Image: Brain, body, and mind, understanding consciousness: University of Cambridge, Credit: Srivas Chennu
Being in relationship with: Consciousness
What is consciousness? I know, that question is a minefield. However, we use the word all the time, and ascribe a myriad of meanings to it. What is consciousness for you?
Wikipedia says: “The word “conscience” derives etymologically from the Latin conscientia, meaning “privity of knowledge” or “with-knowledge”. The English consciousness implies internal awareness of a moral standard in the mind concerning the quality of one’s motives, as well as a consciousness of our own actions.”
Verywellmind.com writes: “Consciousness refers to your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, and environments. Essentially, your consciousness is your awareness of yourself and the world around you. This awareness is subjective and unique to you.»
Consider this definition, offered by Dr.Dain Heer of Access Consciousness: “Where everything exists, and nothing is judged.”
Imagine what this might entail:
What could that be on a practical level in the world? Most of the time Heer explains, we have so much left over from the past, everybody´s points of view; family, school, church, psychology, self-help, spirituality, metaphysical stuff – what have you…We have all these ideas about what is right and what is wrong. So, if consciousness is: where everything exists, and nothing is judged as a rightness or a wrongness.
If you function from consciousness, you will start to function from your awareness of “if I choose this, what would this create?” Example: say a loved one: you are annoyed at something they do, and consider yelling at them. Or a work colleague that makes a mistake, and you consider sneering, cracking a sarcasm, because you don´t really think highly of them in the first place. Or, you don´t ever yell, but feel angry or resentful inside, and then go into judgement of you, for feeling all of that! Phew!
What if instead we recognized that, if everything existed and nothing was judged; and if the yelling was not judged as a wrongness – but we instead considered: what EFFECT would it create if I was unkind to a person that I love? What effect will this have on the relationship? For the other person? What future is me yelling going to create?
Rather than functioning from judgement, as though judgements are going to lead you to only making only the right choices – so that your life will work out – what this is about, is to recognize that there is just: choice. That leads to effect. We always have choices. Not about choosing because it is right, or choosing because it is not right. The choice is about consciousness around what effect what you choose is going to create for you and others, and whether that choice in line with me being in integrity with ourself.
Rather than saying “this person said to do this,” or “I read this in a book and I´m going to choose it,” you may ask: What effect will this create for me my relationships? When understanding the effect you want, and navigating in alignment with that – you are in your integrity and increasingly conscious.
Consciousness is the one thing that when you add it to anything – always expands. Always. Including you. How does it get any better than that?