Calm clear consciousness -- my new favorite "mantra"

OK, calm clear consciousness isn't really a mantra for me, notwithstanding the title of this blog post.

Those are just three words that I've been saying to myself a few times a day, because they do a good job of summing up my current approach to meditation and spirituality.

Here's some additional words that explain part of the meaning that I attribute to calm clear consciousness. 

Consciousness. Everything we have experienced, are experiencing, and will experience is dependent on consciousness. No consciousness, no experience. 

But there are degrees of consciousness.

There's a big difference between someone comatose, in a dreamless deep sleep, awake, and so on. We also can be conscious but not aware, such as when we do something yet don't know that we did it -- like locking a car and then wondering if the car is locked as we walk away from it. 

And consciousness is inherently subjective. Humans have a different form of consciousness from other primates, and even more different from bats, birds, bees, and the many other living creatures that appear to possess consciousness to one degree or another.

Thus consciousness is private. No one has direct access to anyone else's consciousness. At least, there is no demonstrable evidence of this.

Some people view consciousness as something separate from what we are conscious of. I'm skeptical about this, since I have no idea what consciousness without some conscious content would feel like or be like. 

That, though, is a peripheral issue for me. The brain produces consciousness. Whether consciousness is something that can stand alone, or is always associated with some conscious experience -- that's scientifically unanswerable at the moment, and may always be.

Clear. We don't see things as they are, but as they appear to us. That's the nature of conscious experience. Just as there are degrees of consciousness, so are there degrees of conscious clarity.

This is difficult to put into words, though I think almost everyone knows what I'm talking about. 

Sometimes life seems murky, shadowy, difficult to discern. In my experience, this occurs most often when too many things are competing for my attention at the same time, since the human brain isn't equipped to multi-task. 

Typically we can do one thing at a time well; two things with some difficulty, like driving while having a phone conversation; three things at a time is very difficult, like driving, talking on the phone, and changing the station on a car radio.

So to me, "clear" has a lot to do with being mindful.

Meaning, knowing what we're experiencing while we're experiencing it. If I lock my car, that's an experience. However, if i don't know that I've locked the car because I was thinking of what to have for dinner while performing this habitual action, i'm into murky conscious territory, not clear territory.

In other words, I aim to be as clear as possible about what I'm doing, feeling, thinking, and otherwise experiencing. Not in the sense of watching myself as an outside observer, but rather as a conscious undistracted subject.

Calm. Even if water isn't murky or clouded, it still can be difficult to see what's beneath the surface of it if the water is rocked by waves.

Likewise, even if my consciousness is quite clear, if I'm focused on one thing and am well aware of it, my emotions can make it difficult to really tell what is happening with my experience. Or, can make it difficult for me to respond appropriately to what I'm experiencing. 

For about 30 years I've practiced some form of martial arts. Karate at first, then a mixed form of martial arts, and Tai Chi for the past 16 years. 

So this has offered me a lot of direct experience of what happens when my mind isn't calm. Being anxious about getting hit in the face doesn't help with not getting hit in the face. All it does is make me tense up, which reduces my ability to dodge a punch and respond in an effective fashion.

Likewise with other situations where I'm not calm. Arguing with someone when I'm angry doesn't help me "win" the argument (assuming anyone ever wins an argument; I just can't think of a better word).

But I've also found that it doesn't help to pretend that my mind is calm when it actually isn't.

Which gets me back to mindfulness. Simply saying to myself, "I'm upset," has a way of making me less upset, because speaking those words to myself creates some distance between the emotion and my awareness of it.

Anyway, I'm enjoying playing around with using calm clear consciousness as words that represent a sort of goal for me.

I'm a believer in the power of our unconscious or non-conscious mind, which modern neuroscience and psychology tell us is by far the greatest part of our mind. Since most of us talk to ourselves a lot, it makes sense to me to speak some words, now and then, that point to how I'd like my mind to be.

Not all of the time, obviously, since I don't have that much control over my mind. But more of the time.

Calm clear consciousness. Something to aspire to.

 

Comments

[Sonia Taylor]

I found this—not wise enough to come up with this kind of stuff on my own...

Swami Kriyananda explains:

“The more you consciously withdraw your energy inwardly, through meditation, the more you experience an enormous revitalization of energy and consciousness.

