The very typical thing that needs our utmost attention is ‘consciousness’. This ‘consciousness’ is very important indeed. In fact if this consciousness is not present, it can be said nothing is present. Before we go deep into this consciousness, we see what exactly it means:

            ‘Consciousness’ means awareness, being knowledgeable, being known about something. In fact consciousness does not need elaborate explanation. It simply means be conscious of something. That something can be anything and it can be something even abstract also.

            Just think you sat somewhere. When you sat somewhere, you simply conscious of something. You are first conscious that you sat somewhere. Then you are conscious of the climate there. You are conscious how is the place you sat, whether it is hard or smooth and cold or hot. If there is any specific smell in the environment, you can be conscious of that.

            If you are thinking anything specific at that time, whether intentionally or unintentionally, you conscious about that. If you are feeling happy, angry, irritated or sad you can conscious about that also.

At the same time you need not necessarily be conscious about everything that is around you or even in you also. The climate around you may be very hot. But if you are thinking about something very seriously then, you cannot be conscious of the hot climate around. You may be hearing some disturbing sounds around but you may not be conscious of them. For more than a minute, your friend stood there waiting for your attention, but you simply don’t conscious about him just because your mind is engaged elsewhere.

So it can be said beyond doubt, to conscious about something, just simply present physically at that place is not enough! Something also should be present with the body. To know whether the climate is hot or cool, you have to put your mind on the climate. If your mind is engaged seriously in thinking about something else, it cannot be known the climate condition.  However much hot it may be, it just does not bother you and you go on with your serious thinking. Unless your mind attached to your ears, however loud the sounds around you, you just cannot hear them. The same thing applies to the other organs of your body also.

The most surprising thing here is: you cannot be conscious sometimes, what you are thinking, how you are feeling, unless you pay attention to it. It may be surprising to you in the beginning that how do you don’t know about your thoughts and feelings unless you pay attention since your own mind is engaged in that. But just try to remember, think, ever you found yourself thinking something entirely different from the thing you want to think seriously at that time? Ever you find yourself suddenly uneasy, unhappy or distraught? You are not supposed to be felt like that but you suddenly found yourself so. Until the moment you pay attention, you cannot be conscious of that different sort of thinking or feeling in you.

Don’t ever think that this ‘consciousness’ is like a tool in your hand and you can use it in the way you want and you can conscious about the things which you want and you can simply remain unconscious about the things which you don’t want. Only to some extent you can use the consciousness and on most of the time consciousness simply uses you.

This consciousness can be further divided into two, sub-consciousness and super-consciousness. Super-consciousness is too large a matter to discuss at present so we do think about sub-consciousness here. This sub-consciousness is indeed a crazy thing to think. ‘Sub-consciousness’ means that you are conscious about something without knowing that you are conscious of it! Even however queer it may appear, it is true.

You say consciousness, sub-consciousness and super-consciousness but to whom these actually belong? You say my consciousness, my sub-consciousness and you may say also my super-consciousness but what exactly you are (this my is) if not the consciousness with whatever name it may be called?

Can we say the statement ‘I am consciousness’ is true? I just simply cannot agree with this statement. Consciousness may be so closely attached to you, just like smell to a flower and light to a lamp, but you just cannot be simply consciousness. I can support my statement by stating something that is ‘deep sleep’. Where is this ‘consciousness’ in deep sleep? Can you say that you are not in existence in your deep sleep just because there is no consciousness whatsoever while you are in deep sleep? But if you agree that you are in existence while you are in deep sleep also, you must agree that you are not just ‘consciousness’.

This ‘consciousness’ plays such an important role that nothing else is that much important in our lives. Just because by becoming conscious of something, it creates either happy or sorrow feeling in you. The strange thing here is: first you conscious about something. Next, you come to conscious about the feeling that is evoked just by being conscious of something. You came to know suddenly you became the owner of huge properties by some way or the other. First you conscious about the fact that you have become the owner of huge properties. Next, you conscious about the happy feeling that would be created by knowing the fact that you have become the owner of huge properties.

  It applies to the sad and sorrow feelings also in the same way. You cannot remain without becoming conscious of things even you don’t want to be conscious. Remaining unconscious about certain things would be comfortable but it is not possible to do so. Just because, as I said before, consciousness uses you and you cannot use consciousness.

The most important thing I have to reiterate here, however much of command this consciousness has on you, you simply are not the consciousness. Who are you then? What is the relation between this consciousness and you? Defining ‘you’ is an impossible task. It is just because, whatever we may define, we may say, we have to do that with our mind. Mind has to have experience, knowledge about something to say something about that. But here this ‘you’ is beyond your mind and mind cannot experience, or become knowledgeable about it in any way at all. Then how it explains something or defines something on which it has no knowledge or experience at all? Then what is the best course to do? Don’t try to explain yourself, define about this ‘you’. Just understand that this ‘you’ is beyond explanation or definition.

