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Conference hydra::dejavu

Title:Psychic Phenomena
Notice:Please read note 1.0-1.* before writing
Moderator:JARETH::PAINTER
Created:Wed Jan 22 1986
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2143
Total number of notes:41773

613.0. "Levels of Consciousness" by BSS::BLAZEK (A new moon, a warm sum...) Sun Jan 03 1988 16:22

    	What are the different levels of consciousness???  And if
    	that question is too vague, where (actually?  potentially?)
    	do we "go/reside" during meditation?  Sleep?  Death?
    
    	I realize, of course, that we have all studied different
    	aspects and viewpoints on this, so I'd like to hear more 
    	specifics about what *you* personally believe and have 
    	experienced.
    
    	After searching 600+ topic titles not only do my eyes hurt
    	but I also didn't see any apparent topic devoted to this
    	subject.  Thanks!
    
    						Carla
    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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613.1Some guessesSARAH::BUEHLERA terrible waste is a thing to mindSun Jan 03 1988 19:3354
  I'm glad you asked about personal beliefs and not an expert opinion...

  My beliefs surrounding conciousness are that your mind is always going.
There is no subconciousness, only facts which you have demoted to less important
for the current moment in time.  When you're sleeping, your dreams are the
result of your mind running through all those facts and attempting to correlate
them and get them all hooked up so that when you mentally are trying to work
your way through a problem, all pertinent facts are related correctly.

  So the body is always working the information at hand, except that when
you're sleeping, ties between the body's senses and the mind's machinery
are disconnected temporarily and the mind works with what it has so far.

  As support, think about the fact that people who have gone through a traumatic
experience often have nightmares about the experience.  This is because the
mind is trying to incorporate the known facts of the experience into your
catalog of information about the world.  Also, you don't dream about stuff that
you don't know about.  How many people have wakened from sleep, popped out
of bed and invented something which they have little or no familiarity with?

  Another interesting aspect of sleep is that the body usually doesn't move
during sleep.  In those cases where the body does move, it may be defective
aspects of the disconnection between mind and body.  During dreams, rapid
eye movements are observed.  Maybe just part of a defect that the mind was
willing to deal with during this time of fact correlation.  Otherwise, it
would have been 'evolved out'.  Question: do other primates have a REM phase
of sleep?

  Anyway, that's the biological side of things.  On the psychic side, I believe
that there's a strong possibility that at our very core there is a thing - the
most common term in the Christian world is "a soul" - which is the true
expression of what we really are.  Our life force; whatever.  All the biological
stuff that's going on in the body is being conveyed to this soul.  So I have a
tendency to believe in things like out-of-body experiences.  That is a level of
conciousness which is disjoint from your normal 'aware', 'asleep', etc, concious
states. 

  As a sidelight, I don't have a theory for why people who have experienced
out-of-body periods can experience things.  As I see it, the body is providing
the input to this sould via the senses we have.  Leave the body and what
is there to collect information about the environment?  I guess the soul
can have its own sensing capabilities which are skewed to the physical body's
ability.

  Death is just another state for the soul.  A severing occurs between the
soul and the body and the soul goes wherever unbound souls go.  So an out
of body experience is pretty close to death - at the metaphysical level.
Note that I haven't a clue on why a dead body can't hold a soul.  Perhaps
a soul is actually trapped in the body and doesn't really want to be there...
[twilight zone music, please]

  Howzat?

John
613.3dream state32032::CONNELLYEye Dr3 -- Regnad KcinMon Jan 04 1988 03:0917
re: .1
>			Question: do other primates have a REM phase
>of sleep?

You bet, John!  There are several small bundles of nerve cells in
the brain-stem (the lowermost part of the medulla) that are supposed
to mediate this "dream paralysis".  While my memory of the details is
getting a little hazy, i think that a bunch of cells called the locus
coeruleus (literally "blue place" in Latin, from the color the cells
take on in preserved histological specimens) actually causes much of
the paralysis, and destroying this bunch of cells in various animals
will cause a dreaming animal to start moving around and even wake
itself up.  The nerves in the locus coeruleus use the neurotransmitter
norepinephrine, which is closely associated with the "fight-or-flight"
response, so the paralysis may be related to being "paralyzed with
fear" and may account for some of the high-anxiety tone of dreams.
							paul c.
613.4Body and SoulFNYFS::PELLATTORCAMon Jan 04 1988 08:0028
    I think of consciousness as being an expression of the attachment,
    at any given time, between Soul and Body.
    
