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by Jayaram V
What is consciousness? How consciousness is created? Does it exist Translate the Page
without a supporting body? Can consciousness be recreated or Selecione o idioma
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transferred from one source to another? Does consciousness survives
death? These and other questions, we will try to explore briefly in the Search Hinduwebsite

following discussion.
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Consciousness is the sum of thoughts, memories, desires, feelings, Hinduism News

ideas, and opinions arising from perception, experience, imagination, Listen Audio
reason, or belief. This definition may not be scientific and may not cover Buy Our Books
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Consciousness has both general and specific aspects. The general
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However, aspects of consciousness that are specific to individuals are

shaped by genetic composition, experience, knowledge, awareness,
and circumstances of each person. They cannot be known easily
without knowing the person or the circumstances, which makes the
study of consciousness rather difficult. Some aspects of consciousness
are also specific to groups and communities as people are influenced
by social, cultural, geographic, linguistic, or economic factors that
govern their lives.
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Human consciousness is amorphous, indefinable, changeable,

intangible, and subject to state. According to the Upanishads, the four
main states of human consciousness are the wakeful state, the dream
state, the deep sleep state and the transcendental state. There can be
further states within each of them. Nothing can be known about the last
two except in a state of self-absorption. Just like any other part in the
body, human consciousness is also subject to wear and tear, change,
destruction, and modifications. People who suffer from head injuries
experience partial or complete loss of memory and consciousness,
which shows that human consciousness has a physical dimension and
depends upon the body for its existence.

The Vedic seers were one of the earliest in the history of human
civilization to probe into the nature of consciousness. They internalized
the Vedic rituals and devised many Yogic meditative practices to study
consciousness both subjectively and objectively to explore the hidden
powers and potencies of the mind and use them for human welfare and
self-transformation. Their methods and knowledge were subsequently
refined further by numerous schools of philosophy, and ascetic and
monastic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism. Their main
emphasis, in doing so, was to look beyond the mind to see whether
reality was a product of the mind, or existed on its own without the mind
and the senses. They also tried to overcome the limitations of the mind
to see the world with better clarity and awareness. The following
analysis of human consciousness is based upon the major concepts
found in the Hindu scriptures and its various schools of philosophy
about Self (Purusha) and Nature (Prakriti).

Types of consciousness

Is consciousness a product of the brain, the body and senses only, or is

there something more to it? Can consciousness exist without the body?
Does it survive death? Can it be recreated or transferred into another
mind or body? We do not have exact answers to these questions.
However, from the study of Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas, the
Tantras, the Sutras and the Gitas, we can conclude that consciousness
has numerous forms and states, and each of the states may represent
a world in itself or a specific deity of the macrocosm. We cannot know
all the states without corresponding purity and prior preparation. The
nature of consciousness can be known only in a state of detachment
where all the senses are fully withdrawn, and when the mind itself is
under control.

Hindu scriptures suggest that consciousness has two universal states

and both of them exist not only in humans but all creation. One is
universal, passive, eternal, stateless, without modifications, indivisible,
and pure. The other is with qualities, dualities, states, conditions,
modes, modifications, and dynamism. The source of the first one is
Brahman (God) himself in his highest state. The source of the second is
Nature (Prakriti) in its dynamic and differentiated state. The former
gives rise to soul consciousness or pure consciousness, whereas the
latter results in individualized ego consciousness. Since it arises due to
the activity of ego (aham), which is an aspect of Nature, we may also
call it ego consciousness.
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The ego consciousness is also referred in the scriptures as chitta,

which is not just the mind consciousness, but the whole body and mind
consciousness, which is subject to modifications (vrittis) and
responsible for several mental afflictions (klesas), restlessness and
instability. The consciousness that inhabits the body and creates body
awareness is infused with the power and dynamism of Nature. Hence, it
is known as chit-shakti (consciousness + power or dynamic
consciousness). Because of that, human consciousness has
dynamism, duality, movements and modifications. In contrast, pure
consciousness is without the qualities and modes of Nature. Hence, it is
the center of peace and stability. You cannot reach it when you are
caught in ego consciousness and its numerous modifications, desires,
and attachments. Pure consciousness is infused with the power of truth
or purity (sat), and bliss (ananda). Hence, it is also known as
sacchidananda (sat+chit+ananda). The following table lists the
differences between the two.

