Consciousness is about "being aware". It is the state of self. Indeed, the more the number of sources you look it up in, the more will be the number of definitions you will come across.
It has been debated, discussed, and described for centuries by many great philosophers but still no definite answer. The more the people, the more are the directions. Maybe you have your own idea of defining consciousness. What makes you conscious?
From a scientific point of view, just being aware of your surroundings, to sense the changes, and then react to the stimulus would all constitute you being conscious.
There is a misconception that a reaction has to be a manifestation of some sort, but it can just be nothing. You merely not reacting is a response in itself.
This again brings us to the question- what exactly is consciousness? To answer this, starting from consciousness as level zero, knowing the 7 layers of consciousness might help.
1. Awareness
This is the first stage of being conscious. It is the most talked-about and most referenced stage. In fact, this article started with the same. It is the act of connecting oneself with the external world.
Our sense organs come into play in this. They perceive the outside world and send signals to our brain. This stage is independent of thoughts. It is just the act of being aware of your surroundings and sensing the changes happening.
2. Thoughts
Thoughts are the second level. While awareness is passive, thoughts are active. You think a certain way for a reason, even though you might not be aware of the "why", the reasons are tied to your consciousness.
Thoughts can be fleeting, or they can make a home at the back of your head. You have the power to think about them, fast forward them or rewind them as much as you please.
3. Action
Action is the third stage, and it is what happens at the moment. We can move our bodies, or we can use our mouth to create speech, and many more.
Actions can either be voluntary or involuntary. You touching a hot cup by mistake and removing your hand away in reflex is an involuntary action, while walking is a voluntary one. The involuntary actions can come from our subconscious; it is the one that does not require active thinking.
To take the example of walking, let's say you are traveling on a train, standing, and suddenly, a seat gets vacated. Your eyes and other senses perceived this change. You thought of walking or maybe hurriedly skipping to the seat. And then you decide to move your legs.
4. Manifestation
Manifestation is the fourth layer, and it simply talks about the manifestation of an idea into reality. As they say, it all starts with an idea, and the wealthiest place on the planet would be the graveyard because that's where all the rich thoughts go to die without ever seeing the light of the day.
It is essential to turn that vision and idea of yours into a physical manifestation. Your idea will end up becoming more extraordinary than you are, and even more than what the initial idea was.
But it doesn't always have to be a ground-breaking idea that will change the way we perceive the world for generations to come. There have been revolutionaries among us, like, Steve Jobs, with his vision of Apple.
These manifestations can include ordinary everyday tasks too- cooking a dish, reading a book. These all add up also.
5. Influence
This is where things go beyond what your mind can think and where your belief system comes into play. Have you ever felt extremely lucky or that there is some magic happening in the universe just for you to continue your journey? That is influence.
A better word to describe it would be serendipity – when you chance upon something special. Things just fall into place, some people just make more sense to you, and some things just seem to click.
You feel there is an invisible strand connecting you to everything. This right here is the influence of the universe.
6. Spirituality
You might have heard that spirituality is a personal journey? If you link this to the fifth point, 'influence,' you can clearly tell why spirituality would be person-specific.
With influence, you change the world around you. The dots are connecting for you, and with those connected dots, you paint a picture that shapes you and in connection with you, the rest of the world.
Spirituality is very different than that. It makes you see that you are just a flick of a particle in a wave of time going forward, stopping for no one. Your time is only a minute fraction of it.
And in the bigger picture, who you are is trivial. Spirituality is a form of detachment from the sense of self and to see beyond the present realm.
6. Faith
Connecting to spirituality coming to the last seventh level is faith. Faith moves mountains, they say, but the biggest mountain you will ever face is the mountain of doubt within you. Faith requires you to believe that all of this is happening for you.
This again brings us to the question- what exactly is consciousness? To answer this, starting from consciousness as level zero, knowing the 7 layers of consciousness might help.
1. Awareness
This is the first stage of being conscious. It is the most talked-about and most referenced stage. In fact, this article started with the same. It is the act of connecting oneself with the external world.
Our sense organs come into play in this. They perceive the outside world and send signals to our brain. This stage is independent of thoughts. It is just the act of being aware of your surroundings and sensing the changes happening.
2. Thoughts
Thoughts are the second level. While awareness is passive, thoughts are active. You think a certain way for a reason, even though you might not be aware of the "why", the reasons are tied to your consciousness.
Thoughts can be fleeting, or they can make a home at the back of your head. You have the power to think about them, fast forward them or rewind them as much as you please.
3. Action
Action is the third stage, and it is what happens at the moment. We can move our bodies, or we can use our mouth to create speech, and many more.
Actions can either be voluntary or involuntary. You touching a hot cup by mistake and removing your hand away in reflex is an involuntary action, while walking is a voluntary one. The involuntary actions can come from our subconscious; it is the one that does not require active thinking.
To take the example of walking, let's say you are traveling on a train, standing, and suddenly, a seat gets vacated. Your eyes and other senses perceived this change. You thought of walking or maybe hurriedly skipping to the seat. And then you decide to move your legs.
4. Manifestation
Manifestation is the fourth layer, and it simply talks about the manifestation of an idea into reality. As they say, it all starts with an idea, and the wealthiest place on the planet would be the graveyard because that's where all the rich thoughts go to die without ever seeing the light of the day.
It is essential to turn that vision and idea of yours into a physical manifestation. Your idea will end up becoming more extraordinary than you are, and even more than what the initial idea was.
But it doesn't always have to be a ground-breaking idea that will change the way we perceive the world for generations to come. There have been revolutionaries among us, like, Steve Jobs, with his vision of Apple.
These manifestations can include ordinary everyday tasks too- cooking a dish, reading a book. These all add up also.
5. Influence
This is where things go beyond what your mind can think and where your belief system comes into play. Have you ever felt extremely lucky or that there is some magic happening in the universe just for you to continue your journey? That is influence.
A better word to describe it would be serendipity – when you chance upon something special. Things just fall into place, some people just make more sense to you, and some things just seem to click.
You feel there is an invisible strand connecting you to everything. This right here is the influence of the universe.
6. Spirituality
You might have heard that spirituality is a personal journey? If you link this to the fifth point, 'influence,' you can clearly tell why spirituality would be person-specific.
With influence, you change the world around you. The dots are connecting for you, and with those connected dots, you paint a picture that shapes you and in connection with you, the rest of the world.
Spirituality is very different than that. It makes you see that you are just a flick of a particle in a wave of time going forward, stopping for no one. Your time is only a minute fraction of it.
And in the bigger picture, who you are is trivial. Spirituality is a form of detachment from the sense of self and to see beyond the present realm.
6. Faith
Connecting to spirituality coming to the last seventh level is faith. Faith moves mountains, they say, but the biggest mountain you will ever face is the mountain of doubt within you. Faith requires you to believe that all of this is happening for you.
It requires you to picture a supreme ruler who is beyond this physical manifestation that we can sense, and it requires faith to believe that we were not sent to create a life for ourselves, and maybe we just are part of the script - our wants and needs all driven by the roles that we are sent to play.
The definition of consciousness might vary from person to person, but the levels to reach consciousness remain the same. There is a world beyond this world, and that's the end goal.
Written by – Srishti Purohit
Edited by – Sandhya R
The definition of consciousness might vary from person to person, but the levels to reach consciousness remain the same. There is a world beyond this world, and that's the end goal.
Written by – Srishti Purohit
Edited by – Sandhya R
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