    Thus, your lowest level of consciousness occurs when you are behaving in
    a manner subservient to your basic bodily desires ( e.g. gluttony, lust,
    drug addiction ). Your Soul is a slave to your Body in this case. 
    
    Next up would be your normal, daily state with your Soul controlling
    your body through the Mind ( if you can discriminate Mind and Soul ). 

    Sleep strikes me as a special case, with your Soul usually ( but not
    always - O.B.E.s occur often while sleeping ) still resident but freed
    from the influences of the body by its inactivity.
        
    Meditation takes you to the next level, where you still 'reside' in your
    body but begin to detach yourself from physical influences. Most
    O.B.E.s, I think, occur at a similar level - where the Soul is still
    effectively hanging around near the Body. 
    
    Astral Projection ( which I will discriminate from O.B.E.s by the
    travelling to other physical / astral locations ) then follows. I think
    I'd consider death to be at this level also. 
    
    Beyond that ? Any suggestions ?

    Joyeuse Fetes, Dave.
    
613.5What I've LearnedFLOWER::JASNIEWSKIMon Jan 04 1988 12:1354
    
    	I'll re-write some of the things I've been learning recently.
    
    Supposedly, there are 3 "Lower" levels of consciousness, which are:
    
    	1. Security. Where the "approval seekers" reside...
    	2. Sensation. Where those who have to ask "are we having fun
   		       yet?" operate from...
    	3. Power.       To where the statement "Yes, officer, Sir" is
    			 directed...
    
    My source claims that 99% of all people operate out of 1 of these
    3 levels, at different times and in different situations...
    
    There are 3 "Higher" levels also, they are;
    
    	1. Unconditional Love. ...you operate from an all-loving space. 
    	2. Cornucopia.         ...you see life as all-bountiful.
    	3. Cosmic.             ...you've disassociated the "self"
    				  concept and become one with the rest of
    				  the universe.
    
    To get to the higher levels, one must escape the tugs and hankerings
    of the lower level needs. Most are very subtle. I'll try to give
    some examples.
    
    	"I couldnt live without you"	"But my job is all I have"
    
    	"If I dont get some food in my stomach, I'm going to be sick"
    
    	"I'll show her...Sam! FIRE Miss Mclintok"
    
    The way to higher consciousness operation involves three steps...
    
    	1. Becoming aware of which "lower" levels you are coming from
    	- in real time.
    
    	2. Reprogramming your responses to real time life situations
    	based on this awareness.
    
    	3. Committing yourself to the maintainence of your response
    	reprogramming.
    
    
    When you've broken free of nearly all of the "Security/Sensation/Power"
    needs, the "I" or "Self boundary" that the ego so intently guards
    will begin to dissolve. When this happens, the Soul is free to resonate
    in harmony with the life energies of the here and now. You might
    even invite a street person into your home for the night, instead
    of sputtering (from lower consciousness levels) "Get a job , creep!"
    
    	Hope this helps!
    
    	Joe
613.6Different things at diferent timesSSDEVO::YOUNGERGod is nobody. Nobody loves you.Mon Jan 04 1988 15:2312
    Not really sure, but I'll try to answer anyway.
    
    I think that during sleep or meditation, people are usually going
    over things in their own mind.  However, these states are more
    conductive than waking states for psychic phenomenon - ESP or OOBEs.
    
    So, that means that the people who wake up and invent something
    that they know nothing about are having a form of ESP.  People who
    go places (including other planes, perhaps), may actually be going
    there.  In most cases, it has psychological sources.
    
    Elizabeth                    
613.7Virtually ConsciousSEINE::RAINVILLEThe best view is close to the edge!Mon Jan 04 1988 22:5950
Re; Levels of Consciousness.
I doubt there are discrete levels but a continuum of states which involve
more or less of the gray matter to process a particular problem or data set.

An example of partial conscousness of the cerebral cortex occurs during
sleep disturbed by an external stimulus.  The Reticular Activating System,
which consists of mid-brain structures(Thalamus,Pons,Reticulum) monitors
the senses during sleep.  If a noise or light threatens to wake the
organism, the RAS turns on enough of the cortex to process the stimulus
and evaluate it.  Thus the hearing section of the temporal lobe ( or the
occipital cortex for a light ) are interrupted from whatever background
processing or biological repair jobs are active.  The cortex affected
can network to other areas as needed, and, if the stimulus is a threat,
can awaken the organism.  If the stimulus is not deemed to be a threat,
the RAS acts to protect the sleeping state, and the cortex turns off.
In higher organisms with extensive memories, the stimulus may integrate
to a dream sequence, as the brain returns to the background state.