Pure Consciousness Ego Consciousness

Stateless, Pure, eternal, without qualities, without With states, impure, not eternal, with qualities, with
duality, indestructible, indivisible, independent, all duality, destructible, divisible, dependent, exists in
pervading, stable, the same in all, passive, embodied beings, unstable, different in each, active,
witness, subjective. witnessed, objective.

The basis of ego consciousness

One of the commonly held beliefs of Hinduism is that consciousness is

a projection of the higher aspects of Nature that are present in the
human body. Collectively, they are called the internal organ (antah-
karana). The internal organ can be compared to the mind in the
modern, scientific sense, and to brain consciousness in an abstract
sense. It is made up of four essential components: the senses, the
lower mind (manas), the self-sense (ego), and the higher mind or
intelligence (buddhi).
The inputs for the ego, the lower and higher minds come from the five
sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin) and their functional
potencies (tanmatras), namely seeing the forms, hearing the sounds,
smelling the smells, tasting the tastes, and feeling the touch. They
create the basis for the ego consciousness and the illusion of
experience, awareness, duality, and individuality (aham or anava). It is
sustained by desire-ridden actions, the triple gunas (sattva, rajas, and
tamas), and the activity of senses, and gathers strength as one
becomes increasingly involved with the sense-world and forms
numerous attachments and relationships with it. It is responsible for the
bondage of the individual beings to the mortal existence and their
suffering and afflictions.

Hindu scriptures draw a clear distinction between the ordinary mind

(manas) and the thinking mind (buddhi). The ordinary mind or the lower
mind is considered a mere receptacle of thoughts, memories, feelings,
etc., that float into it from the external world. Each thought or idea is an
object as well a form of energy. The Mahat, or the universal Nature is
filled with them. They enter the human consciousness according to the
person, his or desires, receptivity, attachments, and state of mind.
Thus, the ordinary mind is a mere receptacle of thought forms, which
does not create anything anew, but passively receives from the
universe preexisting thought-forms and stores them as its own. We can
understand the process by seeing how the mind stores the images of
numerous objects found in the world as mental copies and reuses
them. The scriptures therefore compare it to a lake (mind-lake or
manasa-sarovar) with an undulating surface.

The higher mind (buddhi) is responsible for thinking, reasoning, and

discerning intelligence (vivekam). It gives you an insight into the nature
of things and helps you solve problems and make sense of the world.
However, since it is subject to the influence of the ego, it does not
effectively function in all and becomes subject to the impurities of the
gunas, egoism, desires and attachments. It leads to irrationality,
extremism, ignorance, indiscretion, and delusion.

Consciousness and existence

Various schools of Hindu philosophy discuss consciousness in great

detail to suggest how reality can be perceived or should be perceived
and how to experience peace and inner stability. They recognize the
problem of human mind and the consciousness it produces. In
Creation, the human consciousness is a replica of the universal
consciousness. It has all the elements and dimensions as the other. It is
the inner space (akasa), in the depths of which is the deeper realty of
the eternal, pure consciousness. However to know them all, one has to
go beyond the mind and learn to look at the mind (internal organ) with
detachment and dispassion. The following are a few important
observations about consciousness that are found in the Hindu
scriptures.
1. Individual (ego) consciousness arises in the embodied beings due to
the activity of the building blocks (tattvas) of Nature. It is chiefly
responsible for bondage, delusions and suffering.
2. There can be many levels in individualized consciousness,
depending upon the presence or absence of senses, the number of
active senses present in a being, the level and purity of intelligence, the
activity of the gunas and the purity or impurity of the body and
consciousness itself. In this regard, Karma also plays an important role.

