"Consciousness is what ultimately creates reality" (Amit Goswami).
"Pure consciousness is full, perfect, complete" (Upanishads).
Characteristics of Consciousness
Consciousness is unknowable. It is not possible to explain or define it by concepts because to do so would be to limit it. The same is true of mind and life, and even matter at its most fundamental level. However, it is possible to intuit some of its characteristics:
It is the source of everything.
Consciousness is the origin and source of all that exists. Everything has arisen from the consciousness. Consciousness is the primordial source of descending causality. "The entire universe is an expression of consciousness" (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi).
Consciousness is neither an energy nor a vibration, but the source of all energy and all vibration.
It is irreducible.
Consciousness is one and indivisible, it has no parts, it is not reducible to simpler components. "Consciousness is one, there is nothing in second position" (Upanishads).
It is unity.
All things are connected through consciousness, which is their common origin and foundation. Nothing is isolated.
We do not speak of integration but of unification. Unification is a higher point of view that goes from top-down. In fact, we speak of the "Unified Field of Consciousness". Integration, on the other hand, goes from the bottom-up, grouping various things into a unity of a higher type.
It is supreme simplicity.
Consciousness, the essence of everything, is supreme simplicity. And because it is so simple and self-evident, we do not perceive it.
Reality is complex, but its essence is simple. Reality, deep down, is simple and is nothing more than consciousness. The complexity of reality is only apparent, appearing at the superficial level.
It is formless.
Consciousness lacks form and substance. It is formless, continuous and undifferentiated. Everything that has form comes from formless consciousness.
It is perfection (or supreme order).
Because there is unification, there is perfection, for if there were not there would be separation and duality, and there would be no unification.
Consciousness heals because consciousness is order. Disease is disorder. When there is order, each of the elements resonates with each other, generating resonant energy in circulation. The more order, the more energy. The symbol of the Pythagoreans, the 5-pointed star represents consciousness, perfection, order and union,
It is absolute knowledge.
Consciousness is absolute knowledge. Consciousness knows everything, for it sees everything as one and the same thing. Consciousness is the foundation of all knowledge.
It is absolute meaning.
Consciousness is full meaning, the center from which everything finds its meaning, including all circumstances, which are contemplated as right and perfect.
It is wholeness.
Consciousness is totality. Nothing escapes consciousness.
It is universality.
Consciousness is the universal, that which grounds everything. In this sense, the hypothetical science of consciousness would be the universal science.
It is supreme creativity.
Consciousness is supreme creativity, for creativity is the capacity to relate, and consciousness relates everything, connects everything.
It is freedom.
Consciousness is freedom, it has no limitations or restrictions. Freedom is a necessary condition for there to be creativity.
It is reflexivity.
Consciousness is essentially reflexive. "The quanta of consciousness is recursion" (Dan Winter).
The Cartesian sentence "I think, therefore I am" is considered the origin of the modern conception of consciousness, by introducing a mechanism of self-reflection (thinking that is thought). However, for Antonio Damasio, Descartes' mistake was to affirm that being derives from thinking, because it is the opposite: in the beginning it was being and then thinking.
This criticism by Damasio is refutable on several grounds: 1) Descartes was referring to an essential characteristic of consciousness (reflexivity), and therefore, to being: if I think it is that there is a thinker; 2) Descartes was referring to thinking being subordinate to existence, that is, without existence there can be no thinking; 3) The contrary expression "I exist, therefore I think" does not conform to the truth, since there are living beings that do not think.
According to Buddhism, consciousness is a mirror reflecting a mirror. Consciousness itself as such does not exist, it is really (paradoxically enough) self-consciousness (consciousness of consciousness).
For St. Augustine of Hippo, this reflective aspect of consciousness is the most important. "I understand that I understand," he claimed.
John Locke, in his "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1690), defined consciousness as "the perception of what passes in man's own mind." Incidentally, this was the first known attempt to define consciousness.
It is transcendent.
Consciousness is transcendental. Consciousness transcends the physical and mental world, even imaginary worlds, for it is at the supreme level. In consciousness all boundaries are transcended, there is no space or time, everything is contemplated as the same thing. Consciousness never changes and never dies.
