Just a reminder that our next meeting is coming up on Tuesday December 1st at 7pm.
At this meeting we will be discussing the first book Surfacing by Margaret Atwood. If you haven't had a chance to read the book, please join us anyway. With all of our meetings, while we will use the book for the framework for discussion, our talks will revolve around broader ideas of consciousness and perception addressed in the reading. Our meetings are open to anyone- so join us!!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
We'd like to thank everyone who came out to our first meeting tonight at 918 Bathurst. We decided that November's book is going to be "Surfacing" by Margaret Atwood. For those who would like to buy this book, we hope to have it available soon at a discounted price though our partner, the Toronto Women's Book Store. We will post here on the blog and on our facebook group once it becomes available there.
For ongoing online discussions about this book throughout the month of November, please see our Facebook group.
Thanks a lot, and happy reading!
For ongoing online discussions about this book throughout the month of November, please see our Facebook group.
Thanks a lot, and happy reading!
What Is Consciousness? by Jenny Richmond-Bravo
The Oxford dictionary defines consciousness simply as “one’s awareness of something” or “the state of being aware and responding to one’s surroundings”. This is a very basic understanding of the tricky concept of consciousness, one from which it is possible to jump into further exploration of the term.
In The Varieties of Religious Experience (first published in 1902), William James refers to the “field” or “wave of consciousness”, which he considers to be one’s state of mind (including objects of thought, focus, and attention) at any given moment. James states that a “wide” field of consciousness, through which it is possible to see connections among things beyond one’s individual self, provides the greatest sense of joy and wisdom. However, James stresses that other “consciousnesses” exist outside of the field of the one’s main or typical consciousness, separated by what he terms the “margin”. These other consciousnesses, and the varieties of perspective and understanding that are available therein, are accessible when the margins become blurred. Further, some people may have a “strongly developed ultra-marginal life”, in which information is continuously transferred between consciousnesses, leading to phenomena such as mystical and/or anomalous experiences (James, 2004, pp. 171-174).
Psychologist Lawrence LeShan believes that consciousness is what makes it possible for us to organize our reality. Further, LeShan believes that there are four “realities” organized by consciousness, which are [1] the sensory reality (aka everyday waking consciousness), [2] the unity reality (an understanding of the connections between all life), [3] the transpsychic reality (a realization of one’s individual place in the grand scheme of things and the power one has to influence the whole), and [4] the mythic reality (the realm of imagination and limitless possibility that exists outside of time and physical space). LeShan stresses the importance of experiencing each and every one of these realities continuously throughout life in order to reach “new potentials” and “fullest humanity” (LeShan, 1984).
To Carl Jung, consciousness also stretched beyond the individual. Jung’s notion of the “collective unconscious” first came to him after a dream. In his dream, he was descending some stairs in a house, and with each level down he saw symbols of cultures and histories past. For example, the main level of the house had symbols relating to Jung’s personal individual life. The next level down had symbols relating to his immediate family relationships. Further down, Jung saw symbols of his European heritage. Even further down were symbols of a past shared by all of us as a species when we first emerged from Africa. Jung decided that each one of us must have some residual understanding of our collective experiences buried at the subconscious level, and that the deeper you go into the unconscious, wider and broader connections can be made within the collective of all life. Jung spent the rest of his career working through his notion of the collective unconscious. A big part of his theory was the concept of the “archetypes”. Archetypes are common to all people, and symbolize aspects of the self, including “the shadow” (our dark side; that which we often try unsuccessfully to push away), “the persona” (the mask we wear in social life), and “the anima and animus” (the sources of feminine and masculine wisdom, which are both present in each individual) among others. These archetypes present themselves symbolically throughout our life, lending clues as to the path we are on, what we put our energy into, and what we may need to become aware of (Smith, 1997).
Many religious traditions view consciousness as having the potential to connect directly to the divine. For example, “Buddha nature” refers to a state of consciousness in which the teachings of the Buddha are realized in daily life – one has successfully transcended attachment to objects of desire, and has thus attained enlightenment. In Hinduism there is the idea of moksha, where one’s individual consciousness (atman) merges with the divine consciousness (Brahman). “Krishna Consciousness” is an offshoot of Hinduism, and refers to an attempt to live one’s life after the example of Krishna, a legendary avatar of the god Vishnu. Similarly, “Christ Consciousness” refers to an attempt to fashion one’s life after the teachings of Jesus.
Modern scientific research into consciousness has been quite interesting. One form this research has taken has been to explore altered states of consciousness, including psychedelic states, trance states, and meditation. Dr. Rick Strassman, a psychologist in New Mexico, ran a study on the use of DMT, a highly hallucinogenic drug. Subjects experienced drastic alterations in reality that often contained elements similar to those seen in mystical states, psychological stress states, and anomalous experiences (including alien abduction experiences, near death experiences, and sleep paralysis among others). Strassman suggests that DMT could be an endogenous chemical created by our brains and released at times of high stress. (Strassman, 2001). Another scientist, Dr. Michael Persinger of Laurentian University, has created what he calls the “God Helmet”, which stimulates a particular part of the brain and results in an altered state of consciousness in which subjects experience a “sensed presence”, often with religious overtones.
