Higher consciousness, also called
super consciousness (
Yoga),
objective consciousness (
Gurdjieff),
Buddhic consciousness (
Theosophy),
cosmic consciousness,
God-consciousness (
Sufism and
Hinduism) and
Christ consciousness (
New Thought), are expressions used in various
spiritual traditions to denote the
consciousness of a
human being who has reached a higher level of evolutionary development and who has come to know
Reality as it is.
Evolution in this sense is not that which occurs by
natural selection over generations of human
reproduction but evolution brought about by the application of
spiritual knowledge to the conduct of human life. Through the application of such knowledge (traditionally the preserve of the world's great
religions) to practical self-management, the awakening and development of faculties dormant in the ordinary human being is achieved. These faculties are aroused by and developed in conjunction with certain
dispositions of character such as
patience,
kindness, truthfulness,
humility and
forgiveness towards one's fellow man – qualities without which, according to moral/ethical stipulations of the various traditions, higher consciousness is not possible.
Concept
Higher consciousness is generally regarded as a developed state of consciousness in which aspects of the
mind, such as
thought,
perception and
attention, are improved, refined and enhanced. It is considered thus to be a
higher level of consciousness relative to ordinary consciousness, in the sense that a greater
awareness of reality is achieved. In a
secular context, higher consciousness is usually associated with exceptional
control over one's
mind and
will,
intellectual and
moral enlightenment, and profound
personal growth.. In a spiritual context, It may also be associated with
transcendence, spiritual enlightenment, and
union with the
divine.
The concept of higher consciousness rests on the belief that the average, ordinary human being is only partially conscious due to the character of the untrained mind and the influence of 'lower' impulses and preoccupations. As a result, most humans are considered to be asleep (to reality) even as they go about their daily business.
Gurdjieff called this ordinary condition of humanity "waking sleep," an idea gleaned in part from ancient spiritual teachings such as those of
the Buddha. In each person lie potentialities that remain inchoate as a result of the individual being caught up in mechanical,
neurotic modes of behaviour where energy for personal spiritual development is not used correctly, but squandered in unskillful ways. As a result of the phenomenon of
projection, the cause of such a person's suffering is often seen to lie in outer circumstances or other individuals. One prerequisite for the development of consciousness is the understanding that
suffering and
alienation are one's own responsibility and dependent on the mind's acquiescence (through ignorance, for example). Traditionally, both in the Eastern and the
Abrahamic spiritual traditions, a person who sought mind-body transformation came under the tutelage of a Master (
Rabbi,
Sheikh,
Guru,
Acarya, etc.) who would oversee their progress. In the past, as today, this education would often involve periods of retreat in communities (
ashrams,
monasteries, meditation centers, etc.) whose sole purpose is the cultivation of
awakening.
Ordinary consciousness as projection
In the spiritual traditions of India, consciousness is understood to be obscured by defilements (
Skt:
Kilesa) which are compared to clouds covering the sun. These defilements are the result of conditioning (
Skt:
samskara), accumulations in the
unconscious caused by past actions (
karma) . As a result, what any individual perceives as reality is a picture of the world at one particular moment filtered through his unconscious conditioning – a ‘reality’ that western psychology calls ‘projection’ (i.e., of the contents of the unconscious). Every individual human being has their own store of conditioning based on their unique past experiences. The goal of spiritual practice (
buddhadharma,
shariah,
yoga etc) is the transformation and higher integration of these contents so that any practitioner following a spiritual path comes closer to reality as the causes of
delusion are dissolved. Enlightenment (also called
salvation,
kaivalya,
moksha,
Union with God,etc) furthermore, involves the complete dissolution of all the causes for future becoming so that reality is seen, finally, as it is, rather than through the veils of projected unconscious contents. It may be protested that the mere possession of an apparatus such as the mind and body of a human being with its
genetically predetermined structures prevents the possibility of unconditioned consciousness (Skt: asankhata-nana or
nibbana) but the testimonials of numerous
saints and mystics throughout history bear witness to the contrary.
The spiritual path
The path of cultivating consciousness requires the adoption of certain self-imposed rules or vows. These are generally concerned with exercising restraint with respect to actions of body, speech and mind. Examples include the
five precepts of Buddhism. The effect of this restraint is to begin to contain energy and prevent unskillful actions that cause ongoing harm. Over time changes in the moral disposition of the aspirant are accompanied by physiological changes in the brain and nervous system opening up the energy channels (
nadis or
meridians) present in the subtle bodies which are thereby activated. Critical (indeed central) to development of one’s latent spiritual faculties is the practice of meditation. After moral restraint,
meditation is the most important tool in the purification of the mind.
Consciousness: spiritual approaches
Spiritual approaches to consciousness involve the idea of
altered states of consciousness or religious experience. Changes in the state of consciousness or a
religious experience can occur spontaneously or as a result of religious observance. It is also maintained by some religions, religious factions and some scientists that the
universe itself is consciousness.
In
shamanic practices, changes in states of consciousness are induced by activities that create trance states, such as drumming, dancing, fasting, sensory deprivation, exposure to extremes of temperature, or the use of
psychoactive drugs. The experience that occurs is interpreted as entering a real, but parallel, world. In many polytheistic religions a change in emotional state is often attributed to the action of a god; for instance love was ruled by Aphrodite and Eros in Ancient Greek polytheism. In Hinduism the change in state is induced by the practice of yoga. Yoga means "union" and is intended to produce a state of oneness between the practitioner and the divine. In Islam and Christianity, the change of state can occur as a result of prayer or as a religious experience.
The change in state of consciousness in Hinduism, Buddhism, New Thought, Christianity and Islam is reported to be quite similar. The pursuit of yoga and the
Buddhist Jhanas involve feelings of oneness with the world that give rise to a state of
rapture. This is also reported by those undergoing some forms of Christian (or Islamic) religious experience; for instance,
James (1902) provides the following report:
I cannot express it in any other way than to say that I did "lie down in the stream of life and let it flow over me." I gave up all fear of any impending disease; I was perfectly willing and obedient. There was no intellectual effort, or train of thought. My dominant idea was: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me even as thou wilt," and a perfect confidence that all would be well, that all was well. The creative life was flowing into me every instant, and I felt myself allied with the Infinite, in harmony, and full of the peace that passeth understanding. There was no place in my mind for a jarring body. I had no consciousness of time or space or persons, but only of love and happiness and faith.
Meditation is used in some forms of yoga such as
Raja Yoga,
Hatha yoga,
Transcendental Meditation (TM), the Buddhist Jhanas, in the practices of
Christian monks and Islamic mystics (
Sufis). Meditation can have a calming influence on practitioners, as well as changing the state of consciousness. Theravada Buddhism views the Jhanas - the cultivation of which is similar to practices in Hindu Yoga - as a preliminary, in which it is demonstrated that states such as rapture are
not ultimately satisfactory (see
The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation by Mahathera Henepola: "With the fading away of rapture, he dwells in equanimity, mindful and discerning"). In most types of Buddhism, serenity meditation is followed by
insight meditation in which one uses the sharpened mind to penetrate the true nature of all mental phenomena.
See also
