Consciousness & the Conscious Self
(जीवन ज्ञान)
‘Jeevan’ is the name given to the conscious aspect of a human being (what we commonly call as ‘self’ is actually referring to this conscious unit or jeevan without actually knowing it).
This ‘jeevan’ or ‘conscious’ or ‘sentient self’ has been known to be a ‘constitutionally complete atom’. (gathan-poorn parmaanu)
This conscious-atom is imbued with consciousness, or exhibits consciousness, due to the presence of void or shunya in it. i.e. The void or brahman itself is Consciousness or ‘chetna’, and the sentient jeevan atom is ‘conscious’ due to being drenched and submerged in this pervasive consciousness or void or pervasive space, and is hence conscious or ‘chaitanya’.
The Sentient Self or ‘jeevan’ it is an atom in which there cannot be any further structural change (change of form, or constitution). As a result, it becomes ‘conscious’ (chaitanya) and co-exists with the body. This ‘conscious unit’ cannot be seen with the naked eye or via any instrument, since it is subtler than both of these. Only ‘jeevan’ can know ‘itself’; or, only ‘I’ can know ‘myself’.
A human being is a combination of the conscious unit ‘jeevan’ (Self) and the physio-chemical body (jad). The activities and ‘nature’ of ‘jeevan’ can be understood.
The conscious unit is an activity; it is a “constitutionally-complete atom”. It is’ material’ in the sense it is made up of matter’ and hence a ‘substance’. It has dimensions and occupies space (has volume) but its weight cannot be ‘measured’ (weightless), whereas physiochemical atoms have weight. The conscious unit’s (chaitanya ikai) span of function is more than its length, width, and height and it has an active thinking-aspect. The physiochemical unit’s (jad ikai) span of function is limited to its length, width, and height and does not have any thinking-aspect.
The constitutionally complete atom, or the Conscious Self, (Jeevan) is:
- Weightless and not visible to the human eye or to instruments, since these are ‘grosser’ than ‘it’. The ‘span of operation’ of ‘jeevan’ is greater than its dimensions: its length, width & height.
- The conscious-atom or ‘jeevan’ cannot be understood or identified by mathematics, or logic, since these are but some of the faculties in that very conscious-atom or jeevan itself.
- For the conscious self: Only ‘it’ can know and understand ‘itself’, using faculties in ‘itself’. It also understands the entire existence and lives expressing ‘complete-humane-conduct’ in human tradition.
Each one of us can verify this:
- Our desires and thoughts are ‘weightless’, our imagination is weightless, our dreams are weightless, and our ability to imagine is not dependent on the food we eat.
- We have a sense of ‘being’, of being ‘aware’ and only ‘we’ can truly know ‘ourselves’. Each one of us has an innate need to know.
- Each one of us has an innate and natural need for ‘good’ and ‘well-being’ and ‘want’ to live ‘fulfilling lives’ – even though we may have assumed different ways of going about it.
The ‘construction’ of the conscious-unit (jeevan, chaitanya), its activities, capabilities, and need are the same in all Humans. Jeevan is the one that experiences pleasure-pain, happiness-unhappiness, feelings & emotions, reasons & analyzes, wants knowledge, and wants continuous happiness. Continuous Happiness = harmony in all the activities in Jeevan (conscious unit, or Self).
In the state of delusion (lack of knowledge) ‘jeevan’ assumes itself to be the body – Only partial faculties in ‘jeevan’ are active in this state (4.5 out of a total 10).
The conscious unit has the faculty or potential of cognition, The ‘conscious unit’ is not space. The conscious unit is endowed with consciousness by being saturated (soaked, submerged, and encircled) in space, hence space is also called ