounded my neck
And all my senses were suspended.

I lost myself. Forgot myself.

When the senses, thoughts, and feelings are suspended, it is a grace by that which is beyond the cosmos. We can't choose to make it happen, only prepare ourselves for it. The self dissolves into ultimate reality, in the same way a wave of the ocean surrenders to the depthless stillness that created it.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Moksha

[Carl-Richard]

I treat it as a synonym to consciousness as an ontological primitive, but many people (including me in the past) think of it as something like attention and a muscle you can train with spiritual practice.

[Kksd74628]

@axiom

I'd say the less spiritual words you need to express some idea, the better you know the subject.

[UnbornTao]

A recognition of perceptive phenomena, which may be a function of the brain.

Consciousness isn't just awareness or cognition, it is both prior to and at the source of those functions. Cognition is a process and a function of the brain while Consciousness isn't a process and is prior to the brain, so can't be a function of it.

That's my (intellectual) rambling. Haven't become profoundly conscious of it yet.

Edited December 12, 2022 by UnbornTao

[Breakingthewall]

Consciousness is just a word that spiritual writers have used to replace the word god, since it has too many connotations of traditional religions, and the reader would be confused. but I think it is not a lucky decision. many people of the new era have adopted it ."The consciousness" they say, making a devout gesture, since they have read adyashanti that says nothing more than vagueness. Consciousness is that, a vague term, which loosely means the act of being aware of something. reality is not that, reality is reality, and that's it. the word reality is much better because encompasses everything , and it's true that God evokes the traditional god too much 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Breakingthewall

[axiom]

59 minutes ago, Breakingthewall said:

Consciousness is just a word that spiritual writers have used to replace the word god, since it has too many connotations of traditional religions, and the reader would be confused. but I think it is not a lucky decision. many people of the new era have adopted it ."The consciousness" they say, making a devout gesture, since they have read adyashanti that says nothing more than vagueness. Consciousness is that, a vague term, which loosely means the act of being aware of something. reality is not that, reality is reality, and that's it. the word reality is much better because encompasses everything , and it's true that God evokes the traditional god too much 

I agree. Reality, or infinity, or simply this. 

All words suffer degrees of impotence, but the concept of  “awareness” seems particularly indirect and misleading - even if it can seem to be useful at first for recognising that “you” are not “your” thoughts, etc.

[Breakingthewall]

but on the other hand, reality is mind. then consciousness is not all bad. reality is mind forming this appearance. and that mind is your mind. here's the point. then, the perfect definition of reality would be: you 

[vladorion]

Awareness is the self-knowing nature of manifestation.

[ThermalTide]

Awareness for me is being able to observe something without pre-conceived notions or ideas clouding what it actually is. For example, I am an alcoholic, so exercising awareness for me would look like being able to observe a craving of mine as exactly what it is; an emotional response to stress and discomfort. Or, more succinctly, a change in brain chemistry which proposes a solution that is fundamentally an illusion. My ability to distinguish between what is an automatic ego response and what is truly occurring is my definition of awareness. Perhaps as I continue down this path of self actualization I will understand something deeper; I wish to achieve levels of awareness where I am able to understand why I have the obsessive and neurotic thoughts I have, while simultaneously having the centering foundation to automatically steer myself where I truly want to go. 

 

[Breakingthewall]

49 minutes ago, ThermalTide said:

I wish to achieve levels of awareness where I am able to understand why I have the obsessive and neurotic thoughts I have,

give thanks to that shit, it can be your passport to freedom. when you can't live with yourself is when you have to look for serious solutions. deconstruct, break the energy barriers that constitute you. If you do serious work, in two years it will seem incredible to look back and see the level of suffering in which you lived

[Blackhawk]

It's the only thing you know.

All knowing, for example the knowing that you breathe, can exist only because of awareness/consciousness.

I guess consciousness, awareness, existence and knowing is the same thing..

Edited December 12, 2022 by Blackhawk