CHAPTER 5
This sense of subjective self or ‘I’ is a layered realism, bordering and swaying into the domain of virtualism. This sense and feel that ‘We Are’ or ‘I Am’, is expressing itself in many layered existentialism of unconscious, subconscious and conscious domains. The trouble is – The ‘I’ is in every bit of all different expressions of ‘Self’, yet, truly or actually, ‘I’ is seldom fully or perfectly in any of the variegated appearances of ‘Self’. This dualism or mystical realism is baffling and seed element of conflicted consciousness. More intimidating is the fact that all the shades and dimensions of ‘I’ and their action/behavior emanate out of and pertain to one body and mind of an individual yet he or she is seldom willing to own the culpability of its stupidities; happy only to own its attainments. The ‘I’ or self is in ‘parts’, whereas its source is single body-mind entity, therefore, the whole has to own everything of these ‘parts’ but sadly, it doesn’t. Primarily because, usually, we are aware and in somehow probable control of only our ‘conscious part’, which is not more than two percent of our entire actions/behaviors, including those of subconscious and unconscious, which actualize the rest of 98 percent.
This subjective self or ‘I’ is a collective causality of cooperative and co-opting elements of body and brain, of which some are tangible and others intangible. Therefore, ‘we are’ not only body, not only mind, not only thoughts, not only emotions, not only attitudes, not only fears and insecurities, not only bundle of memes but a sum-totality of all, even while being everything. This means, consciousness or sense of self is always a holistic expression of totality and entirety, even when singular elements of its constitution are always there and indispensable for its holism. In other words, ‘I’ have ‘parts’ but its actual expression or core property is always as a ‘whole’. If any single ‘part’ is missing, the ‘whole’ ceases to exist. The stupidity of design of consciousness, or this sense of ‘I Am’ is that the ‘parts’ are not always aligned to the ‘whole’ and the whole is not always in control and command of parts. Naturally, stupidities and hypocrisies flow in as innately as water and wind.
The subjective self or ‘I’ is always emerging, shifting and changing because of its very nature of being a ‘process’ and not a fixed and tangible matter. Consciousness is an expression and property emerging out of complex and multidimensional processing of huge amount of info in the ever-shifting internal as well as external milieus. Therefore, the very single body-mind structure of ‘I’ has many functional selves, even while structurally there is only one entity of ‘I’.
Importantly, as this sense of subjective self or ‘I’ is a function of entropy of our body-mind system, the consciousness in its very nature has the propensity for entropy-expansion. This means, in our daily lives of subconscious self or ‘Unaware-I’, we are inclined to and oriented towards destabilization, un-organization, randomization, abstractions, virtualism, confusion and conflicts, etc. The very entropic property of consciousness ensures the above states for us. Interestingly, as the domain of subconscious brain state dominates the mind space to the extent that science compares subconscious to a soccer field where conscious self is just a small goalpost; average human being is predominantly a stupid at freewill and a mechanism of chaos, confusion and conflict.
However, as the dialectical mechanism always ensures, the very conscious self or ‘Aware-I’ itself emerges and evolves because of the stupidity and disorganization of subconscious. The thesis-antithesis-synthesis process is applicable to consciousness too. When the subconscious or unconscious actualizes a cognitive ‘realism’ for self or ‘I’, the same brain states, which have evolved top layers handling logic and thoughtfulness of reason, engenders a virtual domain or space of ‘Conscious’ self; provided the person has enough evolved conscious mind state. This ‘higher consciousness’, by innate nature of its dialectical origin, supplies the elements of skepticism, facilitating another dimension of cognitive realism. This dimension is human’s ‘entropy-suppression’ process that keeps system sanity at optimality. It is important to note that the so-called conscious ‘Control Mechanism’ or ‘Rational Restrictions’ on subconscious instinctive and reactionary actions/behaviors are a person’s own internalized facility. It alone has long-term and lasting impact on a person. External factors of intimidation or suppression can only be short-term but shall never last.