            It is difficult not to be conscious of something. It is almost impossible. Just try to think that you can remain without being conscious of anything. You may say that you are not conscious of anything while you are in deep sleep. It is not so that you are not conscious of anything in your deep sleep. You are conscious of a sort of bliss, a sort of happiness in your deep sleep. If it is not so, why anyone gets irritation when he is disturbed from his deep sleep? How much we do cherish to sleep deeply? In fact, we are ready to sleep like that for any length of time without a bother about anything else.

            Just think for a moment, assume atleast, what remains there if there is no consciousness at all in you? Is it is nothing? Can there be nothing if there is no consciousness whatsoever in you? If there is no consciousness, are you just a sack of bones, muscle, puss and other material? It is appearing so ridiculous and there must be something even when there is no consciousness at all. And the question arises again how something remains without any consciousness of itself unless it is material like stone and wood? Here two points are becoming quite clear so far. It is not just the consciousness that is in existence. Something else besides that consciousness which is having the quality of consciousness also is in existence.

            Now, we shall see, what is the relation between this consciousness and that something? The relationship between that something and consciousness is just like the flower and its smell, lake and the circles in it and sea and the tide. There may be a flower without smell but it is impossible of smelling without flower. There may be lake without circles but it is impossible of circles without lake. There can be sea without tides but there must be sea for tides. In fact, that something is ‘you’ in this body which is having the quality of consciousness. There may be no consciousness at all but it is impossible to the existence of consciousness without ‘you’. But can that ‘you’ remain without any consciousness at all? You must be something conscious all the time even in your deep sleep also as mentioned above and it is just impossible to remain without being conscious of anything at any point of time. Then can we say you and the consciousness are one and the same? However much consciousness is important and vital, you and consciousness are not one and the same. Consciousness is a quality just like the smell to a flower, lighting to a lamp and an integral part of you. You are more than consciousness, more than anything that cannot be grasped and perceived by your consciousness. 

            Just sit for a while peacefully somewhere and try to think what you are conscious about then. It is in fact ‘consciousness meditation’. You don’t try to particularly conscious about anything at all. Try to see whatever you are automatically conscious about. If everything is perfect around, if there are no disturbing sounds etc., your consciousness would not go outside. Then a thought comes to your mind and you do conscious about it. A feeling also follows the thought if that thought is of the nature of evoking a feeling and you do conscious about that feeling also. Thoughts after thoughts do come into your mind whether accompanied by feelings or not. You do conscious about them also. Then the consciousness wavers. You may not be able to clearly notice the feelings and thoughts that are coming into your mind. After sometime you loss all the grip over the thoughts and feelings and you just don’t know what you are observing and what are coming into your notice. Sometimes the feelings that are evoked by thoughts envelop you and you just forget what you are doing and become emotional, sentimental. There is no problem whatever you may think, there is no problem whatever you may feel as long as you can maintain distance from the thought and feeling and identify yourself separate from them. This meditation needs practice and you cannot get the benefit of it immediately. But if you are persistent in practicing it you sure do get the result.

            In addition to the above sub-consciousness and super-consciousness, the consciousness can be further divided into semi-consciousness, full consciousness and hidden consciousness. You are feeling uneasy about something and behaving awkwardly but you just don’t notice that you are feeling uneasily. You are only partially conscious about the uneasiness. Then your wife or friend or someone else asks you why you are behaving like that. Then you come into consciousness that you are feeling uneasily.  Then you start thinking and worrying about why you are feeling uneasily like that. You may know or may not know about the reason of your uneasiness. Don’t think that you can know the reason for your every feeling. In some places and under some circumstances we feel strangely and awkwardly and we just cannot know the reason for it. It is quite surprising that we do feel without knowing the reason for feeling but it is just so. There are so many surprising things concerning you.

            Now about ‘hidden consciousness’. This is appearing a little surprising is it is not? This consciousness presents only when the circumstances demand it. If anyone asks you about your details, you tell him that you are something, something and something. You are conscious who you are always but that consciousness comes onto the surface only when there is a necessity. You put ten thousand rupees in your pocket and went for shopping. You don’t need to remind yourself every now and then that you are having only ten thousand rupees with you and your shopping would be confined to that amount. That consciousness would be hidden in you and comes to operation only when there is necessity.

            Consciousness of consciousness. This is appearing even more surprising, is it is not? But it is just like that. You are conscious that you are conscious of something. You are also conscious that you are not conscious of something. You are conscious while your friend is talking with you and you are completely indulged in whatever he is talking with you. You are also conscious that you are not conscious of the climate around whether it is hot, cool or something else as you are completely involved in hearing your friend then.

            By this, it can be understood that we have to forsake some other consciousness if we want to be conscious of something. If you do want to be conscious of what your fiend is talking, you have to forsake how it is around you, how you are feeling at that time and some other consciousness also.