Consciousness
Consciousness is an attribute, a property, a quality of living things, even inanimate things rather than an independent object in itself. If we start looking for it like an entity to be found through meditation or pilgrimage, we may find something very different. In fact its the attribute of all there is. Consciousness of emptiness brings manifestation into this presence.
Consciousness or awareness does not perform an act or control anything directly but through an object such as a human body. In fact all functions of a body and it's mind can be attributed to its only property, consciousness. Eyes do not see, they funnel light through a lens onto a detector whose signals are rearranged into images and then consciousness of the body allows us to see. Same with all other senses. Even thoughts are just electric signals in the brain which get translated into images or sounds and the conscious ability of brain allows us to make an intelligent thought.
In simple terms its like the colour of an object. Just like the red of a rose allows us to see it, fragrance of it allows us to smell it but neither is the rose. Similarly consciousness makes us conscious of everything else but it is not a thing. Its just a property of beings. In that sense it could also be a property of inanimate things but they express their consciousness in a different, inanimate way. Perhaps it is the consciousness of an electron that allows it to be entangled with its twin, billions of light years away.
This doesn't mean that consciousness isn't the all pervasive god, brahma or rigpa scriptures speak of. It just means that looking for consciousness as an object will always lead to disappointment, its just not there. It is the attribute of everything in the universe; it makes us human, rose a flower, earth a planet, sun a star and space the space.
Consciousness or awareness does not perform an act or control anything directly but through an object such as a human body. In fact all functions of a body and it's mind can be attributed to its only property, consciousness. Eyes do not see, they funnel light through a lens onto a detector whose signals are rearranged into images and then consciousness of the body allows us to see. Same with all other senses. Even thoughts are just electric signals in the brain which get translated into images or sounds and the conscious ability of brain allows us to make an intelligent thought.
In simple terms its like the colour of an object. Just like the red of a rose allows us to see it, fragrance of it allows us to smell it but neither is the rose. Similarly consciousness makes us conscious of everything else but it is not a thing. Its just a property of beings. In that sense it could also be a property of inanimate things but they express their consciousness in a different, inanimate way. Perhaps it is the consciousness of an electron that allows it to be entangled with its twin, billions of light years away.
This doesn't mean that consciousness isn't the all pervasive god, brahma or rigpa scriptures speak of. It just means that looking for consciousness as an object will always lead to disappointment, its just not there. It is the attribute of everything in the universe; it makes us human, rose a flower, earth a planet, sun a star and space the space.
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