The Function of Consciousness
It’s impossible to describe consciousness as an intellectual concept or scientific theory; but it’s quite simple to get the idea. In the sensory world our physical image is reflected back, such as in the bathroom mirror. From an inner perspective the same principle applies, only at an abstract level of mind. To be conscious of anything, including being alive, involves reflection. Even at the highest level of self-realisation we exist as mirror beings.
Consciousness operates as an agency of higher mind, a supernal light reflected from reality. This spiritual emanation radiates from a screen of abstract space which surrounds the perimeter of the universal mind, a cosmic mirror called the Intellect. To the human mind the intellect is nothing and unable to be defined. This is because the subtlety of the intellect can only be registered as inner clarity when the mind is quiescent. But without this mirror, intelligence would have nothing to bounce off, leaving every thought or perception to extend forever into infinity.
Surprisingly, whenever engaged in activity that is creatively fulfilling, an individual is actually immersed in the liberating state of consciousness. The difficulty is that the state cannot be held uninterruptedly due to the coarser emotional forces that populate the body. Feelings that arise (which are interpretations of emotional experience) disturb the unity between the inner and outer realms. This interrupts the transmission of reality until, as happens in most people, the direct line of power becomes disconnected.
A stone appears as it does because it has the consciousness of a stone. Similarly, a tree or polar bear is as it appears because of the consciousness behind its physical form. In human beings the function of consciousness differs from the rest of the species due to our unique reflective capability to know that ‘I’ in each body exist. This is a blessing and a curse, depending on the degree that an individual has begun to awaken from the dream of existence. Each human being is at a particular evolutionary point of consciousness comparable to their degree of self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is the developing light of consciousness which determines an individual’s perception of reality.
As a general rule, the more attached someone is to the world of experience, the less inclination there will be to look inwards towards the source of truth. The pull for such a person to be outwardly fixated on the motional world will override the subtle intimations of the spirit – that is, until the spectre of death rears its untimely head, or through Grace something happens to radically alter the direction of the life. And yet consciousness continues to perform its divine function behind the scenes while the person is busily engaged in the drama of living. Consciousness is the silent recorder of our entire earth experience, the profundity of which is retained deep within the spiritual centre of the being.
Consciousness, despite its omniscience as an intrinsic function of reality, is still primarily an effect of pure intelligence which preceded its emergence in the original moment of eternity. This imbues consciousness with a subtle ripple effect, not dissimilar to the waves of light that shimmer on the ocean surface. Without this cosmic wave to radiate the light of consciousness into sensory perception, the idea of life on earth would be stillborn with no way for I the individual to realise God or the truth. The divine imperative ensures that all living things undergo in the sensory world what is necessary to bring about a conscious awakening, not only as the virtue of humanity but for life wherever it may be in the immeasurable expanse of the cosmos.