Consciousness is probably the microcosmic model of evolutionary mechanism that the cosmos has as a macrocosm. Every system has its entropic expression and the same system innately has an embedded and ingrained mechanism of entropy-correction or entropy-suppression for sustained ‘optimality’ of system enterprise. This dualism of cosmic system that is its infinite evolutionary energy, is also the primary and embedded property of consciousness. The dualism of consciousness works on dialectical cyclicality of entropy expansion and entropy suppression – confusion writing the initial script of life-living drama and then sanity of propriety enacting the best protagonist on the theatre of life.
This all leads us to the finality of our assertion of a singular hypothesis or scientific philosophization and it says – Intelligence and sanity of a human being is in higher awareness of this dualism of consciousness and its unwavering acceptance. Wellness is in healthy, effective and smooth functioning of the dialectical cyclicality of consciousness. And, empowerment is in conscious mastery of artistry of engineering & management of dualism of ‘I-Cognitions’ for optimality of thoughtfully opted goals of life-living. This entire range of actualism is internal to human consciousness, not having any external reason or logic. Naturally, power, authority and legitimacy to install or suppress anything in human consciousness are alien to human system of sanity and order.
For complete and detailed understanding of the idea of Consciousness and all its aspects, including the critical principle of entropy-expansion and entropy-suppression, do kindly refer to author’s earlier eBook, ‘Optimality Of I Potentiality’. All other 40 eBooks of the author are available for unrestricted download at all major stores.
As the term ‘awareness’ or what we are calling as Higher Consciousness is cardinal and critical for sanity, peace and wellness, it needs to be understood in every possible details. The word awareness is probably most un-understood and mis-understood word in human cultures. Most people take this rare and labored achievement for granted. Tell a person that he or she is not aware and they shall be angry at you. Everyone has this self-sustained belief that he or she is always ‘aware’. This is a misconception, even when most of us always feel and believe about being aware as the subjective sense of consciousness is always muffling us, like a second virtual skin. Science has established that in our daily lives, we are ‘aware’ only for few minutes at best, even while over 98 percent of our life-living is carried out in subconscious state. Science says, awareness or conscious sense is just a fleeting and ephemeral epiphany, which needs persevered practice for prolonging it.
Scientific studies reveal that over 90 percent of human population does not breathe the correct way! Why? Simply because we are not aware! Our body needs right breathing because we survive and excel on Oxygen. We all take breathing as taken for granted because it is an auto-process controlled by unconscious layers and monitored by subconscious layers of our brain states. That is primarily why most meditative processes begin by asking a person to focus on inhaling and exhaling of air through nostrils. It is however only a basic process to enter the ‘Door’ of conscious domain. One needs to journey deep inside as this breath watching alone cannot reach us to awareness destination. It requires more. Most people are happy doing aware breathing and think, they have hit finality!
The primary reality is that most processes inside our body-mind mechanism are subconscious and as they are ruled by an auto-process, a wired proposition, we do not need to bring things into aware and conscious domain. Being aware is a holistic notion, which entails having conscious and definitive registry of infinite processes and causalities that work inside us and outside in external milieus. It is the level of awareness that decides the potential of empowerment of a person. There is no limit to how much and to what extent we can be aware of as there are infinite causalities and processes going on inside and outside us. Awareness is a life-long learning and unlearning process. Higher Consciousness is ever-evolving process. We need to know that.
Awareness is a dialectical process. From our childhood, we are made to get exposed to different types of information and every new information that makes us aware of a realism, opens up a gateway to one or two level up of awareness. We learn the language first, then we get aware of poetry and later we get aware of how poetic excellence creates magic with self and consciousness. Therefore, awareness comes in steps and if we miss out on one or two steps of the ladder of information and knowledge progression, we cannot get to higher levels of awareness. This means, there cannot be a short-cut or easy route to awareness. Awareness is evolutionary mechanism. It requires continuity and perseverance of practice of the art.