Another example of partial consciousness occurs during driving over a
familiar route & realizing you're further than you thought.  Since memory
seems to be stored holographically over the entire brain and is addressed
by  content and context, the recent memory of the drive, if uneventful,
overlays a prevoius memory and is not distinctive as recent.

Higher Levels:
It does not seem that the entire processing power of the human brain is 
needed even during normal consciousness, in fact partial absence does not 
seem to bother some of us at all.  It seems logical to assume that larger 
areas of the cortex can be associated or disassociated from each other by 
practices such as meditation or exercise.  In addition, such influences 
as levels of everything from oxygen to carbohydrates, protiens and hormones 
are controlled by their presence in the blood, and the permeability of the 
blood-brain barrier to that material at any given moment.  Eg; a high serum 
carbohydrate level can inhibit the transport of protien into the brain, and 
protein seems to be consumed during memory formation & repair.  To stretch the 
analogy, the highest state would be complete activation of the Cortex & maximum 
connectivity between hemispheres, (bottlenecked through the Corpus Callosum).

Subconscious processing:
It does not seem to be necessary to be consciously aware of problem-solving
processes which run in the background of our attention.  The practice of
'sleeping on a problem' might work because more memory-compares are possible
if there is less neural sensory traffic, and new gestalts aren't being
swapped into awareness at every interruption.  Also, sleep-maintainance
probably involves constant cross-checking of stored memory, with protien
repair where errors are detected, and this traffic can be monitored by
a sub-conscious problem/compare process.

Where i go when i sleep:
I'm not even sure I'm here when I'm awake...........................MWR
613.11do not turn the light out before morn!FSTVAX::ROYERFIDUS AMICUS..Tue Jan 05 1988 17:0835
    Quite frankly, I do not know.
    
    My opinion, of course..
    
    I have always had a difficult time falling asleep.. I remember at
    a very young age I would remain awake during long car trips..30
    miles or so, when I was 4-5 years old.
    
    If I have had an unusually active day..ie. brain activity or
    excitement.  Then I can not just lay down and turn the old brain
    off and let the body rest.  I have to mull the day over and I 
    rarely have nightmares or dreams.
    
    I guess I can compare my sleep patterns to an old kerosene lamp,
    When the wick is turned up, I am awake, however I find it difficult
    to turn the wick down, therefore I remain awake 20-30 minutes on
    average nights.  However my wife is the opposite, It seems to
    me that she just runs out of kerosene and goes out.
    
    I also compare brain activity to the lamp.
    
         up wick and bright light=wide awake and active
    
         turned down some and dim=not alert..but awake
    
         turned down to the point of just on..flickering=asleep..or
           trance state.  between not alert and asleep is what I 
           term dream state.
    
         completely out, no light=dead
    
    
    but you knew that,
    
    Dave R.
613.12STATES OF CONS DEFINEDSDOGUS::DEUTMANI'd Rather be INSANE DIEGOTue Jan 05 1988 19:36314
I would like to give you some information on states of consciousness. This 
information comes from several sources, which I will try to identify as I
go along.  Mainly, however, it is a compilation of my experience over the
last 20 years of studying the subject.  I would like to start out by saying
that I do not want to appear to be an authority on the subject, I'm just
another pilgrim on the path, groping for answers and taking alot on faith.
Faith I define as belief in something that has not been directly experienced,
but "feels" right.

Many times, it is good to start with an analogy. The one I will use is this:
Try to describe color to a blind person.  You can use every word in any
language you choose, but the blind person will still have to accept the 
concept of "color" on faith.  You can liken blue to cold and red to hot, 
and the blind person will overlay their experience on your definitions, but
will still not directly experience those colors.  Now, just because the 
blind person does not experience blue or red for themself does not mean
that those colors do not exist, does it?  In other words, our perception
of reality does not limit reality nor does it change the truth of what
reality is.  

When we attempt to describe reality, we use these things called words.  Words
create boundries and boundries limit our perception.  This is as it should be.
Otherwise, we would not be able to communicate our perceptions to others.
The problem lies in the difference in perception between the communicator
and the person receiving the information.  One person's perception of
reality may be different (more or less bound) than the other's.
  
