Consciousness
What is Consciousness ?
Play of Consciousness
In Integral Yoga, Sri Aurobindo decodes the mystery of the Universe and reveals that creation is a play of consciousness. He describes that Consciousness is inherent and involved in being. It is concealed in things. It emerges out of an apparent unconsciousness and organizes itself in individual life.
He reveals “Consciousness is that by which we become aware of anything. Divine Consciousness is not only aware but also knows and effects. Consciousness consists of two parts – first, Awareness of Self, everything in surroundings and Forces and Power acting and Secondly, right Will and a Force which is necessary for effective consciousness and action.”
There are various types and layers of Consciousness. Our Surface consciousness is only consciousness known to us in waking state. Inside us, there is an inner being, an inner mind, inner vital, inner physical and psychic being. We are not aware of these but are aware of what comes up from there. Our inner being is hidden within and separated by kind of a wall of obscurity, between inner and outer being.
As one progresses in yoga, the wall of oblivion is slowly removed, and one becomes aware of inner and inmost being. The new consciousness is built up and one can communicate directly with the universal higher consciousness around us.
With the inner opening we get connected with higher consciousness directly and experience the Divine within us and through that, experience the Light and Force of the Divine.
States of Consciousness
There are different states of consciousness that we can experience:
- Waking State– This is the consciousness when we are awake and experience the material universe. It is dominated by the physical mind.
- Sleep State – One relates to Supramental plane of Knowledge and Truth in Sleep state.
- Dream State – In this state one does not get a concrete experience like physical but gets glimpse when one gets into dream (in sleep) and gets some intimation. In a dream state one gets experiences from subtle life plane and subtle mind-plane.
- Turiya State – This is the state where one is conscious of our Pure Self-existence, the Divine within us. It is also called ‘Conscious Samadhi’. We are not in direct relations with this consciousness but may get some mental reflections or see in our dream, sleep or maybe sometimes in our waking state.
Types of Consciousness
What are Types of Consciousness?
Integral yoga describes that the Consciousness can be further classified in different type based on the stress of Consciousness. So, Consciousness can be distinguished as Higher, Lower, Inner, Outer, Mental, Vital and Physical, Body Consciousness, Environmental Consciousness.
Outer Consciousness
We have Outer Consciousness through which we become aware of our outer material world. This Awareness received by Outer Consciousness is limited to information received through our senses
Inner Consciousness
We have a inner consciousness which is behind our frontal consciousness, It is much larger part of consciousness but it is veiled, and below the surface. One can become aware of this consciousness and experience it only by occult knowledge.
Inner Consciousness is subtle and can get broader to connect with higher worlds to get larger, deeper experiences and knowledge of higher consciousness.
Inner Consciousness refers to the inner mind, inner vital, inner physical and the inmost psychic being.
Inner mind is far more powerful than the surface mind. Inner mind is more connected with universal forces and higher Consciousness.
Inner Self
There is a Inner Self which is a hidden consciousness. It is called Inconscient by materialistic while Psychic science calls it a Subliminal Self. The Inner Self is far profound, more powerful, and far greater than the surface conscious self
Material Consciousness
Material consciousness is mostly subconscient but also has some conscious parts. The conscious part is mechanical and repeats the same unintelligent and unenlightened movements, which are attached to some established routine as per existing rule in nature. Mostly it follows or moved by habits or forces of the lower nature.
Material consciousness is unwilling to change, unwilling to receive and obey the higher Light and higher force. Sometimes it may be willing to change but is unable to do so. Sometimes, it may be able to change but, in that case, it will turn the action given to it by the Light or the Force into a new mechanical routine, taking out of it all soul and life.
Material consciousness is obscure, stupid, indolent, full of ignorance and inertia, darkness, and slowness of tamas.
Physical Consciousness
We have a physical body and individual physical consciousness. Individual physical consciousness is a part of Universal Physical Consciousness of Nature and follows it.
Our Central being is the one that directly deals with all external objects and movements. It expresses itself in the physical world with the support of individual physical consciousness.
Individual physical consciousness-plane receives powers and influences from the vital and mind plane and makes the formations in its own plane. Thus, there is a physical mind and a vital-physical part in physical plane which are largely conditioned by the gross physical body, and we are almost subconscient to them. Similarly, there are a vital mind and the mind proper, vital proper and nervous being.
Physical consciousness is full of inertia and doesn’t want to move on its own. However, it has the habit of getting moved by any force. One needs to remove the inertia of physical consciousness, which can be done by bringing it in contact with the right higher forces.
Environmental Consciousness (Aura)
Our consciousness extends in our surrounding atmosphere like an extension of ourselves in universal nature. This is the Environmental consciousness using which we communicate with the universal forces. This is also called Aura in spirituality or Biofield in science. Personal consciousness (Aura) is entrenched in the body and acts like shield.
One is connected with the surroundings through body, senses and the mind that uses these senses. Universal forces are pouring everything, all the time, without our knowledge and one becomes aware of them when these rise to the surface. One takes these as his own thoughts and feelings, but these come from outside in mind, take particular form and rise to the surface after coming inside.
External forces, thoughts and emotions enter the body through the environmental consciousness (Aura) So if one is conscious of this environmental self, one can catch and prevent the thoughts, passion, suggestions, or forces of illness before entering the body.
To get rid of anything one throws things outside. However, these do not go away and often stay in the environmental atmosphere. They try to re-enter or may stay at a distance, wait for opportunity, and try to enter again.