It is non-local.
It is a consequence of transcendence. Consciousness is non-local, both spatially and temporally. Consciousness has no physical limitations.
It is self-sufficient.
Consciousness is self-sufficient, it depends on nothing but itself. We believe that consciousness is individual, something we possess, just as we have a brain. But the reality is the opposite: it is consciousness that possesses us.
It is possibility.
Consciousness is the field of all possibilities. All possibilities are in consciousness. When consciousness chooses, it is simply selecting one of the already existing possibilities.
When observing something (an object or a phenomenon), 3 steps occur: 1) The brain receives the physical sensation; 2) The mind produces a wave of possibilities; 3) Consciousness "chooses" one of the possibilities and the wave collapses into the chosen possibility.
Pure consciousness
Pure consciousness is a state of non-duality where consciousness is aware only of itself. It is the most fundamental level of human intelligence and the intelligence of nature.
This type of consciousness coincides with the Vedanta conception of consciousness. According to physicist John Hagelin [1987], pure consciousness is the unified field sought by physicists, the unified source of all the laws of nature. The symbol of pure consciousness is the logarithmic spiral because it always refers to itself, for it is similar to itself.
Pure consciousness cannot be experienced because that would mean limiting it. But we can approach it and experience a unifying sensation or perception by meditating (when there are no thoughts) or contemplating (when perceiving, the mind stops). It is a state of non-duality, where everything and nothingness is the same thing. We also approach it unconsciously in the interval between two successive thoughts.
Consciousness and the soul
Consciousness cannot be explained, but it can be explained why it cannot be explained. Consciousness is a faculty of the soul, so it is beyond the mental and physical level. Therefore, it is not possible to define or explain it. However, although we cannot reduce it as such to mental contents, we can understand its manifestations at the lower levels (mental and physical) which help us to intuit it.
Consciousness, when not considered an epiphenomenon of the brain, is often identified with the mind and even with the soul. Consciousness is also often considered to be a function of the mind. Let us try to clarify these concepts:
Soul (or spirit) is our being, the immortal, eternal "I", the higher "I", the pure "I". We do not have a soul, we are soul. I am a soul that has a body and a mind. The soul manifests on the mental and physical level. Mind and body are vehicles of the soul. In the soul there is no duality, there is no space or time or matter or form. That is why in NDEs (near death experiences) all the images of life are contemplated in a single instant.
The soul has no parts, no components, it is a unity. And consciousness is also a unity, so it is irreducible and inexpressible, it cannot be caught at a conceptual level.
In addition to a "higher self", we have a "lower self" (or "ego") which corresponds or the manifestation of consciousness in the mind and in the senses. The ego is subject to change as it experiences the phenomenal world. In the ego a network of mental relationships is created based on experiences with the objective world.
The mind is at a lower level than the soul. It consists of intuitive mind and rational mind, which correspond at the physical level to the right (synthetic) and left (analytical) cerebral hemispheres, respectively.
The intuitive mind is the one that receives messages from the soul in the form of intuitions and which, in turn, are transmitted to the right hemisphere. These intuitions are usually called "inspirations", an apt designation since to inspire refers to absorbing something deep all at once, in a synthetic, global or complete way, without prior analysis. Intuitions are usually metaphorical, symbolic or imaginative. After the inspiration comes the task of expressing in a concrete way the messages received, usually in the form of language, by means of the rational mind and the left hemisphere. Personalities who received intuitions were Mozart, Poincaré, Einstein and Tesla. "When and how do they come? I don't know and I have nothing to do with it" (Mozart). Mozart, in his imagination, could hear the whole composition, which he then wrote down on the staff. "Intuitions are messages from the soul" (Harold Klemp).
Consciousness is not an epiphenomenon of the brain. There is no Cartesian-type mind-body dualism, but a differentiated and essential trialism: physical, mental, spiritual. They are three different hierarchical dimensions, but at the same time connected through consciousness:
The soul is a "spark" of the Spirit.
Consciousness is a faculty of the soul.
Mind is an instrument of consciousness.
Body and brain are instruments of mind.
