Awareness versus Consciousness

[todd421757]

Thank you Pauli for making a statement in another thread. This has me thinking. Here is the statement:

"I make the assumption that there is a difference between awareness
and consciousness. By awareness, I in a fuzzy context mean that there
is some kind of focus and "actability" in a person. Actability implies that
the person can act, think and reason in a critical way.

Having only consciousness may not result in the same critical thinking,
for example Oliver Fox makes the distinction between dream consciousness -
"Ohh, this girl has four eyes. Cute.", and awareness - "Oh, this girl has four
eyes, that can't be real, perhaps I'm dreaming, yes I am."

I totally agree with his statement. And I have found it to be true in my experiences. For example, people who do dream techniques, seem to only being functioning with consciousness and not true awareness.  

Pauli's definition of OBE's also fits my experiences. Here is his statement:

"I thereby define (but don't limit) an OBE to be a "something" where you keep your awareness,
including ability to perceive and move around, which is separated from your physical body in
the 3-dimensional reality."

I have also noticed when I start using awareness in a dream, I start to feel a separation, and I enter the real time zone with nothing but awareness. Many times, consciousness doesn't seem to be present in my OBE's. Many times only awareness is present.

I believe this awareness he is talking about is very important to understand. It seems to be different than consciousness.

My question is what exactly is this awareness? What does it consist of?

It seems to be different from consciousness. It doesn't seem to be related to brain function.

I believe awareness is an energy sense awareness that is associated with movement sensations. I feel awareness is energy. This would be more closely related to the ether theories of Einstein and others. The more awareness I use always increases my chances to enter the real time zone. The less awareness I have leads my projection into a dream.

The law of conservation of energy states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. However, energy can change forms, and energy can flow from one place to another. The total energy of an isolated system remains the same.

[Xanth]

That's a very good question...

To me, I am Consciousness... and awareness is the understanding of who that consciousness is.

If I may go back to my consciousness designation system for a second.

I am Consciousness.
But if my awareness, which defines my consciousness, doesn't know who I really am... then, regardless of what reality I'm experiencing, I call that a dream awareness experience.  For example, you could have a dream awareness experience while experiencing this physical reality.  An example of this would be when you're high as a kite.  All other "awareness experiences" stem from this example.  But I could go on if you wish. 

[todd421757]

But if my awareness, which defines my consciousness, doesn't know who I really am... then, regardless of what reality I'm experiencing, I call that a dream awareness experience.  

Xanth,

It is a complex subject. What defines who I really am, so we can avoid the dream awareness experience? Is it when awareness merges with our energetic structure which defines who I really am? I am trying to understand as I think this is an important topic of discussion.  

[Xanth]

It's so complicated, that no single person really has the answer.
For example, the reply I made above is simply my small very incomplete understanding of the subject.  lol

It is a complex subject. What defines who I really am, so we can avoid the dream awareness experience? Is it when awareness merges with our energetic structure which defines who I really am? I am trying to understand as I think this is an important topic of discussion.

Well now you have to define a bunch of new terms. 

See how difficult this gets without an agreed upon vernacular?  lol

[Szaxx]

Hi,
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness#section_4

Oh dear, it seems the enigma translates to self awareness based on your conciousness in your particular environment.
Lol

[Xanth]

Yeah see, we'll never even agree upon the usage of the word "consciousness".

Because there's "Consciousness" and "consciousness".  Which is a difference.

[Contenteo]

Oh dear, it seems the enigma translates to self awareness based on your conciousness in your particular environment.

Well proximity obviously translates into awareness because we are physical beings.

The consciousness is at the center of the proximity, at least on the physical side.

As for the flip side. I'd simply like to offer that it would be the exact opposite.

Imagine away. 

Cheers,
Contenteo

[Stookie_]

"Thinking is an island in the river of the soul"

The river of the soul is everything our entire being encounters, conscious or unconscious (consciousness). Thinking is what allows us to be self-aware (an island) within that stream.

Without the imagery: awareness is what we are aware of within consciousness.

[Stillwater]

Well proximity obviously translates into awareness because we are physical beings.

To be honest, I have never been convinced the physical is anything more than a collective construct painted by our common sense perceptions.

You could say the physical is real, but you would have to talking about the sense in which movies and video games are real for it to be final to me 

[djed]

I am thinking, reading these posts.. there is no awareness without consciousness.
All life has consciousness.
In some of my oob experiences, a point of my supply of consciousness has been outside of my body. Sometimes just 24 inches away and sometimes thousands of miles away lol 

[Contenteo]

To be honest, I have never been convinced the physical is anything more than a collective construct painted by our common sense perceptions.

