What is Consciousness?

Some critics have called my ideas "New Age." And yet those who would dismiss the idea of consciousness still have no explanation for the phenomenon. Make no mistake: it is essential for materialists to diminish the idea of consciousness. Any admission that consciousness exists opens the door to metaphysics.

And yet, consciousness dies hard. Scientists and philosophers seem to dislike the idea of consciousness altogether, restricting the discussion to the question of how it works. It is perfectly acceptable to discuss how an organism works, but why it exists at all is considered to be a frivolous question. We are not interested in meaning, but how things work. Once we know how things work, we can harness and exploit our knowledge. Meaning has no exploitable end, hence, meaning itself is "meaningless."

So we can dismiss the question by saying "consciousness" is hardly a "thing," therefore not worth studying as an entity. The only meaningful study consists in knowing how organisms function. But the very animating principle behind biology is strangely outside the purview of study. So it is that biologists are among the most fervent atheists. And yet, among the hard questions for science and philosophy is the big question: "What is consciousness?" How does it act? Where does it come from?
We know that consciousness is an extremely dynamic energy: it appears and disappears from our power of empiric observation almost magically. One moment we are speaking, laughing, joking, making observations about our world, and the next our body lies inert, as Shakespeare put it, “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” But try as we might to re-animate a dead body, once consciousness ceases to animate an organism it is impossible to revive.
Is the brain the seat of consciousness? Many neurologists believe that the brain is the seat of consciousness, since by destroying certain circuits in the brain, death becomes imminent. But understanding how to destroy something is very different from understanding how it works. And even if we can understand the neural functions of consciousness, its essential components are elusive. Again, if consciousness is merely a series of electrical impulses in the neural networks of the brain, it would seem to be an achievable goal to re-awaken the lost consciousness of a dead brain through some form of electrical stimulation. But no one would seriously suggest such a ghoulish task, since it is beyond "common sense."
Consciousness, then, would seem to exist beyond physical nature, to have a metaphysical character. After all the only way to study consciousness is through consciousness itself, a circular task.
In physics energies become more subtle the more we study them. Light would appear to be a simple energy form, but as Einstein showed, it can be interpreted both as wave and particle. As with other energies does consciousness work as a field or a particle? Is consciousness a wave? How can it be observed? There is no way to objectively research the subjectivity of consciousness itself. This metaphysical aspect of reality is what so tortures researchers.
Assuming that consciousness is a genuine state of reality, it may be more productive to suspend our any prejudice against metaphysics or the existence of the soul. Say for the sake of the argument that consciousness has a metaphysical quality that is impossible to quantify. Western Philosophy cringes at the very idea of metaphysics, but Eastern Philosophy holds a different perspective. While Westerners since Kant have so much trouble arguing over the nature of Being and deciding whether, in fact, “Being” even exists, the ancient wisdom traditions of India have long held that certain metaphysical truths, such as that of consciousness, are self-evident. Before analyzing "matter", they say, is understood that “spirit” or Brahman, or “spiritual being” exists as a prima facie axiomatic truth.
“Mind,” has different defintions, as does consciousness, leading to a fuzzy understanding. According to the Upanishadic version the mental world is a function of consciousness, but not the whole truth. “Mind” is how jivātma or the individual atomic consciousness works in tandem with a particular body-form. When the body-form and its organs are corrupt, the mind can no longer function properly and dissipates. It may be added that there are certain levels of consciousness as expressions of jivātma. Consciousness is a universal energy: life is everywhere. We are literally swimming in biology. Matter is inert, however, and has no independent movement without consciousness. How the two are related should be the proper study of the intellectually honest.

The mind-body problem has hardly been dispensed with. But the problem is with definitions. How is "mind" defined? And what do we mean by the "body" exactly. Where does "body" end and "mind" begin? And what role does consciousness or "spirit" play in the mind-body relation. These are exceedingly difficult and subtle points, but they are not to be dismissed simply on the basis of ignorance.

Some unresolved questions: If consciousness or "spirit" exists, what is the relation of body, mind and spirit? If it is possible to see the consequences of “mind” so clearly, why is it so difficult to conceive of “spirit” as a genuine living energy? Soul defies mathematical formulas and is impossible to quantify, but does that mean it has no existence? If a relative spirit exists, what about God? If a Supreme Spirit exists, and if evolution is evident, how does consciousness influence reality?
Is there some syncretic movement between consciousness and matter that brings existence into being?

The ancient wisdom traditions of India suggest that there is. According to the Upanishads, matter derives from spirit. And where “matter” is the consequence of “spirit,” differernt levels of consciousness such as “mind” act as a kind of filter between the two. The Vedanta holds that mind may be thought of as the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.

Mind, as instrument, as filter, is called in Sanskrit as cidābhasa. Through a subtle, subjective process of reverse evolution, the divine light of consciousness becomes opaque, filtered through the instrument of ego, intelligence, mind until it gradually congeals into something like matter, according to the evidence of the Upanishads. Consciousness becomes involved in the time-space continuum, the world of misconception, through a transmutation of energy.