Then, the most critical part of awareness process is its dialectical nature. We get to one level of awareness and that makes us stand on the door of dualism. Every next level of awareness requires that we ‘learn’ something new of higher levels but at the same time also ‘unlearn’ something that holds us back from moving up the ladder of awareness. For example, a child learns things in his or her life and becomes aware of the idea of divinity and religion that his or her family and current societal and cultural milieus extend. He or she follows it and keeps evolving. Surely, the next level of awareness requires that he or she unlearns his or her existing awareness about God and religion and use the higher levels of his or he awareness to present a logical critique, using his or her energy of skepticism to what he or she knows so far. If he or she is stuck with what he or she has already ‘known’, then he or she cannot move up the ladder of awareness about divinity and religion because both the domains offer infinite conscious thoughts and emotions as we keep evolving to higher levels of awareness. Therefore, learning and unlearning are equally critical in awareness evolution. As most spiritual traditions seldom stress on unlearning processes, rather, they make you ‘stuck’ to their ‘version’ of ‘Reality’; very naturally, the practitioners fail to rise to higher consciousness; as he or she refuses to enter the dialectic process of awareness.
Third important aspect about awareness relates to the very crucial brain mechanism of ‘Recall’, ‘Relate’ and ‘Replicate’. All information that we have or we get exposed to is stored in brain states in the form of synapses. There is insufficient knowledge about how brain stores and processes information but we know that not everything we learn or get informed is available for later recall and replication. It is believed that brain has its own process of assigning value and worth to an information for the purpose of memory. Information or learning that is associated with conscious and aware inputting has better chances of future recall. Science accepts that there are definitive pathways created in brain states when it stores some information. Therefore, when we recall it later, the pathways need to be reactivated. Therefore, if the pathway is weak, faint and unrelated to already entrenched precedents of utility and worth of our brain states, the recall process is abstracted and our brain states either fail to replicate the information or in most cases, it virtualizes the information, churning out a poor copy of the stored information.
Therefore, it is very important that whatever information or learning we feel we shall need in future, we must be in higher state of awareness when assigning it to our brain states. Also, there must be definitive logic or emotional worth assigned to a stored info so that its pathways in brain states are deep and thick. Moreover, for better recall and optimality of replication of memory, we should also assign clear ‘relational’ element to it. For example, if I am undergoing an experience of meditation, I shall ensure that whatever feelings I am going through, I register them with high awareness. Also, I ensure that I repeat to myself time and again that this particular feeling was like something important in my earlier experiences so that I could relate to the feeling when I recall it later. Human brain accepts metaphors easily so I can say to myself, this sedate feeling of meditation was like sitting under the mango tree in my village home in hot summer day. As my mind consciousness has already created deep and thick pathways for my village experiences, because of earlier assigned emotional utility and worth to it, I have great ease in recalling and replicating my meditational experience awareness later.
Scientific studies reveal that our subconscious brain states entrench communication and engender awareness in two broad ways. First stage is the first seven to eight years of early life of a child when he or she accepts all information from his or her parents, family, ambient socio-cultural-geographical milieus and this become his primary domain of awareness. That almost decides the destiny of the child as this ‘Pre-Consciousness’ awareness works as base benchmark to judge utility and worth of all later experiences and information. However, this primary awareness can be altered later when the child is adult and his or her consciousness has matured. This can be altered only by inputting a conscious element or information of learning and unlearning and repeating it time and again. Like, nobody is born with driving skills but as we enter adulthood, we practice for long how to drive a vehicle and later, this awareness of driving becomes a subconscious task. When we achieve good driving skills, we do not even remember how we drive. But, such learning and awareness possession comes only through conscious inputting of the new desired awareness and continuously practicing it. This driving as learning is a rather crucial aspect of how consciousness works and creates its own culpability of stupidities. This shall explain as why power-authority (of state, government, politics) is alien and meaningless to human consciousness. We shall take it up later in this chapter.
This is the primary hypothesis of newly emerging field of experiments in Epigenetics domain, which maintains that a person born poor shall not only remain poor for life but has more likelihood of fathering or mothering poor children. Why? Because the Epigenetics science says that poor people pass on the heretic genetic expression to their offspring and as the kids born to poor parents receive such early information from their parents and ambient socio-cultural-physical milieus that create and sustain ‘Causalities’ of poverty and deprivation, they too continue to be poor. This is just the reverse with kids born to rich parents. This ‘destiny’ however can be unlearnt through awareness of higher consciousness.
