What is consciousness in the grand scheme?

I have been pondering the meaning of consciousness lately. Was wondering what everyone thought it was? I kinda think it is the opposite of existence if that makes sense. Consciousness takes in everything, but how do you "take in" what exactly it is itself, what exactly YOU are? Is consciousness emptiness, the absence of something (nothing)? Is life just an infinite gaze into a mirror trying to find something that isn't even there? Are we all just nothing experiencing our opposite something in a dualistic existence/nonexistence. I think therefore I am, but what am I? And why/how do I think? I would greatly appreciate some replies and answers if you have them.

Originally posted by cancerian42
I have been pondering the meaning of consciousness lately. Was wondering what everyone thought it was? I kinda think it is the opposite of existence if that makes sense. Consciousness takes in everything, but how do you "take in" what exactly it is itself, what exactly YOU are? Is consciousness emptiness, the absence of something (nothing)? Is life just an infinite gaze into a mirror trying to find something that isn't even there? Are we all just nothing experiencing our opposite something in a dualistic existence/nonexistence. I think therefore I am, but what am I? And why/how do I think? I would greatly appreciate some replies and answers if you have them.

I've been trying to understand what it is, too.

I think consciousness is a state of being aware and the ability to purposefully think and contemplate. People say, "raise your consciousness", and I think it refers to raising your awareness and horizons.

Supposedly, when we die, our consciousness survives. That's what people who have had near-death experiences say. That's good enough for me, because all that I know is my consciousness. My foot or hand do not help me make decisions and think, my consciousness does.

reply to post by cancerian42

Hi, cancerian42.

You are ready for the first line of my signature,
if you did not see/buy/rent those 3 DVDs. . .

Even matter has consciousness !
See the "2 slots" experiment !

Blue skies.

Originally posted by Halley86
I think consciousness is a state of being aware and the ability to purposefully think and contemplate. People say, "raise your consciousness", and I think it refers to raising your awareness and horizons.

Yes, consciousness is the same as awareness, but what is this awareness? How/why does it exist? It's like an inner exploration even though we are having experiences that seem to be from outside ourselves, but really it is all in us and it is confusing me.

reply to post by C-JEAN

Thanks for the recommendation, but I have already seen it and thought it was very interesting.

I think Taoism explains the true nature of consciousness, which is all pervasive. David Bohm, a modern quantum physicist, with his holographic universe model coinciding with Karl Pibram's holographic mind, presents in effect the same model, where mind is a sphere within a sphere, and the universal consciousness, the larger sphere, and the enlightened masters of old, they simply got to the point where distinguishing one from the other lost all meaning..

Originally posted by OmegaPoint
I think Taoism explains the true nature of consciousness, which is all pervasive. David Bohm, a modern quantum physicist, with his holographic universe model coinciding with Karl Pibram's holographic mind, presents in effect the same model, where mind is a sphere within a sphere, and the universal consciousness, the larger sphere, and the enlightened masters of old, they simply got to the point where distinguishing one from the other lost all meaning..

Interesting. Thanks for the info. But with the sphere within a sphere what is outside the sphere? Is the universal consciousness a finite amount?

A sort of overwhelming, insane chaos, darkness, extremely tense and so exploding with energy, is the opposite and counter-balance of consciousness, present with consciousness at all levels of creation.

At the primordial level, consciousness and darkness arise out of oneness.

The darkness is always chasing after consciousness because the darkness is insane, hateful, envious, and it seeks the resolution and peace of mind that total awareness offers, as opposed to its wretched state of complete confusion and insanity. And consciousness is always trying to escape its grasp to avoid being annihilated. Their merger would render them both back to the blank slate, to total nothingness, to total union.

In the dance created between pure consciousness trying to avoid being annihilated by pure darkness, all of creation has been formed. Consciousness has retreated into our bodies as part of this struggle, seeking not to be annihilated in the chaos that surrounds us, and the beautiful order provided by our bodies assists this consciousness and is our most beautiful companion. Our bodies even struggle against this very darkness right now as conscious beings, and 99.999% of all beings will eventually be consumed by the darkness and die, returning to nothingness.

The 0.00001% is what keeps the chase going for as long as it has so far. Consciousness is sly and always just a step ahead, despite the awesome magnitude of what it is facing.


To this very moment darkness is still trying to overwhelm our consciousness, as our consciousness tries to run away from it and leave the darkness behind, always trying to get just a step ahead of the insane darkness.

An insane number of dark ideas and energies are being thrown at consciousness at all levels all the time, but being aware and sentient, consciousness always has a way of putting its foot down in a way the darkness cannot anticipate, and so the chase goes on.

But the battle will go on until the destruction of the entire universe, when they finally embrace each other, and all is revealed, the universal negative polarity, and the universal positive polarity perform the ultimate yoga.

[edit on 14-7-2009 by bsbray11]

Originally posted by bsbray11
The darkness is always chasing after consciousness because the darkness is insane, hateful, envious, and it seeks the resolution and piece of mind that total awareness offers, as opposed to its wretched state of complete confusion and insanity.