Consciousness, therefore, is an elusive concept. It is clear, however, that there is much more to consciousness than one’s basic everyday experiences in waking life. Our hope is to explore ideas of consciousness that go beyond simple self-awareness or direct sensory perception and delve into the seemingly limitless potentials of the human mind and its capacity for understanding.
References:
James, William (2004). The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York, NY: Touchstone.
LeShan, Lawrence (1984). From Newton to ESP: Parapsychology and the Challenge of Modern Science. Winnipeg,
MB: Turnstone Press.
Smith, C.M (1997). Jung and Shamanism In Dialogue: Retrieving the Soul/Retrieving the Sacred. New York, NY:
Paulist Press
Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press.
In The Varieties of Religious Experience (first published in 1902), William James refers to the “field” or “wave of consciousness”, which he considers to be one’s state of mind (including objects of thought, focus, and attention) at any given moment. James states that a “wide” field of consciousness, through which it is possible to see connections among things beyond one’s individual self, provides the greatest sense of joy and wisdom. However, James stresses that other “consciousnesses” exist outside of the field of the one’s main or typical consciousness, separated by what he terms the “margin”. These other consciousnesses, and the varieties of perspective and understanding that are available therein, are accessible when the margins become blurred. Further, some people may have a “strongly developed ultra-marginal life”, in which information is continuously transferred between consciousnesses, leading to phenomena such as mystical and/or anomalous experiences (James, 2004, pp. 171-174).
Psychologist Lawrence LeShan believes that consciousness is what makes it possible for us to organize our reality. Further, LeShan believes that there are four “realities” organized by consciousness, which are [1] the sensory reality (aka everyday waking consciousness), [2] the unity reality (an understanding of the connections between all life), [3] the transpsychic reality (a realization of one’s individual place in the grand scheme of things and the power one has to influence the whole), and [4] the mythic reality (the realm of imagination and limitless possibility that exists outside of time and physical space). LeShan stresses the importance of experiencing each and every one of these realities continuously throughout life in order to reach “new potentials” and “fullest humanity” (LeShan, 1984).
To Carl Jung, consciousness also stretched beyond the individual. Jung’s notion of the “collective unconscious” first came to him after a dream. In his dream, he was descending some stairs in a house, and with each level down he saw symbols of cultures and histories past. For example, the main level of the house had symbols relating to Jung’s personal individual life. The next level down had symbols relating to his immediate family relationships. Further down, Jung saw symbols of his European heritage. Even further down were symbols of a past shared by all of us as a species when we first emerged from Africa. Jung decided that each one of us must have some residual understanding of our collective experiences buried at the subconscious level, and that the deeper you go into the unconscious, wider and broader connections can be made within the collective of all life. Jung spent the rest of his career working through his notion of the collective unconscious. A big part of his theory was the concept of the “archetypes”. Archetypes are common to all people, and symbolize aspects of the self, including “the shadow” (our dark side; that which we often try unsuccessfully to push away), “the persona” (the mask we wear in social life), and “the anima and animus” (the sources of feminine and masculine wisdom, which are both present in each individual) among others. These archetypes present themselves symbolically throughout our life, lending clues as to the path we are on, what we put our energy into, and what we may need to become aware of (Smith, 1997).
Many religious traditions view consciousness as having the potential to connect directly to the divine. For example, “Buddha nature” refers to a state of consciousness in which the teachings of the Buddha are realized in daily life – one has successfully transcended attachment to objects of desire, and has thus attained enlightenment. In Hinduism there is the idea of moksha, where one’s individual consciousness (atman) merges with the divine consciousness (Brahman). “Krishna Consciousness” is an offshoot of Hinduism, and refers to an attempt to live one’s life after the example of Krishna, a legendary avatar of the god Vishnu. Similarly, “Christ Consciousness” refers to an attempt to fashion one’s life after the teachings of Jesus.
Modern scientific research into consciousness has been quite interesting. One form this research has taken has been to explore altered states of consciousness, including psychedelic states, trance states, and meditation. Dr. Rick Strassman, a psychologist in New Mexico, ran a study on the use of DMT, a highly hallucinogenic drug. Subjects experienced drastic alterations in reality that often contained elements similar to those seen in mystical states, psychological stress states, and anomalous experiences (including alien abduction experiences, near death experiences, and sleep paralysis among others). Strassman suggests that DMT could be an endogenous chemical created by our brains and released at times of high stress. (Strassman, 2001). Another scientist, Dr. Michael Persinger of Laurentian University, has created what he calls the “God Helmet”, which stimulates a particular part of the brain and results in an altered state of consciousness in which subjects experience a “sensed presence”, often with religious overtones.
Consciousness, therefore, is an elusive concept. It is clear, however, that there is much more to consciousness than one’s basic everyday experiences in waking life. Our hope is to explore ideas of consciousness that go beyond simple self-awareness or direct sensory perception and delve into the seemingly limitless potentials of the human mind and its capacity for understanding.
References:
James, William (2004). The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York, NY: Touchstone.
LeShan, Lawrence (1984). From Newton to ESP: Parapsychology and the Challenge of Modern Science. Winnipeg,
MB: Turnstone Press.
Smith, C.M (1997). Jung and Shamanism In Dialogue: Retrieving the Soul/Retrieving the Sacred. New York, NY:
Paulist Press
Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press.
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