What is Consciousness?
Let's unpack the parable in Reflections in the Moonlight and discover the nature of our consciousness and how our experiences shape our reality. Let's find out who we truly are.
What is Consciousness?
Let’s start by defining consciousness as the ability to have an experience.
Does this mean that a dog has consciousness? In this framework, yes, the dog has dog consciousness, a human has human consciousness, and so on.
As described in the story: Reflections in the Moonlight, consciousness is like a screen where experiences play out.
Imagine a big movie theater with a silver screen. Everything we experience—our emotions, thoughts, and perceptions—is like a movie projected onto that screen.
It's easy to identify with what is being projected on that screen; it's very immersive.
Some tell themselves that they are bankers, musicians, plumbers, others that they are fathers, kayakers.
I want to suggest that this is not who we truly are. We are not what we do or have and we are not just the emotions and thoughts that we experience.
The experience of Reality
I propose that while it's impossible to fully know fundamental reality, it is possible to experience it.
Consider how different people might interpret the same event in various ways, based on their own perspectives and beliefs.
In a discussion forum, people were discussing a picture of Egypt's volleyball team playing against Spain's at the 2024 olympics.
Some people said that the Egyptian women must be repressed and not want to wear black hijabs on a beach. Another person said that some women wear it by choice. Yet another said that some women might feel pressured to wear revealing beach attire.
Who is telling the truth?
All of them are, because each person is experiencing reality through their own perspective. The emotions they feel are real. We call this "subjective truth".
Of course, there is also a fundamental reality or "absolute truth", which encompasses all these experiences, and more.
How much more? More than we can imagine.
For example, as humans, we experience reality as a linear progression of time. It's difficult for us to even imagine non-linear time, let alone other possible dimensions of reality that we cannot perceive.
Sensory Perception
As humans, we have five physical senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
Our senses provide raw input, which the mind processes into understandable experiences. We call these "sense objects".
These processed sense objects are further experienced as a complex blend of meaning, memories, thoughts, and mental patterns.
Other organisms may have more senses or different senses. For instance, dogs hear a different range of frequencies than humans.
So, we can confidently say that our experience of reality is incomplete and not necessarily "accurate" to fundamental reality. Some might argue that it has served our survival to perceive a slice of reality.
In fact, our experience of reality is not just interpreted; it is created by the perceiver.
When we listen to music, our senses and mind work together to create an experience that can be delightful or unpleasant. This is a co-creative experience with the source of the music.
Expanding Consciousness
Let's return to the screen metaphor. Everything we experience is played out on the screen.
Just as everything is projected on the screen of our consciousness, observing the moon is a shared creation between our awareness and the moon itself. One can even realize that the moon they are experiencing is, in fact, a part of them.
One can fully experience the moon only when their consciousness merges with that of the moon. This merging is known as "absorption", where the the observer and the observed become one.
Others have called this state of consciousness samādhi.
Reaching this state of samādhi can bring a profound sense of peace and unity with all that is. What might this experience bring to your life?
Who am I?
If we peel back another layer of the screen metaphor, we can observe that the screen of consciousness also displays the experience of the consciousness observing itself.
Through practicing samādhi, we find we can merge our consciousness with bliss, with nothingness (also known as the void), and more.
By reflecting on these ideas and exploring our own consciousness, we can start to uncover our true nature.
Some might say we are our soul (Ātman), others might say we are the universal soul (Paramātmā), nothingness, or even everything—God.
We are much more than we realize, and by exploring our consciousness, we can begin to uncover this deeper truth.
Have you ever wondered if your true self is more than just your thoughts and emotions? What might you discover if you look beyond the surface?
Thanks for these thoughts Olivier. We can never be reminded enough that what we take for reality is indeed the movie playing in our minds.