When you get into a deeper level of calmness, what you begin to feel is something very powerful indeed. It is an expansion of consciousness that begins to take you away from the ego.

It is almost overwhelming, much more than a simple state of peace might be. This profound calmness is the soil in which cosmic consciousness begins to blossom forth in your consciousness.

Calmness gives us an exceptionally clear mind and a very keen understanding that cannot come without deep inner calmness.”

There are so many types of “good feelings”. There’s peace and joy and calm and happiness and excitement and hope and bliss. I wouldn’t demonize excitement because it serves its purpose in some, helping to drudge through overwhelming obstacles with confidence. I get criticized for being “very spirited“ often enough and I always have to explain that I’m not upset I’m just enthusiastic. But I’m happy and being very spirited has been a great blessing in affording the determination to find answers and get through a lot of tough circumstances. Whatever gets the job done I guess. We are all unique.

However, we also need clear consciousness to effectively accomplish all the mundane and irritating demands life throws at us.

And at the end of the day we definitely need calm or we would never sleep! 🙂

[Sonia Taylor]

This is a very cool look at research behind mantras, Kirtan (mantra) music and mindfulness... mantra based meditation too. Here are two paragraphs in quotes from the article, and the link to read the full article is below. (I’m going to listen to Kirtan music by Dave Stringer and see if that has any affect on me).

“Over that past decade, however, the ancient practices of Kirtan music and mantra-based meditation have experienced a resurgence around the world, in large part due to the more mainstream acceptance of yoga and mindfulness in Western culture and the medical community.”

“ As a psychologist and a researcher, I wanted to understand better how something so simple could generate so much positive emotion. I searched “meditation high” and found that others were reporting something similar, but back then almost nothing existed in the academic literature to explain this phenomenon.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-forward/201906/mantra-powerful-way-improve-your-well-being

[Sonia Taylor]

Well, just thought I’d post one more thing about mantras seeing as not too many people are as of yet expressing their appreciation for such a powerful tool (perhaps tomorrow). 😉

I am reading ‘Divide by One’ by Grace Ragland and Steve Justice. It’s a memoir about Grace’s ride on the Tour Divide (2,700 mile bike race across the Continental Divide from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico).

My neighbor loaned the book to me and wants it back in a few days, so I have a specific number of pages I have to read each day in order to finish it before she gets impatient.

Coincidentally, two pages before the end of tonight’s reading assignment, I reached a paragraph where Grace is sharing her biking mantra with a group of teens she meets along the way:

You Gotta Wanna (desire)
Eyes on the Prize (dedication)
Find a way (overcome obstacles)
Leave MS in the dust (execution)

She’s a 57 year old, American cyclist with Multiple Sclerosis.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It was recommended to me by two people who I really respect for their reading choices. And so far, really illuminating. A fun read!

[Turan]

I tend to see awareness as a being a somewhat primordial phenomenon. In a very real sense, everything, including non-organic matter responds - is aware - of its environment. Sentient creatures react and respond to numerous external conditions. Plants respond to weather and injury. Even rocks and minerals grow, change and decay.

Consciousness is limited and only manifests on contact. It has to be conscious of something. No object = nothing to be conscious of. Awareness on the other hand does not need an object. Awareness happens (is happening) regardless of any sense perception. Without awareness there can be no consciousness.

I admit I prefer the concept of awareness in that it has the feel of boundlessness whereas consciousness is very much dependent on there being an 'I' (me) and an object.

[Jen]

Brian, I like your mantra, calm, clear consciousness.

This practice is helping me now on a daily basis with my ageing problems...

Awareness practice - doing one thing at a time throughout the day - keeping that ball of light, that awareness, undivided attention - practicing concentration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O2JK_94g3Y

Unwavering Focus (17:02)

[Sonia Taylor]

Jen,

I just finished watching that Ted Talk link you sent. Maybe it’s semantics but I think it really helps to hear things explained in different ways. I loved the way Dandapani talked about awareness and the mind being different. It makes so much more sense visualizing it the way he showed. Also, “teach HOW to concentrate” was such a good point. It was almost like a “duh” moment. I mean we as a society should have had this realization a long time ago... but didn’t.

Great talk. Thanks!