Remember the blind person?  When he hears about color, his perception may
not be as the one talking, so what is interpreted is something different from
what is said or described.  Keep this in mind as we discuss consciousness.
Descriptions of different states of consciousness are like describing color
to the blind person.  And I admit right here that I'm just as blind as you
are.  So, any descriptions that I may make in this discussion are ones that
I have heard, interpreted and am now relating -- lots of translations there.

Next, it would be useful to define some terms, and processes that we go thru.
All that we perceive in this physical world is what is called "The Relative".
The Relative is a manifestation of "The Absolute".  The Absolute is that 
unchanging, unmanifest oneness that is like the ocean - only it is limitless
without shape, form, or motion.  Like the ocean, waves arise and give form
to what we perceive as our universe.  We are like drops which have risen up
from the ocean and seem to be individuals in the Relative.  Actually though,
we are still the Absolute - we just have become caught up in the Relative, 
and have "forgotten" what we essentially are.  What is religion?  Well, the
word comes from the latin "re-" and "ligere" meaning "to bind back". To me
this means to bind ourselves back to the Absolute.  

Now, a contradiction naturally arises here, a paradox if you will.  How can
we be a part of the Absolute - that unchanging unchangeable oneness and at 
the same time be part of the Relative - that ever changing separateness?
This is the problem with language that I alluded to before - you cannot
describe "higher" states of reality without resorting to allusions and
metaphors.  Even then you run into paradoxical situations - things which
on this level seem to have no "logical" answer.  So, the element of faith
or acceptance because it feels right comes into play.  Well, what feels 
right to me might be utter nonsense to you - this is a risk I have to take,
with the hope that someday you will have expanded your awareness to the
level that I speak from.  Much as the person describing color wishes that
the blind person can someday be cured, and see blue and red.

Why do things "feel right"?  Either they relate closely to what you yourself
have come close to experiencing or you accept the wisdom and knowledge of
a teacher who has demonstrated their elevated state.  I suppose this is
where I have gleened most of this knowledge - from those I consider more
advanced than I am.  More on this later.

Let's return to the aspect of the Relative and Absolute and how they came to
be and what our place is in the scheme of things.  As I said before, the 
Absolute is unchanging, and unmanifest reality.  It is not emptiness, but
fullness, it is infinite potential.  The Relative, on the other hand, is 
finite, and kinetic.  It is the Absolute, manifested.  (Try to overlook the
paradox here).  Now, most of the books I have read say that the Relative is
an illusion.  It doesn't really exist.  We have "tricked" ourselves into 
believing that we are limited, finite, and relative.  WHY? The answer
is very simple - for fun.  The Absolute chooses to manifest into the Relative
for the experience - to play in the game called "life" - be it rocks, plants,
stars or human beings.  We ARE the Absolute - we have just forgotten.

There are several interesting side lights here.  One is "death".  How can
we "die" or "cease to exist" if we are essentially a "drop" of the "ocean"
of the Absolute?  Answer: we can't!  We just change clothes and go on to the
next playhouse (life).  Sounds like reincarnation doesn't it?  "Death" is
just a period of unconsciousness between lives.  So why don't we remember
past lives (or at least the vast majority of us?)  Well, it seems that if
you remember all the times that you were confronted with a particular
situation, you would be paralyzed by inaction trying to choose the reaction
to that situation.  So, fortunatly, we don't remember, so that we can 
experience the game in all of it's infinite variety.  The whole purpose of
life is enjoyment and paralyzation is not enjoyable.  But really the purpose
of life according to "religion" is to become one with "God" or the "Absolute".
Some religions just don't want you to have fun doing it.  Of course the
definition of "fun" is open to interpretation too. 

Most of what I have read concerning methods to get back to the Absolute come
from the teachings of Eastern "masters".  Those who have discovered or
recovered ways to do this through anceint teachings.  The word "yoga" means
"union".  (Kind of sounds like "to bind back" doesn't it)?  There are three
main kinds of yoga - Gnana, Bhakta, and Karma yoga. Gnana (gee-ya-na) yoga
is the path of knowledge. Bhakta is the path of devotion. And Karma is the
path of action. Hatha yoga (physical exercises) is a part of karma yoga.

The path of knowledge requires study under a master - something not readily
available to us here in the West.  The path of devotion requires a renunciation
of worldly goods - like the Hare Krishnas - don't laugh, they are really
sincere, they just don't "fit in" to our society or culture.  So the only
path that seems available is the path of action.  "Path" means the way to 
"get back" or "become one with" the Absolute. 

