Q & A: Awareness Without Consciousness?
QUESTION from a reader in Connecticut: What do you think of the following statement by Nisargadatta Maharaj found in the book I AM THAT: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj?
NM: “Awareness is primordial; it is the original state, beginning-less, endless, uncaused, unsupported, without parts, without change. Consciousness is on contact, a reflection against a surface, a state of duality.
“There can be no consciousness without awareness, but there can be awareness without consciousness, as in deep sleep. Awareness is absolute, consciousness is relative to its content; consciousness is always of something. Consciousness is partial and changeful, awareness is total, changeless, calm and silent. And it is the common matrix of every experience.”¹
ANSWER: Metaphysical students and cutting edge quantum physicists agree that awareness is primordial. Ancient texts and saints’ personal experiences throughout the ages record that one cannot go any further ‘back’ than pure awareness.
Expressions of Joy (EOJ) writings use the terms ‘awareness’ and ‘consciousness’ interchangeably, as does Nisargadatta Maharaj later in I AM THAT when he says, “In reality there is only consciousness.” Present-day teachers of non-duality such as Dr. Tony Nader, author of One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness, Rupert Spira and Eckhart Tolle also use these two terms interchangeably.
In spiritual traditions, terms that describe this primal value include Ein Sof, divine Mind, being, the absolute, the unmanifest, pure consciousness, transcendental consciousness and more. Being, by whatever name, is the common matrix of every experience.
Duality
The mind apparently steeped in duality is described in various traditions with terms like ‘suppositional mind,’ ‘mortal mind,’ ‘temporary finite mind,’ ‘apparent mind,’ and ‘the theoretical small self.’ Each functions with three distinct modes of consciousness: waking, dreaming, and sleeping.
Waking, dreaming, and sleeping states of consciousness are partial and ever-changing, while transcendental consciousness, pure being, is absolute, non-changing, and eternally unmanifest.
Wakefulness
Consciousness is always conscious, always aware. Of what is pure consciousness always aware? The only ‘thing’ it can be aware of is itself!
Consciousness is eternally aware of its own nature. It is—at once—the Knower, the Known, and the Process of Knowing. This ‘three-in-one’ structure also applies to pure awareness, as awareness is always awake to, and aware of, itself.
As the refrain in the play Veda Lila says, “One [consciousness/awareness] appears as three, while remaining Unity.”²
Terminology
In answering this important question from our reader, we must analyze the terms used very closely. Awareness without being conscious of any 'thing' is, indeed, an all-time absolute reality. Today it is termed the fourth state of consciousness—aka transcendental consciousness. In Vedic Science it is named ‘turiya chetana.’
Although experienced by saints and sages throughout history, this fourth state of consciousness, pure awareness, was identified by modern scientific researchers in the 1960's.
Physiological Correlates
Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, a long-time student of the sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, published his first paper in 1970 at UCLA about transcendental consciousness, also termed ‘pure awareness.’
Wallace’s research shows that the physiological correlates during transcendental consciousness are distinctly different from those correlates experienced in waking, dreaming, and sleeping states.³
Prior to this research it was known that three more familiar states of consciousness each, in turn, have their own unique physiological correlates. For example, changes are measured in oxygen consumption, heart rate, basal skin resistance, and EEG waves.
Witnessing
Nisgaradatta refers to “awareness without consciousness, as in deep sleep.” When questioned about his state of being during sleep, wakefulness, and dreaming, he answers that he maintains awareness regardless of the state of consciousness he is experiencing. This indicates the importance of clarifying the terminology since “the questioner [of Nisargadatta] perceives these states as separate, while Nisargadatta perceives them as aspects of a single state of being.”⁴
Experience shows that one can be conscious of and awake to pure awareness while simultaneously experiencing waking, dreaming or sleeping states of consciousness.
Dr. David “Davidya” Buckland expands on this further: “We can have periods of time when we experience being a detached observer or witness of our life. Our life continues, but we are no longer seen as the doer. We observe while life continues.
“At first we experience passing glimpses of presence, also known as transcendental consciousness or samadhi. Perhaps in a deep meditation or out in nature, or in the zone in sports or moved by music. We spontaneously settle into a present now. The flow of time seems to cease. As this deepens and becomes more consistent, that inner alertness becomes clear enough to continue through all the varieties of the contents of experience. Then it is called witnessing.
“Witnessing is the sense of being the detached observer. Prior to this, we would identify ourselves as being this body, emotions, and/or mind or its contents…. After the shift, we experience ourselves as an observer of them. Life goes on, apparently without our active participation. We’re quietly aware throughout waking, dreaming, and sleep states of consciousness as our mind and body go on about their day. Life is like breathing, on a kind of automatic.
“And no, this is not a dissociative disorder. We experience ourselves as being deep peace and solid, eternal presence... Deep happiness may well up within.”⁵
For additional perspective, see If I’m Conscious in Deep Sleep, Why Can’t I Remember It? with Rupert Spira
https://youtu.be/SpDhqm6deIU?si=4n5DP1-xIDn4xLGY 09.20.2024
Waves of the Ocean
[1] Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I AM THAT: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, translated frpm the Marathi tape recordings by Maurice Frydman, Chetna, 1973), p. 29
[2] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Veda Lila, https://mscaseysmusicstuff.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/2/1/23215910/veda_lila.pdf 04.24.2024
[3] Robert Keith Wallace, Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation, Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Volume I, (Maharishi European Research University Press), p. 38
[4] Rojono, Guided Steps into 'I AM THAT’: a Gentle Companion into the Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, (Kindle Edition), p. 41
[5] David F. Buckland, D.Div, PhD, https://davidya.ca/2017/04/04/witnessing-sleep/ and https://davidya.ca/2013/09/25/what-is-witnessing/ 04.24.2024