It is not possible to explain consciousness from the point of view of the brain, despite the theories of neuroscientists, whose paradigm is Daniel Dennett and his "consciousness explained". Consciousness will never be found from the brain. We will only find its manifestations, mechanisms or instruments with which it expresses itself.
Chalmers opines that "Experts in neurology have decided to tackle one of the deepest mysteries of existence. But mere knowledge of the brain may not get them to the bottom of the problem."
Nothing (except consciousness, which is self-sufficient) functions without a higher support or foundation. The mind and brain cannot function on their own. There is a soul-mind-body hierarchy. Everything "hangs" from above. Everything is sustained from the higher level. It is the principle of downward causality.
Descartes said that the pineal gland (pituitary gland) is the point of connection between mind and body. Actually this point is the connection between soul, mind and body. It is what is often referred to in Eastern philosophy as the "third eye", the center of consciousness, where the opposites meet: the rational and the intuitive, the objective and the subjective, the internal and the external.
We cannot create consciousness because to create it would be something like creating a soul and that is impossible, for the soul is above the lower worlds of mind and matter. Therefore, strong artificial intelligence (creating an artificial mind) is impossible.
The scheme is as follows:
The Manifestations of Consciousness
Consciousness vs. Awareness
Consciousness and awareness are different:
Consciousness relates everything, contemplates everything as an indissoluble unity, where there is no duality. Consciousness relates: it unites opposite or dual elements, it unites soul and mind, it unites the inner (mental) world and the outer (physical) world.
The mind conceptualizes and rationalizes. And it does so thanks to consciousness and imagination. In the mind there is duality. Conceptualization is synthetic and ascending (it goes from the particular to the general). Rationalization is analytical and descending (it goes from the general to the particular). These processes correspond to the two modes of consciousness of the cerebral hemispheres. The right hemisphere conceptualizes and synthesizes. The left hemisphere rationalizes and analyzes.
Consciousness is beyond the mind. Consciousness is qualitative. There are no different types of consciousness.
Awareness is the result of the union of the opposites of the internal world and the external world (realized by consciousness). Consciousness is the manifestation of consciousness at the human level. Without consciousness there can be no consciousness. There are different degrees of consciousness. Consciousness is quantitative.
Consciousness and awareness are dual to each other. Consciousness is on a higher plane and consciousness is on a lower plane. Consciousness is universal. Awareness is particular (one is always conscious of something).
Consciousness and imagination
The soul imagines. The soul provides the images through its imaginative faculty, the intuitive mind receives them and passes them on to the rational mind which processes or analyzes them. "Imagination is the language of the soul" (James Hillman).
Imagination is the key factor involved in everything:
The present. The world we perceive is induced imagination.
The past. Memory is associated with images. To evoke the past is to recover images, to bring them to the foreground.
The future. Images are representations or constructions of the possible.
Thinking. Thought is a movie or succession of images. It is always thought in images. Thinking is not just a mental function; it is a function or coordination between mind and soul.
Emotions. Emotions are always associated with images.
Consciousness "sails" on a sea of images (the imaginal world).
When we imagine something, since we are at the soul level, what we imagine tends to be realized, to manifest automatically at the lower levels (mental and physical), unless this information reaches the rational mind and the rational mind blocks or changes the process.
Actually, we imagine all our actions before we perform them. Without imagining what we are going to do in the near future we would remain "hung", static, inactive.
Imagination is a faculty of the soul, as is consciousness. Imagination is the vehicle or support of consciousness. Consciousness uses imagination to experience itself. Consciousness "clothes" itself in imagination to express itself from different aspects. Imagination and consciousness have greater power than mind and matter because it is at a higher level. Imagination and consciousness create reality. The imaginal world is more powerful than the real world.
Consciousness is the engine of imagination. Mind is the process of imagination, for there are no thoughts without imagination. Thought is not autonomous, it depends on consciousness and imagination.