When this eventually happens - and it will to all of us someday, it is like
the drop of water dissolving back into the ocean.  The drop loses it's
"individuality", but gains the fullness of the ocean.  The ocean gains the
drop and all of the experiences that the drop went through in its journey
since it left the ocean.  

So, the path of action.  It seems like that is what our culture is all about
doesn't it?  Everybody rushing here and there trying to find "happiness".
Eventually, though, even the "one with the most toys" finds that life is
empty without that glimpse of the Absolute, or "spiritual awakening".  Once
this happens, the person becomes somehow "fuller" and the Relative loses
some of its charm.  The person then becomes pointed in the direction of
getting "bound back".  Unfortunatly, in today's society there are several
seemingly sincere people touting methods to do this.  And one could waste
alot of time in their quest by selecting the "wrong path".  So how do I 
know which is the "right path"?  Well, it gets back to experience, faith, and
acceptance that the one who taught me a method knows what he is talking
about.  The method I use is Transcendental Meditation (TM).  It is taught
by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  If you want to know more about it, just contact
a local TM Center.

The following discussion on states of consciousness comes from Maharishi's
teaching.  I believe it is the best description that I have heard, and
I have experienced some of it myself, so I'm not entirely "blind".  Alot of
what I will describe has been backed up by some pretty sound scientific
research going back 20 years.

The "first" state of consciousness is deep sleep.  It is characterized by 
a rested, inactive body, and an inactive mind.  It can be physiologically
diferentiated from the next "state", that of dreaming.  The third "state"
is wakefulness.  In deep sleep we are not "aware" of anything, in dreaming,
we are "aware" of a phantom world, and awake we are fully "aware". 

There is a problem here - what is "awareness" and "what" is aware?  It is
because we are "aware" that we know anything about the world at all. To
know anything about "awareness" seems to demand an impossible relexive act
like trying to see your own eye.  Philosphers down thru the ages have asked
"How can the knower be known?"  Here then is the ultimate question: one
we have often asked ourselves -- "Who am I?"  Without going into an
exhaustive disertation, let us postulate that there is "awareness" -
the act of being aware which require an object and a knower.  The knower -
in this case, us, is composed of what?  Well it seems that we have a body, 
and a "mind", which do the perceiving.  But can there be a state of
"pure awareness" that is, awareness itself without the components of body
and mind?  There are many people - thousands of them all over the world -
who unanimously assert that they have attained to this complete vacuum of 
mental contents, but that what then happens is quite different from a lapse
into unconsciousness.  On the contrary, what emerges is a state of pure
consciousness - "pure" in the sense that it is not the consciousness of any
empirical content.  It has no content except itself.

This state of "pure" awareness is different experientially and physiologically
from the other three.  It is a fourth state of consciousness.  The other
three states can be thought of as "projected" upon, or reflected in the 
underlying reality of the fourth state, pure awareness.  It can best be
explained by an analogy.  Suppose you are in a theater where a movie is being
shown.  In terms of the analogy, this corresponds to the ordinary waking state.
Next, suppose the movie is replaced by a surrealistic film with strange
images; this corresponds to the dreaming state.  Third, suppose the projector
breaks down and the theater is plunged into darkness. This corresponds to 
the state of dreamless sleep.

Notice that in none of these circumstances have you seen the actual screen,
but only, at best, the images projected upon it.  But now imagine that the
projector comes on without any film in it, so that a white light falls on
the screen.  Only now do you see the screen itself.  This state of affairs
corresponds to the fourth state, pure awareness.

How does one reach this state of pure awareness?  It is at this point that
we come to Maharishi's most important insight.  That insight depends on the
basic postulate of all interiorly oriented schools of thought: that the
state of pure awareness is, in its own nature, blissful.  Therefore, 
movement towards it must be natural.  It is to be reached not by control,
but by letting go; not by concentrating the mind, but by letting it expand.
It is rather like falling asleep when one is tired -- except for the
vitally important difference that during the process awareness increases
rather than decreases.  

Thus the principle that underlies Transcendental Meditation is that one
does not TRY to gain the state of pure awareness, but allows oneself to be
drawn in that direction naturally.  Bliss supplies the motive power that
draws the attention inward, as gravity draws matter toward the center of
the earth.

