tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834824538689148575.post5584060019525079844..comments2023-10-17T06:40:28.712-07:00Comments on Radiance of Being: A Blog on Nonduality: PointersRodney Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08041216311880794608noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834824538689148575.post-1715418107480547662011-12-03T15:49:44.852-08:002011-12-03T15:49:44.852-08:00Thank you for the helpful response Rodney.Thank you for the helpful response Rodney.Colleen Loehrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13048649046228516513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834824538689148575.post-36969305777698282272011-11-26T13:55:09.144-08:002011-11-26T13:55:09.144-08:00Hi Colleen,
Consciousness is many things to many ...Hi Colleen,<br /><br />Consciousness is many things to many people. The common definition is that it is one's individual awareness. <br /><br />But when I refer to consciousness, I am almost always referring to it as either a state of alertness (awake, dreaming, sleepy, drowsy, etc) or as sentience (that discerning mental quality that allows us to KNOW that we exist).<br /><br />But when you recognize your natural state, you are seeing not only that you exist, but that you exist as awareness itself! Now consciousness can't make that recognition. Only awareness, in conjunction with consciousness, can do that. Pure awareness is objectless. It cannot know that it exist. <br /><br />Awareness/presence remains the ultimate witness. Thoughts, feelings, ideas, concepts, beliefs, and images could certainly be labeled as the contents of consciousness. But the contents are temporal. Things are coming and going, coming and going. And awareness, of course, envelops and shines through even consciousness. For consciousness too is constantly changing. And this ultimate You can't be anything that changes. <br /><br />I hope that helps. :)<br /><br />RodneyRodney Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08041216311880794608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834824538689148575.post-60027547725286462052011-11-26T09:00:06.276-08:002011-11-26T09:00:06.276-08:00Great post Rodney- thank you.
I'd like to ask...Great post Rodney- thank you.<br /><br />I'd like to ask for some clarification regarding the terms "consciousness" and "awareness" and "presence." Some people use these words interchangeably as basically synonymous- as different pointers or symbols or sounds pointing to the same ineffable reality.<br /><br />Here is a sentence from your post: "You are neither consciousness nor the contents of consciousness." You say that we are not consciousness, but we are awareness or presence. I'd be grateful if you could clarify for me why we are not consciousness. What is consciousness and how is it different from awareness or presence? Thank you, ColleenColleen Loehrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13048649046228516513noreply@blogger.com