The brain does not distinguish between the perceived and the imagined. When, for example, we see a certain object, activity appears in certain parts of our brain. But if (with eyes closed) we imagine the same object, the brain activity is identical, because the same neural networks are involved. The first to discover this was the physician Edmund Jacobson (Harvard psychologist) in the 1930s. This has been investigated by functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). This feature is used by athletes in their training. Everything we imagine tends to come true, because imagination, as a faculty of the soul, is at a higher level. Imagination is really "The Secret".
Consciousness and the cerebral hemispheres
We know that we have two cerebral hemispheres that have clearly differentiated functions and correspond to two complementary forms of consciousness:
The right hemisphere (RH) is responsible for the intuitive, global, synthetic, creativity, beauty, order, union, empathy, emotions, as well as the integration of perceptions and sensations of the present through the senses. It works in parallel, thinks in images, is metaphorical and symbolic. It perceives the common essential unity of all things. Perceptions are passed to the left hemisphere (LH) for analysis.
The future is another perception (this time imaginative), for which the RH is also responsible, which in turn passes it to the LH for analysis. The future is linked to the imagination.
The left hemisphere (LH) is responsible for the rational, logic, analysis, past, memory, thoughts, ego, language, separate and distinct. It works sequentially. It analyzes the perceptions of the present, the details, classifying and organizing the information it receives from the RH. The LH analyzes the perceptions (of the present or of the imagined future) sent to it by the RH. The LH looks for the sense, the meaning, the integration of the expressions or messages sent by the RH.
The LH also analyzes the past, structuring, categorizing and ordering it so that everything fits together and makes sense. The LH is interpretive, striving to place experiences in a broad context, always looking for the meaning of events. It is especially active with conflicting episodes, traumas, etc. that have not been fully processed.
The past is associated with LH. And therefore, to the memory, to the closed and the real. The future is associated with the RH. And therefore, to the open, to the possible and to the imagination. The pure perception of the present is linked to the RH.
LH is completely dominant in most cognitive functions, such as problem solving.
The RH synthesizes, the LH analyzes. The RH sees the big picture, the forest, but does not see the trees. And the LH is the opposite: it sees the trees, the details, but does not see the forest. The RH looks through a wide-angle lens. The LH looks through a zoom lens. The RH has an overview, the LH looks at the details. The RH perceives. The LH analyzes, recognizes and interprets.
The RH is fast and handles a lot of information in a short time because it works in parallel. The LH is slower, because it is analytical and works sequentially.
Objective (physical) experiences correspond to the LH mode. And subjective experiences (qualia), perceptual and qualitative, belong to the RH domain. Quality is associated with the internal (RH) and quantity with the external (LH). Therefore, the only possible expressions of qualia have to be of symbolic, metaphorical or allegorical type.
The LH binds us to Earth with thoughts, with the concrete, the particular, the formal, the separate. The RH leads us to Heaven, to pure perception, to the abstract, generic or universal, to the profound, to the unified. The RH is responsible for mystical experiences, where "all is one", where there is no duality or thoughts; there is only perception, as in the soul. [see Addendum - Jill Bolte Taylor's peak experience].
Consciousness seems to have a very direct relationship to the coherent union, synchronization or dynamic balance between the two cerebral hemispheres. The greater the coherence, the greater the consciousness.
Ancient peoples had a deep connection with nature, they had more activated the RH (intuitive, synthetic, global, perceptive) than the LH (rational, analytical, particular), so they had hardly any sense of "I", because everything was communion with nature, without borders. With the development of rationalism the LH and the connection between both hemispheres (RH-LH) was progressively activated, giving rise to the appearance of borders and separations, to the awareness of the "I", to categorize reality in different general concepts and to basically relate the general, global or universal with the particular.
Levels of consciousness
Consciousness is not something you either have or don't have. It covers a very wide range or spectrum in living things, from unicellular beings (such as a bacterium, a paramecium or an amoeba, which perform actions mechanically in response to stimuli from the environment, to a fully self-aware (and therefore free) organism. In short, between the deterministic and indeterministic extremes.
For Freeman Dyson and Alfred North Whitehead, even elementary particles are endowed with a certain level of consciousness.
