what is consciousness

As consciousness expands, our species evolves

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about the word "consciousness". In order to understand consciousness, we cannot really turn it into something 'real' or tangible. It is a state, but it is not static, and it is not a being all by itself. It is a quality of being. Consciousness and unconsciousness are two sides of the same reality: Soul. These experiences of conscious and unconscious are constantly blending and our mind paints an image of how they interact.

What I'm getting at here is that even though there are different forms of consciousness perceived, they are not hierarchical but in fact horizontal. This means that no consciousness is better than the next, and that we are all moving toward each other instead of trying to rise above each other. The consciousness of a rock is perhaps different than the consciousness of an animal or a human, but it is still consciousness nonetheless. I personally believe that a rock or an animals consciousness is actually probably more connected to the whole, or unity consciousness than a human. That being said, I do not believe that some modes of consciousness are "superior" to others. Westerners have been conditioned with the desire to progress vertically, but that paradigm is dying. Our future will be one of horizontal consciousness and empathic connections with each other. 

I have taken a few quotes from a friend's blog, he is excellent at explaining consciousness but it is super philosophical lol, I try to translate his words into something easier to understand:
http://www.soulspelunker.com/ It is a great blog with a wealth of information.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." ~Albert Einstein

this painting is a meditation on the word Gnosis.

I chose a sphere to represent earth, and I chose red because I believe Gnosis runs in our veins.

in the painting, the plane of existence is taking a new shape, starting from within.

Gnosis means “inner spiritual knowledge”

it is within us all. it is inherent. it is intuitive.

you have complete access to the wisdom if you so choose.

We all have intuition, we all have inner knowledge (Gnosis) that guides us. This is proof that consciousness is not achieved by a chemical substance or any other outside force, but instead by going deeply inward. A substance might get you on that path, just as much as a near death experience or spiritual high might. But once you get to the path, there is still a lot of work to be done. If you want to be literal about it, conscious means aware, and unconscious means unaware. This could be a way to describe a sleeping or waking person, an ill or healthy person. This is psychological consciousness, more physical or literal. The consciousness that I speak of is philosophical consciousness, a state or quality of being with a capacity of sentience (the ability to feel) and subjectivity. Even these definitions are misleading, because all the various modes of consciousness cannot be classified into neat categories. The primordial consciousness in the universe is ever changing, ever spinning and ever creating new forms of matter. 

So what is consciousness on the day to day? How can someone be more conscious?
I personally like to think of consciousness as the inability to be ignorant. You are mindful of your actions and aware of the possible consequences. For example, I do not believe in throwing things "away", or actually I just don't believe in the "away" part. When I put something in the garbage can, my whole world kind of pauses for a second, and for that second, the garbage can disappears, I'm on a ledge, and I'm throwing my garbage into a huge stinking landfill. This is something that I know will be a result of my action, so instead of pretending the garbage is "away," I am instead fully aware of where it is going. On many occasions, this causes me to rethink my garbage, or really put a lot of effort into not creating so much trash from my existence, and also recycling. Consciousness isn't glorifying. It is not an exalted title. It is actually a very humbling situation to be in. The more conscious you are, the less you are confused in your own daily life. You begin to know what to expect.

Photograph by Rob Woodcox

The world is waking up, everyone is beginning to come out of their box...

Okay so back to our theme of veganism: How does consciousness apply?
Most people have no idea where their food comes from. The concept of animal suffering is swept under the rug our entire lives. We are taught that the slaughter of animals is a "necessary" evil. But what kind of evil is necessary? The answer is none. No evil is necessary. There are other people that say, we have to eat meat to survive. Oh really? Are you barely surviving? Do you know anyone that is in survival mode? I sure don't. I've been thriving on plant based foods for years, I never get sick or spend money at the doctor, but I see people that eat meat with the flu and colds and other dis-ease year after year. So maybe they really do think they are barely surviving, who knows.

For me, it is as simple as not being able to be ignorant of where meat on a plate came from. Maybe it's my personal conscious or consciousness, but when I see meat, raw at the grocery store or cooked and on a plate, I can see the entire life of that animal, and it is not a good life. That is why I decide not to eat it. When I see cheese or milk, I see a mother cow being artificially inseminated (raped) so that she will produce milk, having her baby stolen from her when it's born, and being milked until her udders are bleeding. This is not appetizing to me. When I see chicken, I see a warehouse full of chickens, thousands of live ones, and hundreds of dead trampled ones on the ground. I see them being sucked through a tube before slaughter and shoved into a tiny drawer with 20 other chickens. When I see eggs, I see hens that have literally never walked, sitting their entire life on a shelf, in a cage with thousands of others. When I see bacon or pork, I see a large mother pig in a cage so small that she can't even stand up in it. Her skin rubs up on the bars of her prison and it is irritated and she is bleeding. Her babies are fighting for her teets excitedly, having no idea that their destiny is the same. So many animals suffer for our "comforts" or "luxuries," but you reap what you sow. If you enjoy something that came from another being suffering, you inherit that karma, and guess what, what goes around really does come back around.

Animals all over the world suffer for more than just food, but I won't get into those horrifying truths. If you are interested in helping animals, do some research and see what you can do. Do whatever resonates with your life and your highest truth.

Vegetarian body = Cosmic Mind

We are citizens of the Universe

That most primordial heartbeat of Love calls us home to the place of union with the Oneness of all that is.

"If one is trying to practice meditation and is still eating meat, he would be like a man closing his ears and shouting loudly, and then asserting that he heard nothing."

-Surangama Sutra

From Doreen Virtue's book Eating In the Light