3. Individualized consciousness is subject to modifications (vrittis) due

to the activity of the senses and the influence of desires and
attachments. It is responsible for mental instability, afflictions, aging,
sickness, death and rebirth. However, through practice one can
temporarily become free from it by suppressing the modifications and
experiencing wholesome silence and self-absorption (samadhi).
4. The individualized consciousness completely perishes at the time of
death, except for a few lasting impressions, memories, and dominant
desires which are carried forward to the next birth. In other words, a
little of the individualized consciousness survives the body and remains
either in this world as a ghost copy or travels to the next world as a
casual body to become the seed for the next birth. Breath (prana) plays
an important role in this transition.
5. The scriptures give the impression that it is possible to transfer
consciousness from one person to another and from one source to
another through spiritual practice. There are said to be instances where
spiritual masters were able to transfer their consciousness to their
chosen disciples and hastened their spiritual progress and liberation.
According to some accounts, divinities may also internally awaken in
chosen people and elevate their consciousness to prepare them for
specific tasks. Tantric texts suggest that the possession of a person's
body by a spirit or a deity for any reason, or transference of a spirit into
another body through ritual methods (parakaya pravesam) can result in
the transfer of consciousness. Such descriptions also allude to the idea
that consciousness can exist in an individualized state and retain past
memories even after death.

6. Theoretically, we know that it is possible to transfer consciousness to

other people, through physical means such as hypnosis, teaching,
conditioning, and communication. Such transfer may be considered
crude and ineffective, nevertheless, it is possible.
7. As stated before, the Vedic seers believed that higher than the
individualized consciousness, and very different from it in purity and
composition, was the universal consciousness, which they described as
transcendental, eternal, indivisible, indistinguishable, indestructible,
complete and free from modifications. They believed that it was
independent, all knowing, all pervading, infinite, and present in all as
their very essence or Self. Its existence or nonexistence cannot
objectively or mentally be proved. One should accept it as true because
the Vedas, which are the word of God, say so.

8. The seers also suggested that through dispassion, self-control, and

detachment it was possible to detach oneself from one's consciousness
and passively observe it as a witness. They believed that the universe
was also pervaded by the same witness consciousness, which was
also all knowing.

Pure consciousness in the micro and macrocosms

In the Indian spiritual tradition, there are four divergent approaches,

schools, or theories about the universal consciousness or pure
consciousness, with a number of intermediary theories and concepts.
They are stated below.
1. One is that the universal consciousness is the innermost reality or
the center of human consciousness. It exists not only at the universal
level as an independent entity and controller of all, but also in all beings
as their very center and inner Lord. If you strip all the modifications and
components of the individual consciousness, what remains in the end is
the one eternal, indivisible, supreme consciousness. That one eternal
consciousness alone is true. The rest is an illusion. When one realizes
it, one becomes liberated. This is the school of non-dualism.

2. According to the second theory, the universal consciousness is

present in all beings as their very Self. However, it is not exactly the
same as the consciousness of the Supreme Being. It is either very
different or somewhat different or notionally different. When a being
attains liberation, the liberated Self continues to exist as an
independent, eternal, and free entity. This is the view of the schools of
dualism and qualified dualism.
3. The third view is that there is no eternal, universal consciousness at
all in existence operating as the controller and supreme Lord.
Consciousness exists only in beings in their natural as well as pristine
states. They remain bound to existence as long as their minds and
bodies are impure, and they are oblivious to the existence of their pure
soul consciousness. If they can suppress the modifications of their
minds and bodies and free themselves from desires, they can
extinguish the suffering caused by the afflictions of their minds and
enter into an indistinguishable, and indefinable state of all knowing,
aloneness (Kaivalya), which is their true state. This is the view held by
Jainism and the Yoga and Samkhya schools of Hinduism.
4. The fourth school of thought holds that there is no such thing as
eternal, indestructible, indivisible consciousness. Consciousness is a
mere association of the aggregates of thoughts, ideas, desires,
feelings, and states, which are also objects. They are held together
loosely because of desires and attachments around a notional
individuality which is but an illusion. It is impermanent and
indestructible, although it may survive death and continue into future
lives. If you can calm the mind and disintegrate those aggregates into
their natural elemental states, what remains is an emptiness or a
stateless state of Nirvana. When you reach it, your individuality is fully
extinguished, and you become free from modifications, and death and
rebirth. This is the opinion held by Buddhism and some materialistic
schools of Hinduism.
Thus, we can see that various schools of Hinduism approach the
subject of consciousness from different perspectives and present
different views.

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