The Epigenetic science however insists that this subconscious realism can be changed through linguistic, thoughtfulness, emotional and psychological inputs of our own ‘Conscious Self’ when we enter adulthood. It is the phenotype that can be changed and this in turn alters the early entrenched subconscious communication of our brain states and body functionality. So, the deprivation phenotype can be consciously altered by altering the communication to the body-mind media by ‘Conscious-Enterprise’. And, what it takes? It takes to alter the ‘Milieus’ by ‘Conscious Awareness’.
Our personal sense of ‘I’ or self, or call it the layers of consciousness is just a media of the body-mind causalities. This means that we may keep thinking happily that ‘I’ or myself is seeing and accepting a Reality but the fact may remain there that actually, the specific Reality is playing it out using our body-mind as media to express itself in a way, which makes us accept a Reality the way we do. That is why there is an ancient prescription to humanity – ‘Don’t Be, You Shall Be.’ The prescription is to come out of the consciousness of ‘I’ that is in an auto-reaction mode working mechanically and stupidly as ‘Media’ of twin internal and external causalities – the first causalities of body and mind and second causalities in the milieus.
It is to be realized with utmost humility and sincerity that consciousness itself is just a media of body and mind and the ‘I’ of average person simply works as media to play out the realities that internal and external causalities make him to. This has to stop and an individual needs to detach himself or herself from this auto-mode reactionary ‘I’ or self, which acts and behaves like a media, without ever understanding the ‘self’ and the causalities that it works with and works on him or her. So, the primary cognitive change is to be aware of self and causalities and detach the consciousness from the internal and external causalities; as far as possible.
We need to understand and accept that evolving and growth has two stages – auto-mode learning and conscious unlearning. From infant stage to adulthood, an individual keeps assimilating information and available knowledge from its milieus in subconscious state of ‘auto-mode learning’. Very few individuals, who have managed to evolve strong consciousness as early as 14-16 years of age, may begin to start the parallel process of ‘conscious unlearning’ or pruning of subconscious auto-mode learning. However, after the stage of adulthood, say 20-25 years of age, an individual needs to accept that he or she as a ‘Media’ must change. The media must shift its primary situation from a ‘Reactionary-Subconscious Being’ to a ‘Receptive Conscious Being’. It means; the Higher Consciousness begins to shape up as aware and holistically inclined ‘authoritative command’ center to effect engineering and management of the body-mind media’s causative auto-behavior and action.
It is therefore clear that for every individual human being, men or women; there is an indispensable process of evolving to Higher Consciousness, which is that person’s internalized ‘command-control’ mechanism for reasoned, rational and objectively logical action/behavior. This Higher Consciousness is the intangibility of functional consciousness, which evolves as repository of compassion. It is this Higher Consciousness, which has the structural and functional wherewithal to unravel the holism of Reality and Liberty. Naturally, what all humans Need is right and holistic education-training-knowledge mechanism and processes for optimal evolution of Higher Consciousness. It is crystal clear that ‘Awareness’ of Higher Conscious Self is an internalized process, which is an outcome of knowledge and not power-authority restrictions and suppressions. Rather, these two actually kill the process of higher Consciousness as power-authority-violence is alien and antagonistic to human consciousness. Very naturally, the contemporary model of state, government and politics embedded in power-authority and mandate for legitimacy of violence is worst enemy of humanity, only infusing more and dangerous quantum of conflicts, chaos, stupidities and hypocrisies in human world. They cannot ever have the mandate for ‘Human Management’ as it is the internalized, innate, embedded and wired role of human consciousness itself, which is based on education-knowledge and not ‘management’ by force and violence.
Before we take up the idea of Higher Consciousness in details, let us go back to the issue of driving skill training as example of how human consciousness works and why external ‘control’ and forceful authority never works and is rather alien to human mechanism. This example of driving skill is just a symbol of how state, governments and politics have been doing something on and for humanity, which is not only futile and unproductive, but also counterproductive, stupid and hypocritical.