It is often claimed that a small mechanism (e.g., a thermostat regulating the temperature of a room or a photoelectric cell opening a door, which react in a mechanical way) are conscious devices. We know that in the deep resides the universal and the generic. A thermostat is governed by a simple rule, which is generic in nature, but that does not mean that it has consciousness, but rather that it is a manifestation of human consciousness. We can say that a thermostat is a conscious device of the second order, for it is man-made.
We can distinguish three levels of consciousness:
The consciousness It is the result of the connection between the internal and external worlds, a connection made by consciousness.
The self-consciousness It is the reflective consciousness. It is peculiar to human beings, where the notion of the "I" appears as an entity separated from the environment and interacting with it. It constructs internal models of reality to connect the inner (subjective) with the outer (objective). Consciousness is associated with the connection between both cerebral hemispheres (RH and LH).
The pure consciousness Also called "transcendental consciousness" it is an unmanifested and non-dual consciousness, where the knower, the known and the process of knowing are united in a self-interacting structure of experience. It refers to itself and interacts with itself. Pure consciousness is the ultimate approximation of awareness.
Consciousness and language
Consciousness manifests itself in all human languages through the primary archetypes, the archetypes of consciousness.
In turn, language, as the connector of the internal and external world, produces consciousness. The language of a community reflects its level of consciousness. Language is itself a paradigm, a way of seeing the world. Recall Wittgenstein's famous phrase: "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world".
Traditionally it was believed that language resided in the LH, the logical, analytical hemisphere. But recent research with scanner technology seems to show that language involves both sides of the brain. Perception is a function of the RH and emission (speech) is a function of the LH. This reveals the importance of the role of language in the phenomenon of consciousness, as it connects both hemispheres and connects the internal world with the external world.
Mirror neurons, memes, phantom limbs and imagination
The so-called "mirror neurons" [Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2006], discovered in the early 1990's, are neurons that have the property of being activated by vision, mental representation and imagination. Some scientists consider this discovery very important. "Mirror neurons will be as important to psychology as DNA was to biology" (Vilayanur Ramachandran).
Mirror neurons are believed to be involved in learning by imitation, in the transmission of culture, in social behavior. And that they have played (and still play) an essential role in the evolution of society. They are the social "glue" that makes us share attitudes and knowledge, culture in short.
They play a crucial role in capturing emotions and empathy. According to Daniel Goleman −author of "Emotional Intelligence"−, emotions are contagious thanks to mirror neurons.
We use mirror neurons not only to understand the actions of others but also to understand the meaning of sentences describing the same action. It is believed that humans develop language through mirror neurons.
Mirror neurons constitute a communication system or bridge between brains that has three fundamental characteristics: 1) parity: the message has the same meaning for the sender and receiver; 2) direct understanding: no prior agreement between sender and receiver is required for them to understand each other; 3) there is no reasoning, no cognitive processes, recognition is instantaneous.
The activation of mirror neurons is greater when people's actions take place in a context or environment, that is, when there is a greater degree of significance.
Mirror neurons have been located in both cerebral hemispheres (premotor and parietal cortex), although it seems that the LH is the most activated, specifically in Broca's area, the cortical area related to the generation of language, recognition and understanding. The mind is always searching for meaning. That is why the LH, the hemisphere that interprets, recognizes and understands, is more activated.
Mirror neurons respond to more than just visual stimuli. They are multimodal in nature. They are activated not only when we observe actions, but also when we read sentences describing situations or actions. In both cases, areas of the brain are activated in the same way.
They may be related to self-awareness. According to Ramachandran, "Self-awareness is simply using mirror neurons to look at myself as if someone is looking at me." Autistic children have a deficit of mirror neuron activity, and have lower self-awareness.
May be related to evolution. According to Ramachandran, mirror neurons are the driving force of human evolution.
The explanation as to why this works this way may be as follows:
Mirror neurons are activated by imagination. The brain does not distinguish between the real and the imagined.
All perception is an induced imagination, and all imagination tends to realize itself (by being situated at the higher level of the soul), to manifest itself.
Mirror neurons are the intermediaries.
Mirror neurons are the intermediaries between the imagination and the brain. They are behind our conception of the world, how we imagine the world and ourselves. Our vision of the world is imprinted in the mirror neurons.