The attention is constantly searching for happiness.  In cybernetic 
parlance, it is a scanning mechanism, looking for happiness in the 
external world through the senses.  But since the external world is in a
constant state of flux, the happiness which the mind discovers there
can never be permanent.  The inner pure awareness is permanent happiness,
however, and therefore if the attention is once pointed toward it
no deviation will occur.

The process of contacting pure awareness Maharishi calls "transcending".
To use a spatial analogy, it is like "diving" through finer and finer
layers of thought until the finest level is reached.  Physiologically, 
one experiences a reduction in the metabolic rate.  As the mind 
experiences finer levels of thought, the body automatically follows.
Indeed if the body did not cooperate in this way, finer mental states
would not be experienced.  One can describe the meditative state or
fourth state of consciousness as "restful alertness". That is, the
mind is fully alert as in wakefullness, but the body is in a state of
deep relaxation.  There is a limit to the length of time that the body
cas sustain this reduced state of metabolism which accompanies this
transcendental state, and the mind "returns to the surface" after the
"dive". 

What are the benefits to practicing this type of meditation? Quite a few,
not the least of which is increased energy, alertness, health, etc.
It seems that this is a technique for allowing the body to take
exceptionally deep rest so to cope better with the problems of
living in an increasingly stressful environment.  Scientific studies
suggest that this is indeed the effect of meditation.
I'm not going to proselytize here, if you are interested in what I've
explained about TM, please contact your local TM center.

So, four states of consciousness right?  Yes, but there's more.  The best
way to explain them is by analogy.  The best one I've heard goes like this:
When you take a white cloth and dip it into a yellow dye, then set it
out into the sun, the sun bleaches away the color.  But with repeated
dipping, and drying, eventually the color becomes permanent.  Like this,
with repeated contact with pure awareness, it eventually becomes a full
time reality in one's life.  So that even in sleep, dreaming or awake,
one does not lose the reality of pure awareness.  This state of consciousness
is called "cosmic consciousness" by Maharishi.  As far as I can tell,
it is called "enlightenment", "realization", "nirvana" and other names
by others throughout history.  

Returning to the discussion of "soul", "death" and "reincarnation", this
state of consciousness is that in which the person has achieved the end
of their journey.  They are no longer bound to the wheel of reincarnation.
Buddhists teach that no one should take the "final step" until all are 
ready.  They are saying that since we are all one (the Absolute), we 
should wait for our brethern, then all merge into the Absolute together.
Those who are enlightened should continue to return to teach others.  I
suppose this is why I have always looked at Buddhists as nobel people.
Hindus on the other hand, make no such restrictions.  Who is to say which
is right/better? 

I would like to return to my discussion of the Absolute.  The first thing
to say about it is that there is nothing that can be said about it!  As
Eastern literature puts it - "neti, neti", not this, not that.  All 
positive statements by implication exclude what is not stated, and therefore
can never be true about the Absolute, which is all-embracing.  However -
and this is the crucial paradox - the Absolute does after all have attributes
that is, manifests in certain ways, and these manifestations can be
looked upon as attributes.  In Eastern philosophy, there are said to be three 
of them: Being (sat), consciousness (chit), and bliss (ananda).

The Absolute is discovered by experience to be blissful, because it 
represents the dissolution of all tensions and oppositions.  One point is
perhaps worth making: according to Maharishi, bliss is only experienced at
the moment of contact with the Absolute.  Once one has, as it were,
entered the Absolute, all differentiation has ceased and so there is no
one left to experience bliss.  An analogy is that of a fish which has
been taken out of the water then returned; it might, I suppose, 
experience joy at the moment it re-entered the water, but once it was
swimming in its own element, it would cease to feel the contrast.

Now consciousness.  Here is a most illuminating idea: individual 
consciousness is produced by a reflection of the Absolute in a given
nervous system.  The Absolute itself is, as it were, a mass of pure
undifferentiated consciousness "waiting" for a nervous system to be able
to manifest.  Here the analogy which comes to mind is that of radio
waves, which fill empty space with potential sound that cannot be heard
unless there is a suitable receiver.  Moreover, the quality of the
receiver will affect the sound which reaches one's ears.  In the same
way, the nervous system does not produce consciousness, but it allows
it to become manifest; and the nature of individual awareness depends
on the quality of the nervous system which is acting as a reflector.

I would like to end this rather lengthy discussion with a quote from
a book written by Anthony Campbell called "Seven States of Consciousness"
published by Harper & Row c 1974. (Yes Virginia, there are more states
of consciousness). 