Driving is probably a classical example of how individual and society need to act and interact with each other, without the much hyped role and need of state authority. Driving is also a good example of how ‘awareness’ is not only a ‘partial’ idea but a holistic realism and this is what every person needs in loads. Most people feel and believe that driving is all about the skill to drive a vehicle with ease and comfort. It is popularly felt that to have effective and smooth handling of accelerator, clutch, brakes and steering wheel and use them in synchronous symmetry is qualification enough for having a good driving skill. And then, add to some basic recognition of a few traffic signs and you are eligible for your driving license.
However, in actuality, these are just ‘part’ eligibility of having good driving skills. Most people miss the holism of driving Reality and this is probably why, globally, road accidents are leading killers of humans. And, everyone of us know, what causes these killer accidents? The top three killer causes are – distracted-drunk driving, speeding and carelessness. Amazingly, none of these figure when a driving license is handed to a person as he or she has acquired good driving skills. How can there be an eligibility denial on the basis of a person’s attitudinal and behavioral troubles, which are both specific as well as generic?
The calamitous fact is – driving has to be accepted in its holism and entirety, like all shades of Reality and this is not done by most humans. We are in the habit of seeing, realizing and accepting only part of the Reality. The holism of Reality of driving skill is – driving is not only about dexterity to ‘drive’ a vehicle well but it is primarily about how an individual, while driving or even when not driving is Compassionate about ‘Others’. Reality shall always be partial and therefore hugely dangerous so far as element of ‘Compassionate Consciousness For Others’ is not an instinctive nature of a person. A huge part of driving is about ‘Others’, who are also on the same road and with equal potential of the same propensity for ‘Self-Centered’ Reality-Acceptance. ‘I’ having acquired great driving skill is only a negligible part of the holism of driving universe. The bigger part is ‘Others’ and therefore, every driving person must be in happy and internalized Awareness of compassionate consciousness towards all ‘Others’.
The trouble starts here. Driving licenses are issued for driving skills and not innate and internalized Higher Consciousness. But then, most driving persons, especially those who meet with accidents are not compassionately aware about ‘Others’. How can the state, governments, politics ensure that every person must have this most crucial eligibility of Higher Consciousness, before he or she is given a driving license or any other permission from the state authority? The state and governments have no role here as it is not something they can ever have the mandate and legitimacy for. It is the domain of intellectual-moral fabric of an individual itself, immediate and larger family, society and cultures. It is primarily about how an individual is evolved with right education-training-knowledge. It is not some eligibility, which can be ‘tested’ by a software or structural-functional regime. It is about human consciousness, which takes years to evolve to Higher Consciousness.
Driving, like any other human skill, especially in societal context, requires high level of awareness about self and ‘others’, skill of perception of ambient milieus, coordination of all five senses, spatial intelligence about maneuverability, persevered practice of the art of simultaneous functioning of varied motor actions of body, a calm-composed mind, self-belief and self-confidence vis-à-vis the vehicle one runs and above all, a very happily assured state of mind to be in affectionate-compassionate reception of equal rights of co-travelers and pedestrians on the road, etc. Naturally, all these are not some skills but they are internalized and embedded elements of the Higher Consciousness. These elements cannot be installed in a person by the fear and force of legitimized violence and punishment of state authority. Had this been possible, there would not have been a so many crimes against humanity by average persons themselves.
The primary task of evolving people to their higher consciousness, so that they could be aware of their possible wrongs, is a long learning-unlearning process, which is the role of education-knowledge, where state, governments and politics has no role to play. What humanity needs, at least as a secondary relief, is a foolproof and highly effective policing and judicial system to reach a wrong doer to justice and lead him or her to such a reform mechanism so that the wrongs could not be replicated. The state, governments and politics have miserably failed in facilitating even his small secondary role. The pragmatism of every individual’s socially appropriate and humanly rational behavior/action has rather been brutally annihilated by state, governments and politics, who in their innate propensity for power-authority kill all rationality.