When the imagination is invoked, it puts you in the place of the other person, it immerses you in a level where there are no differences, dissolving the borders of the "I", producing a phenomenon of resonance or coupling between both parts.
Memes also have a simple explanation in light of the imagination:
Memes are perceptions, and therefore, induced imaginations. The corresponding images are stored in our memory automatically and tend to manifest (reproduce) themselves automatically as well because imagination is the most powerful force there is. That is why it is so effective in the transmission of culture, including language. Therefore, memes are not ethereal things; they are simply images.
Mirror neurons are the physical (brain) implementations of memes.
Imagery is also the key to the treatment of pain in so-called "phantom limbs." A phantom limb is a limb that has been amputated but is still present to the brain and, in some cases, produces pain when the brain gives a command to move it and the limb cannot obey because it no longer exists. The patient feels the paralyzed limb.
Neurologist Vilayanur Ramachandran, author of "Ghosts in the Brain" [1999], uses a box with a mirror in the center, where the patient inserts both limbs (e.g., a normal and an amputated arm), and can apparently contemplate his two complete limbs (the normal one and the one reflected in the mirror). If the patient visualizes (through the deception of the mirror) his lost limb, his brain reacts as if he has regained the limb, causing the pain to disappear. Although the patient knows that the amputated limb does not exist, imagination is stronger than reason.
Ramachandran also demonstrated that the brain is highly flexible, as the cortical brain area corresponding to the amputated limb is invaded by neurons from the adjacent area (in the case of the arm, the adjacent area is the face), so that by stimulating the face, the patient experiences sensations in the amputated limb.
Consciousness and time
Consciousness is intimately related to the present. Being aware of the present, living fully the "now". In the "now" there are no thoughts, only perception, and we connect with the soul. "The soul does not think, it perceives" (Harold Klemp).
There are two kinds of time:
External or objective time. We perceive it linearly, it is fixed, finite, local and objective (common to all human beings). It is associated with LH.
Internal or subjective time. It is non-linear, flexible, infinite, non-local, and subjective (different for each human being). It is associated with RH.
At the superficial (conscious) level, time manifests itself in a linear fashion. At the deep level, there is no time. Einstein said, "The distinction between past, present and future is nothing but a stubborn and persistent illusion." Time is an illusion of our superficial mind. But internal time is flexible. It expands when we go deep. At the edge, in the soul, time disappears.
In Western culture time is considered linear. In Eastern culture it is accepted without question that time is circular (or cyclical). Circular time symbolizes the indivisible unity of time, eternity, where there is no beginning and no end. It also indicates that time is reflective: it refers to itself.
Internal time is non-local. "Past, present and future form a whole, and what happens in the future can influence the past, just as the past impacts the future" (Brian Weiss). "I believe that what we do today depends on our image of the future, rather than the future depending on what we do today" (Ilya Prigogine).
Time and mind are connected, they are inseparable. Time is really an illusion, a construct of the mind, a concept created to interpret reality.
But it is possible to "break free" from time. The key is to live permanently in the present, because in the present there is no time. This is what Eckhart Tolle calls "The Power of Now" [Tolle, 2001].
"All time is now" (José Argüelles).
"God is always present in the now" (José Argüelles).
"God is always present in the now" (José Argüelles).
"He lives eternally who lives in the present" (Wittgenstein).
"The soul lives forever" (José Argüelles).
"The soul lives always in the present moment, collapsing the illusion of time and space" (Harold Klemp).
"The totality of time exists only in the now" (Ken Wilber).
"The totality of time exists only in the now" (Ken Wilber).
"Any life consists of a single moment" (Borges).
"Time is the unified field" (José Argüelles).
Indeed, when the mind is connected with the past or with the future, the mind is in activity. When the mind is connected with the present, time stops and the mind (being synchronized with time) also stops, it stops. It is what Carlos Castaneda calls "stopping the world". It is then that one has access to the inner Self, to the deep self, to a state of timeless awareness, pure consciousness, the source of thoughts, the absolute, the undifferentiated, the unmanifested, the place where everything is connected, the source of creativity, freedom and happiness, and where one truly experiences the flow of life. "Enlightenment is a state of wholeness in which you are 'unified,' and therefore you are at peace" (Eckart Tolle).
