Representation of consciousness from the seventeenth century by Robert Fludd, an English Paracelsian physician — courtesy of Wikipedia
In my work, I often get asked about “Access Consciousness”, the parent group for the healing art, “Access Bars” that I practice. This question takes us toward the fundamental notion of just what consciousness itself may be. So maybe we can consider the question, “what is consciousness” for a moment.
Like many things in our lives such as movement (and act of consciousness), most of us just take consciousness for granted. In Hindu philosophy, turiya (Sanskrit: तुरीय, meaning “the fourth”) or chaturiya, chaturtha, is pure consciousness. Turiya is the background that underlies and pervades the three common states of consciousness. The three common states of consciousness are: waking state, dreaming state, and dreamless deep sleep (see Wikipedia article). I like the idea of consciousness “underlying” and “pervading” behind the different states sort of like an ocean running under it all. It reminds me of a description at the Access Consciousness site on what their modality is all about:
“Access Consciousness is based on the idea that you’re not wrong, that you know and that consciousness can shift anything. Many modalities clear the limitations built around words, Access clears the energy underneath the words.”
Wikipedia also tells us that “Consciousness, at its simplest, is “sentience or awareness of internal or external existence”. Despite millennia of analyses, definitions, explanations and debates by philosophers and scientists, consciousness remains puzzling and controversial, being “at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives. Sometimes, it is synonymous with the mind, and at other times, an aspect of it.”
Elusive as the definition may be, there are some emerging concepts coming about involving the insights from Quantum Physics. Quantum mind or quantum consciousness posits that quantum-mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition, may play an important part in the brain’s function and could explain consciousness. Evidence seems to be mounting for this sort of explanation. About six years ago, an article at Quanta Magazine detailed how “over the past decade, growing evidence suggests that certain biological systems might employ quantum mechanics. In photosynthesis, for example, quantum effects help plants turn sunlight into fuel. Scientists have also proposed that migratory birds have a “quantum compass” enabling them to exploit Earth’s magnetic fields for navigation, or that the human sense of smell could be rooted in quantum mechanics.”
For those mystics among us, the Rosicrucians have trainings in Cosmic Consciousness, the Gnostic Christians speak about Christ Consciousness and all the great works of literature, including the Bible, relate stories about the Light of consciousness coming to humankind. Around a half century ago there were a few groundbreaking books comparing the thoughts of quantum physicists to direct quotes of eastern mystics, and you know what? They were writing almost exactly the same thing about what they observed. One such book is The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukov — originally released in 1979 with an updated edition in 2009. The author explains that, “”Wu Li” is the Chinese phrase for physics. It means “patterns of organic energy,” but it also means “nonsense,” “my way,” “I clutch my ideas,” and “enlightenment.” Enlightening energy patterns.
There is certainly something magical about consciousness and how it connects us with all time and all beings. And in my work, I help clients become aware of how they can clear things they have been holding onto — histories, ideas, emotions — and release them so that their lives can become easier each and every day. The reason I have studied and worked with healing arts is because all is energy, as we learned in high school physics, and consciousness is the magical energy at the center of it all. So when we clear things we no longer need this frees us up to apply our consciousness to our dreams, joys and aspirations.