This example of driving is a broad hint at how human consciousness works and how our average behavior/actions are engendered. It has to be accepted that there is a mechanism of stupidities and hypocrisy within our body and mind and everyone should be educated about that. This alone can guarantee appropriate human behavior/action and sanity and system in society. The origin of all stupidities and hypocrisies of human world is in the brain states; the way our brain has evolved as layered organ, with different parts evolving in different timeline, yet working as a cooperative entity. This layered and ‘collective of part’ brain states create hypocrisies for all of us. This needs to be understood.
We still are essentially instinctive animals, though we have evolved over time as conscious, thinking and logical being. Our brain mechanism still works like most higher organisms; like other big mammals. It is our subconscious brain state, handling all our instincts, which orchestrates all behaviors and actions. The upper brain states of Cerebral cortex region, which plays a key role in perception, thoughts, awareness, memory, languages and especially the sense of subjective self, is a late entrant in the evolution of brain. It is now very much an accepted scientific hypothesis that for decision-making purposes, the mid brain states of cerebellum, handing our subconscious functions, refers a sensory input to all parts of the sensory plexus of body and brain, including the cerebral cortex. However, the finality of an action or a behavior shall always have to be enacted by the subconscious part. Therefore, for an action or behavior to have repeat value and instinctive replication in all times, it must be part of our subconscious brain states.
So, what usually happens is that people think, feel and believe in all good things and high ideals. However, they are seldom practiced enough and therefore, they remain there as long-term memory of sorts in cortex brain states but are not consolidated and encoded in mid-brain states, where the actual consolidation and encoding of experiences as workable memory is done. We all need to universalize goodness and righteousness in our subconscious mind and therefore they need to be practiced repeatedly so that they become part of our instinctive action. If a learning or experience is not consolidated and encoded well in mid-brain states (subconscious domain), there shall always be abstract and mystical replication or even no replication of that learning. This happens because the learning experience could not be consolidated as workable memory. And, when something is not in workable memory, it is not instinctive but just thought or at best a linguistic memory. It is only natural that we shall voice goodness and righteousness but as they are not yet our instinctive behavior/action, they shall not be practiced, when need be. This creates all hypocrisies and stupidities in human world.
It is therefore clear as why human world’s primary and most massive trouble is its own body-brain design. Thankfully, this design has the wherewithal for consolidating righteousness and appropriates. But, it happens only when we consciously repeat all goodness and practice it with persevered intent so that it is consolidated and encoded in our subconscious brain states as instinctive goodness and righteousness. It is therefore very clear that only a higher consciousness can decipher and decode the hypocrisies and stupidities of self and it shall happen only through education-training-knowledge. No amount of force, threat, fear of punishment, suppression or humiliation can achieve this evolution of higher consciousness. Naturally, state, governments and politics, which are rooted in force, threat, fear of punishment, suppression or humiliation has no significant role to play in so-called solutions of human world.
Then the primary question is; what is this higher consciousness, which emerges as protagonist of conscious engineering and management of ‘I’ or self? Higher conscious is not an external mechanism of body and brain but a specificity of the body-mind media itself. The seed of higher consciousness is planted by an individual when it begins to attain a stage of maturity, age-wise or experience-wise and both, to have enough information-connect with his or her internal as well as external milieus to allow and accept the powerful energy of skepticism.
To doubt, to question to accept something different and non-conformist to one’s own knowledge and belief is the seed stage of higher consciousness. It has been mentioned in ancient wisdom that 'those who begin the process of higher consciousness, before they reach the stage of consciousness are the blessed ones. This happens when parents play their rightful role and allow a child to grow in a family environment where skepticism and questioning is encouraged and rewarded. This shall implant energy of skepticism deep in subconscious, helping the child to grow his or her conscious self, preparing the platform for the child to evolve his or her higher consciousness early and strong. Then comes the role of society, culture, religion, polity and economy, where a growing man or woman must continue to have the same liberty to question and evolve.
In simple one line – Higher Consciousness of an individual is his or her understanding and acceptance of the idea