The inner Self cannot be grasped with the mind because it is beyond the mind and thoughts, so it can only be accessed when the mind is stilled. The Self is hidden behind the active mind. If we stop the mind, then we have access to the Self. "To be identified with the mind is to be trapped in time" (Eckhart Tolle).
The general strategy or technique, to access the inner Self and stop time and mind, is to direct attention, at all times, to perceptions, both internal and external. Indeed, the mind basically emits (thoughts) or perceives (sensations). The awareness of sensations stops the mind. Conscious perception is the tool to bring the mind to the present. The key is to perceive, to observe without analyzing the past and without imagining the future, focusing only on the process of perception, on contemplation. By opening ourselves to perception, the mind, body and emotions relax. This is the basis of Mindfulness, mindfulness.
Examples of external perceptions that help to stop the mind are: contemplating a sunset, listening to a good musical composition, feeling the water of the sea, listening to the birds singing, etc. But the best strategy is to direct the consciousness inwards, towards self-perception, to close the circle, to perceive the perceiver or observe the observer. "When consciousness is directed outward, the mind and the world arise. When it turns inward, it reaches its own Source and returns home, the Unmanifest" (Eckhart Tolle).
When we think we are activating the LH and subjective time speeds up. When we perceive we are activating the RH and time expands, quiets or stops because the mind stops. This is the explanation of:
When you travel, you perceive new things, and time dilates, expands.
Everyday routine makes time contract.
As we grow older, the LH is more activated and time seems to pass faster and faster. In children, on the other hand, all experiences are new, they are in RH mode and time does not exist, it stands still or passes slowly.
Addenda
Jill Bolte Taylor's peak experience
Jill Bolte Taylor is a doctor of neuroscience. When she was 37 years old (in 1996), she suffered a stroke that affected the left hemisphere (LH) of her brain, causing her left hemisphere activity to be severely attenuated and the right hemisphere (RH) to be predominant. He then had a series of surprising experiences. Some positive: she felt an indescribable peace, her worries ceased, the usual hive of thoughts, her discursive mind, ceased, her sense of self-criticism disappeared, she felt united to the world, without physical or mental limits or boundaries, she felt that her soul was liberated from the physical body and floated in the air. Other negatives: she lost her ability to speak, to recognize people, to read, write and remember.
It took him 8 years to recover. He wrote a book about his experience [2009] and also recounted his experience at the 2008 TED conference, which can be viewed on YouTube.
Dr. Taylor's interpretation of her experience is a good example of the manifestation of the functioning of the two brain hemispheres. With the LH being virtually disabled, he lost its functions, so he could not speak or recognize things and lost awareness of "self". He could only perceive the world through the RH, where everything is a unity, and which connects through the intuitive mind with the essential unity of everything, where there are no limits or boundaries.
The Vittoz method (the conscious sensations)
The Vittoz method [Irala, 1971] is a therapeutic method of re-education of brain control. It is based on the idea (which we have mentioned) that our brain functions by alternating the emission of thoughts and the reception of sensations (which today we associate with the left and right hemispheres, respectively). The lack of brain control produces an imbalance between emissivity and receptivity. Brain re-education is based on re-establishing this balance by acting on conscious sensations. By becoming aware of the sensations, thoughts are stopped and our being is contacted, we live in the present moment and a state of calm, serenity, unity, harmony and freedom is produced. It is the ancient wisdom of "here and now". By opening to sensations, the flow of thoughts is automatically (effortlessly) stopped and nervous energy and health are restored. "Receptivity balances emissivity, sensation balances thought" (Roger Vittoz).
Conscious sensations can be both internal and external. For example, feeling the body in movement, the sensation of stepping on the ground under our feet, our breathing, observing shapes and colors, etc. All this without performing any analysis, for if this were done, we would go back to thinking, consuming nervous energy and descending in the level of consciousness.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychological technique for desensitizing and reprocessing psychological trauma in an effective, natural and fast way, by activating the brain hemispheres, usually through eye movement.
