consciousness

[Guest guest]

Consciousness is defined in the dictionaries as “the totality of

attitudes, opinions, and sensitivities held or thought to be held by an

individual or a group.” Or,

 

“Consciousness is a critical awareness of one's own situation and

identity.”

 

Present day scientists have narrow ideas about the consciousness; their

definitions are more or less provisional. They define consciousness as a

product of individual brain.

 

“For any given individual, his normal state of consciousness is the one

in which he spends the major part of his waking hours. That your state

of consciousness and mine are quite similar and are similar to that of

all other normal men is an almost universal assumption, albeit one of

questionable validity.” And,

 

“Western science of psychology defines altered state of consciousness,

ASCs, as that state in which the individual feels a qualitative (as well

as quantitative) shift in the pattern of his mental functioning –both of

cognition and expression. Or such a pattern is clearly observed closely

and reliably by his associates in life or in an experimental setting.”

 

The hypothesis based on the presumption of ‘individual consciousness’

brings about different versions and conclusions from those derived by

the scientists of spirituality (the saints and the mystics).

 

Vedantic view of Consciousness

 

According to Vedanta philosophy, consciousness is the only

subject/witness or absolute all pervading existence, also called as

Self, God, Atman, or Brahman. In its purest form, absolute consciousness

as universal truth, existence, and bliss, is reflected in universal love

and freedom. Matter reflects these aspects in varying degrees according

to its organization. Through the prism of space, time, and causation one

consciousness appears as divided in many individual consciousness.

Matter evolves to express the consciousness in clearer and clearer

forms. A particular arrangement reflects a specific aspect of

consciousness. Thus one may speak of stone consciousness, tree

consciousness, animal consciousness, human consciousness, etc.

 

Again, the quality and type of arrangement of mind and brain determines

the purity of expression of human consciousness. Therefore, we see both

selfish people and saints in the same society.

 

“...Consciousness is at the back of every phenomenon, whether physical,

mental, or spiritual. It appears as gross material objects to the

physical senses; it is seen as the different forms of energies through

sophisticated instruments; it is perceived as mental modifications

through introspection; it is experienced as divine manifestation through

spiritual insight; and when all seeing and perceiving stops (state of

formless samadhi), it remains by itself.”

 

Religion, as a science of spirituality and the technique of sadhana, is

an attempt to purify oneself to express higher and sublimated level of

consciousness. A stage is reached when one can identify oneself with

Universal Consciousness instead of identifying with limited body and

mind consciousness. Such a state we call as samadhi, a desirable

‘altered state of consciousness’.

 

In this transcendental journey of crossing the body-mind consciousness

so as to reach the Absolute Consciousness:

 

a) Various visions of God and beatitude are encountered,

b) The person experiences certain attitudes or bhava (spiritual moods)

which are beneficial to his character and ethical-moral uplift,

c) Values like selflessness and altruism are born, and,

d) The state of samadhi (mystic introversion) can be reached.

 

Explanations based on modern day medical science and theory of

evolution:

 

With intense effort of concentrating the mind on a ‘single form’ or ‘an

idea’, during the sadhana period, it is likely that some changes in the

human anatomy, physiology, and psychology may become visible through the

development of various centers in the brain.

 

Modern researchers in the medical field are also coming to similar

conclusions. Recent developments in the field of neurology,

neuropsychiatry, neuro-biochemistry, and investigative techniques (CT

scan, PET, MRI, and EEG) have made it possible to correlate the

functions of mind with anatomical and physiological changes. Based on

these studies the modern day biologists and evolutionary scientists have

come to the conclusion that, indeed, the brain can grow or develop, and

thereby the person may reach the state of higher consciousness. As a

result of intense spiritual practice, this may be possible by one or

more mechanisms, for example:

 

a) Certain centers in the brain may be suppressed, while others may show

stimulation to grow,

b) Dormant connections between the nerve cells may be opened up,

c) New connections might develop between the brain cells and the

centers,

d) Quality and the quantity of neurotransmitters –chemicals which

transfer messages from one cell to another may be altered to bring about

such state of consciousness,

e) New centers may develop, as has happened in human beings during

evolutionary leap from ‘ape to man’.

 

A few references can be cited:

 

i. Scientists believe they have discovered a ‘God module’ in the brain,

which could be responsible for man's evolutionary instinct to believe in

religion.

