Consciousness
General description
In the Theosophical view, everything in the universe shows some kind of consciousness. However, as H. P. Blavatsky wrote:
Esoteric philosophy teaches that everything lives and is conscious, but not that all life and consciousness are similar to those of human or even animal beings.[1]
In the Theosophical view consciousness is not a single faculty but it is the result of the interaction between the seven principles that compose a human being. As to its mechanism, H. P. Blavatsky wrote:
In the normal or natural state, the sensations are transmitted from the lowest physical to the highest spiritual body, i.e., from the first to the 6th principle (the 7th being no organized or conditioned body, but an infinite, hence unconditioned principle or state), the faculties of each body having to awaken the faculties of the next higher one, to transmit the message in succession, until they reach the last, when, having received the impression, the latter (the spiritual soul) sends it back in an inverse order to the body. Hence, the faculties of some of the “bodies” (we use this word for want of a better term) being less developed, they fail to transmit the message correctly to the highest principle, and thus also fail to produce the right impression upon the physical senses, as a telegram may have started for the place of its destination faultless, and have been bungled up and misinterpreted by the telegraph operator at some intermediate station. This is why some people, otherwise endowed with great intellectual powers and perceptive faculties, are often utterly unable to appreciate—say, the beauties of nature, or some particular moral quality; as, however perfect their physical intellect—unless the original, material or rough physical impression conveyed has passed in a circuit through the sieve of every “principle”—(from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, up to 7, and down again from 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, to No. 1)—and that every “sieve” is in good order—the spiritual perception will always be imperfect. The Yogi, who, by a constant training and incessant watchfulness, keeps his septenary instrument in good tune and whose spirit has obtained a perfect control over all, can, at will, and by paralysing the functions of the four intermediate principles, communicate from body to spirit and vice versa—direct.[2]
States of consciousness
Self-consciousness
Self-consciousness or self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. It is not to be confused with consciousness. While consciousness is a term given to being aware of one’s environment, self-consciousness is the recognition of that awareness.
Higher consciousness
Online resources
Articles and pamphlets
- Intuitional Consciousness by Francesca Arundale
- Man's Waking Consciousness by G.S. Arundale
- Emotion, Intellect and Spirituality by Annie Besant
- On Moods by Annie Besant
- The Self Is the Friend of Self and also its Enemy by W. Q. Judge
- The Subjective and the Objective by W. Q. Judge
- Dimensions of Consciousness by Dora Kunz
- What Is Consciousness? by Richard Smoley
Books
- Study In Consciousness by Annie Besant
- Theosophy and the New Psychology by Annie Besant
Audio
- The Nature of Consciousness in the Upanishads by Michael Gomes
- The Nature of Consciousness Part 1 by N. Sri Ram
- The Nature of Consciousness Part 2 by N. Sri Ram
- The Cosmological Aspects of Consciousness by Will Ross and Emily Sellon
- The Expansion of Awareness by Helen Zahara
Video
- What Is Consciousness? by Richard Smoley