"For my part, I would say that the greatest gain I have had from
meditation is something which is remarkably hard to put into words.
Perhaps I can best ilustrate it by a practical example.  Before I
meditated I used to be appalled by the thought of death. Now, so far
as I can discover by introspection, this is no longer so. As far as
I can tell I am curious about death but not afraid of it except insofar
as it may entail suffering.  Yet this loss of the fear of death is not, 
I think, related to any new-found certainty about survival; rather,
it is part of a general increase in what perhaps can best be described
as a sense of inner security and stability.  This is not to say that
the vicissitudes of life no longer affect me, far from it.
Paradoxically, there seems to be an increas in sensitivity but a
decrease in the liability to be thrown off balance by sudden changes
in fortune, good or bad.  On the intellectual level many questions
remain, but increasingly I come to see that the way to resolve them
is not by reading or discussion but rather by deepening one's
awareness through meditation.

"At bottom, our problem in life, it seems to me, is always the same --
fear.  Fear of death, fear of illness, fear of old age, fear of pain,
fear of war - the list is endless. What is the source of fear?  The
Upanishads say: "Fear comes from a second".  Here, surely, is the
key to the abolution of fear.

"The person who has achieved full enlightenment has come to see that 
his Self is present in everything. In this state of consciousness
there can be no "second" and hence no fear.  The Self is beyond
suffering and fear. No doubt for most of us there is a long way to go
before we reach this total freedom from fear. But at least we are
now on the right path".
    
613.137 Bodies of ConsciousnessSHRBIZ::WAINELindaTue Jan 05 1988 20:3731
    
    
    It is my understanding that there are 7 bodies (or vehicles) of
    consciousness:
    
	1) Physical Body
    
	2) Emotional Body
    
	3) Mental Body
    
	4) Monadic Body or Soul - containing all past life experiences
    
 	5) Causal-Vibrational (or just Vibrational) or Intuitive Body
    
    	6) Astral Body or Etheric Body
    
    	7) Spiritual Body
    
    When a person astral-projects, what they are doing is separating
    their Astral Body from the other six bodies.
    
    Each Body is associated with a chakra and a color.  For example,
    if someone is very upset, their emotional body is "out-of-whack"
    and therefore they will need the color blue in their aura.
    And, if someone is developing their ability to regress to a past
    life, they will probably feel a type of "pressure" sensation on
    their throat chakra which is where the Monadic body is "attached".

    
    Linda
613.15Modes of consciousnessPBSVAX::COOPERTopher CooperWed Jan 06 1988 16:3441
RE: .14 comments in re: .10
    
    1) Although the "top" level of consciousness -- the so called stream
    of consciousness -- is generally in words and/or images, its quite
    easy to see (so to speak (so to speak ...)) that this level is shallow.
    Otherwise we would have an infinite regress.  Evidence: look at
    how hard it is to define words precisely (generally its next to
    impossible to capture all the implications of a word -- true synonyms
    are figments of incomplete definitions).  Give me a brief rule,
    in English, for distinguishing what you feel is *really* science
    fiction (not what you would accept for sake of argument) from all
    other kinds of literature.
    
    2) There is fairly good evidence for "state specific memory functions".
    Extreme pain produces an altered state of consciousness where the
    pain is rather hard to remember after return to normal.  Most (all?)
    people find it rather hard to remember precisely what that fairly
    common altered state of consciousness called orgasm really feels
    like.
    
    What is available in the "normal" state of consciousness to reason
    with, communicate with and remember with are the "normal"
    sensory/thought modalities.  Experiences inconsistent with those
    modalities are expressed as metaphores ("it feels like firey water
    rushing down my legs and up my stomach.", "Is that really what it
    feels like?", "No but that's as close as I can come to describing
    it.").  As time passes, the direct memory fades (very quickly for
    really radical experiences) leaving only the metaphors.  Quite
    frequently, the person forgets that the metaphor *was* originally
    a metaphor: they lose not only the memory of the experience but
    the memory that there *was* a memory of the experience distinct
    from its description.
    
    Thus, if you talk to someone who has recently had a mystic experience
    they will frequently say things such as "It was like a great sea
    of light".  If you talk to the same person after some time has passed
    (a few months) during which they had no further mystic experiences
    they are likely to say something like "It was a great sea of light".
    Note the difference.
    
    					Topher