Planes of Consciousness
Planes of consciousness (planes of existence) is a general settled poise or world of relations between Purusha and Prakriti, between the Soul and Nature. For anything that we can call world is and can be nothing else than the working out of a general relation which a universal existence has created or established between itself or let us say its eternal fact or potentiality and the powers of its becoming…. Sri Aurobindo.
The Integral yoga model can be seen as a Sphere of Consciousness surrounding us. Sri Aurobindo divides this spherical model into two hemispheres. The upper hemisphere (Parārdha) and the lower hemisphere (Aparārdha), also referred to as higher Nature and lower Nature. Each of these hemispheres is subdivided into three planes each and both of them are linked together by a middle plane, which he named Supermind.
The upper hemisphere of consciousness transcends both Time and Space and therefore it is called Transcendental. It is not evolutionary but eternal, timeless, and spaceless. It is divided into three planes of consciousness Sat, Chit and Ananda or Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. Together these three planes are referred to as Sachchidananda, one trinity, as it is undifferentiated oneness with three aspects.
The lower hemisphere is composed of three planes of consciousness referred to as Mind (Manas), Vital (Prana) and Physical (Annam) and these are the worlds of form unfolding in Time and Space.
The mental plane is the world of ideas, the vital plane is the world of life-energy, and the physical plane is the world of matter (material universe). At the bottom of this lower hemisphere, there are ‘subconscient,’ ‘inconscious’ and ‘nescient’ planes.
The Mind, Vital and Physical Planes are further separated into multiple planes.
Systems of Consciousness
Sri Aurobindo describes that there are two systems of Consciousness – Vertical System and Concentric System, which are simultaneously acting around us.
Vertical System of Consciousness
In the vertical system of Consciousness, there are different levels or gradations, below and above the mental consciousness. The planes above our head are planes of higher consciousness. These layers above Mind are – Higher Mind, Illumined Mind, Intuition, Overmind, Supermind, Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Consciousness below Mind is Lower consciousness, and it includes Vital, Physical, the Subconscient and the Inconscient.
Concentric System of Consciousness
Concentric system consists of the outer being, the inner being and the inmost being (psychic). The outer being and the inner being have three corresponding parts – mental, vital and physical.
Outer being consists of the mind (the mental), the life-self (the vital) and the body (the physical)
Inner being is our subliminal self which is behind the outer being and directly in contact with universal consciousness and the universal forces, and so gets its awareness directly.
Outer Being
The Outer being consists of different layers which consists of many layers of Mind, Vital, Physical and Inconscient.
Mind
There are many layers of mind below from the crown chakra of the head to the throat chakra.
Consciousness at the top of the head communicating with the higher consciousness above the head. Consciousness between the eyebrows where there is the center of thought, sight and will (third eye).
Consciousness in the throat, where there is another center of consciousness which is the externalizing mind.
Mind Proper
Mind Proper is further subdivided into distinct categories –
Externalizing Mind – does the externalizing of mental thoughts, emotions, and will into the physical world.
Dynamic Mind – deals with planning and will.
Thinking Mind – does thinking activity and is also called the mind proper.
Vital Consciousness
Our lusts, desires, passions and ambitions are responsible to connect us to the vital worlds and their forces and beings, which exert a great influence on human beings
Higher Vital
Layers of Higher Vital are from the shoulders to the navel and preside over by the heart centre and emotional being. Higher Vital controls the emotions.
Lower Vital
Lower Vital is remaining vital which is down below the navel. It has several layers. From the bottom of the spine downward, the lower vital consists of the layers of the physical consciousness proper and the layer of material.
Physical Consciousness
There are various planes of physical consciousness corresponding to the different parts of the body. Physical planes are further divided into:
Subtle Physical, higher vital, middle vital, lower vital and mental physical.
Subtle Physical
Subtle Physical is nearest to physical and is similar to it. It is subtle in nature and differs in the conditions and the thing from physical like it has freedom, plasticity, intensity, power, color, wide and manifold play.
Mind Intersection with Vital and Physical
The mind intersects with other layers – vital and physical planes. Sri Aurobindo distinguished mind consciousness based on this interaction with physical or vital.
Sense-mind is the intersection of Mind with the Physical
Physical Mind is a part of the mind which is mixed with the characteristics of the physical consciousness.
The physical mind communicates with the physical vital. Signals from the physical senses are received in brain and sent to the Buddhi – some part of the Thought-Mind. The physical mind receives back from Buddhi – the idea and will and sends it to the brain and to the organs of sensation and action.
Emotional mind
Vital mind is the part of the mind which is intermixed and dominated by impulses, desires and feelings of vital nature. The reasoning of the vital mind is pseudo-reasoning as it is usurped by vital impulses, emotions and provides reasonable rational explanations and justifications for impulses and desires of the vital.
Mind Proper (Buddhi)
The Mind Proper is the Thought-Mind.
Inner Being
Inner being is our Subliminal Self which is behind the outer being.
Inner mind is connected with the Universal Mind, Inner Vital is in direct contact with Universal Life forces and Inner Physical is connected to Universal Physical forces
The outer being receives consciously the outer touches and gets knowledge about things indirectly through the outer mind and the physical senses. The inner being is more powerful, wide and directly in contact with universal consciousness and the universal forces, and so gets its awareness directly.
Subconscient and Inconscient
Subconscient and the Inconscient are below the Physical consciousness and constitute the Nether Being below feet.
Everything on earth is based on the Inconscient which is also an Involution of consciousness but at the lowest level, from which the evolution of consciousness starts. Inconscient also has many levels. Subconscious is like an antechamber of inconscient, that lies between Inconscient and the conscious part – mind, life, body.