You could say the physical is real, but you would have to talking about the sense in which movies and video games are real for it to be final to me

I agree wholehearted that they are a collect construct at some level in the astral. It can all be diced down to data being crunched.
The point I am alluding to is physical things have a high high level of verifiability, that is to say consensus amongst peers. This sets what occurs and what is perceived as two different things.

I would agree that video games and movies share the same realm as the phsycial, but they are a little ore complicated. In this case, the physical manifestations are magnetic color arrays or binary, essentially magnetic differentials captured on a physical substance or in 'current-like' adjacent sequence. So there is consensus on the events that ocurred
The catch here, is that everyone's perceptions of the events that took place, their experience, can vary considerably. Why, because consciousness is different than awareness.

In this way, I view awareness to always have this degree of proximity associated with it. That is, you need to be in an events perceivable vicinity to be 'aware of it.'  Any communication system we have is still bound by energy flowing through physical mediums i.e. coaxial cable, fiber optics, etc.

Consciousness, however, always has this pinpoint it stems from, unlike its counterpart in this discussion, awareness, that needs multiple dimensions to exist. Awareness is the stream that flows into/outof this point of consciousness.

Cheers,
Contenteo

[Stillwater]

Don't mind me quibling, it is what I do- I can be a details person, haha.

The point I am alluding to is physical things have a high high level of verifiability, that is to say consensus amongst peers. This sets what occurs and what is perceived as two different things.

Yeah, the consensus and verifiability part really bothered Descartes. He decided that even though he had no proof there was a physical world, God would not have allowed a world to exist where it really looked as though there were a physical world when there really wasn't, since it would mean God was essentially lying to people. Descartes concluded there really was a physical world, because God is not a liar, haha.

I would agree that video games and movies share the same realm as the phsycial, but they are a little ore complicated. In this case, the physical manifestations are magnetic color arrays or binary, essentially magnetic differentials captured on a physical substance or in 'current-like' adjacent sequence.

The sense in which I mean this is that they are illusionary stories and worlds, in same the same way that the physical is likely to be an illusion; the main difference is that they are known to be illusions, while the majority does not take the physical world to be an illusion.

Consciousness, however, always has this pinpoint it stems from, unlike its counterpart in this discussion, awareness, that needs multiple dimensions to exist. Awareness is the stream that flows into/outof this point of consciousness.

I could envision  a 1-dimensional awareness... it might be sort of like electrons are theorized to possess- a general incorporeal feeling of constant well-being.

[catmeow]

I am thinking, reading these posts.. there is no awareness without consciousness.

What about a robot vacuum cleaner? It is aware of its surroundings but is not conscious. In its strictest definition, awareness is the simple act of perception. It does not imply consciousness.

On the other hand, when awareness results in subjective feelings or "qualia" as they are more correctly called, consciousness must be present. Without consciousness there can be no qualia.

Qualia is that mysterious thing which makes warmth "feel" warm, redness "feel" red etc. Qualia is what computers DO NOT EXPERIENCE. It distinguishes us (conscious entities) from computers (nonconscious entities).

I think that the word "awareness" is being used in this thread, when what we actually mean is "qualia". Just thought I'd throw that in.

[todd421757]

What about a robot vacuum cleaner? It is aware of its surroundings but is not conscious. In its strictest definition, awareness is the simple act of perception. It does not imply consciousness.

On the other hand, when awareness results in subjective feelings or "qualia" as they are more correctly called, consciousness must be present. Without consciousness there can be no qualia.

Qualia is that mysterious thing which makes warmth "feel" warm, redness "feel" red etc. Qualia is what computers DO NOT EXPERIENCE. It distinguishes us (conscious entities) from computers (nonconscious entities).

I think that the word "awareness" is being used in this thread, when what we actually mean is "qualia". Just thought I'd throw that in.

Thanks Catmeow. This is very good information you wrote here.

[Mirlo]

Well.. in my opinion, words are ment to be vage, they cannot be precise because they depend on many factors... for example in spanish (I'm from south america) we don't have a word for "awareness", but being close to the words used by spiritual teachers such as Eckhart Tolle, Krishnamurti or Mooji, awareness is like isness, like consiousness in a sense, here "Conciencia" is the word used for the same "awareness" and "consiousness", although I know in english there is difference


Take this for example, everybody has a buda nature, like everybody has consiousnes, but only enlightned guys are aware of their true nature, they are aware of consiousnes...

for me, awareness is consiousness realizing itself through form, through each and everyone of us