A study of epileptics who have known to have profoundly spiritual

experiences has located a circuit of nerves in the front portion of the

brain that appears to become electrically active when they think about

God. Initial results suggest that the phenomenon of religious belief is

‘hard wired’ into the brain.

According to the team of neuroscientists from the University of

California at San Diego the seizure causes an over stimulation of the

nerves in a part of the brain dubbed as the “God module”. There may be

dedicated neural machinery in the temporal lobes concerned with

religion. This may have evolved to impose order and stability on

society, the team reported.

The results indicate that whether a person believes in a religion or

even in God may depend on how enhanced is this part of the brain's

electrical circuitry, the scientists said. The study involved comparing

epileptic patients with normal people and a group who said they were

intensely religious. Electrical monitors on their skin- a standard test

for activity in the brains temporal lobes- showed that the epileptics

and the deeply religious displayed a similar response when showed words

invoking spiritual beliefs.

Evolutionary scientists have suggested that belief in God, which is a

common trait found in human societies around the world and throughout

history, may be built into the brains complex electrical circuitry as a

Darwinian adaptation to encourage Cupertino between individuals. If the

research is correct and the ‘God module’ exists then it might suggest

that individuals who are atheists could have a differently configured

neural circuit.

 

ii. The brain has the capacity for continuously changing its structure,

and ultimately its function, throughout a lifetime. This capacity, known

as brain plasticity, allows the brain to respond to environmental

changes or to changes within the organism itself. The brain is altered

not only by sensory experience but also by hormones and other chemicals,

including those produced by the brain, or taken as drugs.

Plasticity is most obvious during development, but the adult brain still

retains the capacity to compensate for injury or age related neuron loss

by changing its structure. This implies that some change in brain

structure also occurs with experience. The change is most likely to be

in the number, or in the efficiency, of connections between neurons.

Mechanisms controlling plasticity include not only those factors that

directly change synapses or create new ones but also those mechanisms,

which change the supporting cast of the synapse.

Various endogenous factors in the brain play an important role in

stimulating the growth of new connections. These factors may be hormones

or neurotransmitters. They may also be unique compounds known as trophic

factors, which include a variety of chemicals such as nerve growth

factor and fibroblast growth factor. The brain initially produces most

trophic factors during development in order to assist in generating

connections in the first place. Other factors may be produced only at

certain times such as puberty or pregnancy. This reflects the unique

plasticity of the brain at critical life periods. The expression of

trophic factors may also be influenced by experience.

 

iii. More connections among the estimated hundred billion neurons of

brain mean a better functioning brain. Connections come from inherited

growth patterns and in response to stimuli, including internal stimuli

like imagined sensations. The body receives information at the periphery

and encodes it as nerve impulses. When these electrical impulses reach

the brain, they trigger the release of messenger chemicals, which in

turn induce electrical impulses as they travel from one neuron to

another. This electrochemical process, the basis of brain communication,

sometimes stimulates growth of new dendrites.

Until recently, experts believed that genes program most dendrite

growth. But it is now demonstrated that the brain has unexpected

flexibility - what scientists call plasticity. This plasticity promises

to redefine basic concepts. The left side of the brain of a right handed

person specializes in handling music, poetry, and mathematics. Yet after

recovery from brain surgery or stroke, some patients enjoy piano

lessons, and learn mathematics also. Somehow, knowledge and capability

traveled from one side of his brain to the other.

Such transfers seem to defy biology. Does an undiscovered conduit exist,

or does each side have dormant capacity to assume functions of the

other? The ability to transfer is highest before adolescence, during the

years of peak dendrite growth. But transfer, albeit limited and slow,

also occurs when portions of an adult brain are affected as a result of

injury or stimulation.

 

It is likely that while the natural evolution takes thousands of years

to effect these changes, some persons can achieve the same results in a

few years of time through conscious and deliberate meditative efforts to

control the mind. When the energy is focused inwards, the changes can be

brought about in the internal world, much the same way the physical

scientists use energy to bring about the truths from and changes in the

external nature. These changes in the anatomy and physiology of the

brain might be responsible for expressing the different quality of

consciousness.

*

 

dr c s shah

http://www.geocities.com/neovedanta/asc.html