The basis of this technique, in essence, is as follows. When we dream, the well-known REM (Rapid Orbital Movement) phenomenon occurs, a movement of the eyes that is associated with the processing of information received during the day to store it and integrate it in an orderly and structured way in our mind or brain. In a situation of stress or emotional pain, eye movement is also applied (but this time consciously), to quickly process the traumatic situation that has been experienced. With this technique, patients experience substantial and rapid improvement.
The EMDR method was discovered and developed since 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro [2008]. That year, during a walk in a park, she observed that moving her eyes seemed to reduce the anxiety and tensions associated with painful emotional memories. Based on this initial observation, she developed a standardized procedure to maximize these results, conducting further research and publishing her results in 1989, describing their beneficial effects.
At first the apparent result was a desensitization of anxiety, but it later became clear that this effect was a consequence of something deeper: a reprocessing of trauma or painful emotional experiences, very rapid active learning, and "adaptive resolution" (in Shapiro's terminology).
The word "trauma" is derived from Greek and means "wound". A trauma, for EMDR, is information stored dysfunctionally in the brain from a painful experience that has not been properly integrated and processed in the person's normal consciousness. This inadequately stored information is responsible for the patient's symptoms.
The most prominent feature of the EMDR method is the use of bilateral stimulation, stimulating one cerebral hemisphere at a time, to stimulate the connection between the two cerebral hemispheres and thus facilitate the processing of the information, with the consequent decrease of the emotional load. Bilateral stimulation can be of three types:
Visual. The patient moves the eyes from one side to the other guided by the therapist.
Auditory. The patient hears alternating sounds in both ears.
Kinesthetic. The therapist taps gently (tapping) and alternately on the patient's hands or shoulders.
The technique is commonly used in victims of violent events, natural disasters, terrorism, war, etc. and, in general, in all types of trauma: job loss, loss of loved ones, robbery, accidents, etc.
There has been a certain split between scientific theory and clinical practice. Clinicians learned and used the technique, embracing it enthusiastically. Science was slow to accept the technique, after numerous controlled studies validated it. EMDR is currently one of the treatments with the most scientific validation studies and one of the most effective treatments for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment). Research has shown that three 90-minute sessions of EMDR can reduce PTSD by 80 to 100%.
EMDR is the method recommended by mental health authorities in different countries, mainly where there are problems of terrorist violence. In Spain, components of civil protection, fire department psychologists, police, etc. have been trained in EMDR.
Brain synchronization may also be the reason for the effectiveness of EMDR. Indeed, since each of the eyes is connected to both hemispheres, by repeatedly moving the eyes back and forth, what we are doing is synchronizing (and also activating) the two hemispheres, increasing the connections and raising awareness, and from that higher point, more deeply understanding the traumas and dissolving them. It is not only moving the eyes in a mechanical way, but also directing the attention on the sensations produced by the trauma. Attention activates many structures of the cerebral cortex and the subcortex (the most primitive part of the brain) of both hemispheres.
The eagle, a symbol of consciousness
Since medieval times, the eagle has signified the supreme consciousness, the spirit. The eagle is a divine messenger found in all religions and mythologies. In medieval bestiaries, the eagle was the animal that flew the highest, that could see the Sun and God. Interestingly, the eagle appears on the coat of arms of Mexico and is also the symbol of the United States.
The eagle and the serpent are dual. The union of the two symbolizes the union of the material and the spiritual, of the supraconscious and the unconscious, which must merge and just be one. This symbiosis is represented as a feathered serpent. Quetzalcoalt meaning "feathered serpent" is one of the gods of Mesoamerican culture.
The tetrahedron and consciousness
Merkaba.
The tetrahedron is its own dual. In geometry, the dual polyhedron of a polyhedron is the polyhedron formed by joining the centers of the faces of that polyhedron. In esoteric traditions, the tetrahedron has been associated with consciousness. For the Pythagoreans, the tetrahedron is the substance of the soul. The merkaba (mer = light, ka = Spirit and ba = Body), are two intersecting tetrahedra with a common center forming a stellated octahedron, like a 3D Star of David, is associated with the soul.
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