I feel more like the darkness than I do the totally aware consciousness. Quite confused if not unknowingly insane.

reply to post by cancerian42


We really do consist of both. Even an atom exhibits more complexity than such a simple duality, because you have an electron attracted to protons and yet there are apparent forces keeping the electron from slamming into the proton and resolving itself into oblivion. There are neutrons, etc., and of course even smaller levels of existence that are still even more enigmatic to us.

You notice though, that as we go so far below the atom, getting into quantum stuff, we are starting to realize that our own consciousness is affecting what is going on down there. Which suggests a relationship.

reply to post by cancerian42

Outside the outmost sphere? Nothing. It is meaningless. BUT, if the ancients masters are right, that is the Tao, or the meaningless nothing which gives rise to the meaningful something, in other words, that you cannnot have one without the other. Being and non-being are two sides of the same coin.

Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it!

reply to post by OmegaPoint


Exactly, but what is this "non-being" that arises out of oneness together with "being"?

It's a rock, that a confused, angry person (also possessed by non-being) will throw at your head to kill you.

It's also a fluoride molecule that wedges in your pineal gland and inhibits your melatonin circulation, that you ingest because someone similarly possessed by non-being has tried to poison you with.

Non-being is so insane and angry that it doesn't even know what it's doing, doesn't do it on purpose, but the results are the same: a lack of order and balance, a degradation, slipping back to the non-being.

Only "being" can save things from "non-being," or else non-being will take them from its sheer persistence, which is all it has going for it.

I think consciousness (or awareness) is a product of vibration.

I'll do my best to explain what that means to me.

I divide the universe into two parts. There is the conscious part which I call 'existence' and then there is the unconscious part which I call the 'infinite void'.

The infinite void is not really nothing. It's infinite potential. But it is unconscious of that potential.

Within this infinite potential a vibration occurred. The moment this vibration occurred it was aware of itself.

The potential for awareness was always there. But until there was something to be aware of it was just unconscious potential.

So the first vibration caused this awareness to manifest. The universe woke up.

I suppose awareness could be thought of as the opposite of the unconscious infinite void.

But to specifically define it I would say; Awareness occurs as a natural by product of the infinite void vibrating.

Both vibration and awareness occurred simultaneously.

The thought may arise, "what caused this first vibration?".

Nothing actually caused it. The potential was already there.

Probability just finally caught up.

And since that first vibration, awareness has sought to expand itself by creating more vibrations.

The first vibration didn't have an already created universe to learn from. So it had to learn pretty quick to avoid falling back into unconsciousness.

It might be that there were other 'first vibrations' that didn't make it. They may have become too self-focused to realize expansion was necessary to continue existing.

But a vibration did make it. And a place was created that allowed for both these existential choices (expansion and contraction) without running the risk of existence dissolving back into the void.

Here's a question I just thought of. Does the infinite void dream?

reply to post by bsbray11


And that is precisely why I am a Christian believer.

Because when it's eat or be eaten, there is food for our enjoyment.

We need not be eaten and swallowed up by non-being, a provision has been made.

reply to post by bsbray11


Again, you may be right, unless the Tao is balanced and in harmony..?

But as an insurance policy - well see my last post.

You are a very brillant man I must say, maybe like me, too smart for your own good..

In the final analysis we just don't know and can't know, we must have faith, there is nothing left, except utter insanity.

I think Consciousness is a massive amount of One's and Zero's. The human mind is a very powerful organic computer. Consciousness is just our ability to do a lot of calculations very rapidly.

Pibrams research proved that the mind is not like a computer, but a hologram, a waveform.

Originally posted by OmegaPoint
Again, you may be right, unless the Tao is balanced and in harmony..?

They say the Tao is totally out of reach, that we can't really talk about it, except what it isn't. Which is everything we can talk about. I wonder what Lao Tzu would say if we asked him to put the Tao into 10-dimensional quantum theory. I suspect he would fart on me. Btw I think I could feel the cortisol released in me when I read the word "Christian," but no worries.

Balance and harmony are things we seek to know as conscious beings, but when everything is annihilated I can't help but think there is simply stillness and total void, and in fact not even those, nothing to vibrate or harmonize with.

You are a very brillant man I must say

You're trying to put a curse on me. You're trying to kill me. I don't want to be a human. And I certainly don't want to be "brilliant." When you drive a car do you call yourself a car? I do love you very much though.

reply to post by OmegaPoint


I just did a little bit of reading about Karl Pribram at his Wikipedia page after you mentioned him. I have never heard of him or his theory but it sounds really amazing!

From what I am understanding is that he states that the human mind processes information in a way that would combine it into a type of Hologram.

"Holograms can correlate and store a huge amount of information".
Quoted from his Wikipedia page at

en.wikipedia.org...

That to me would seem like a type of processor, or a computer. Maybe you are onto something there. Holographic hard drives?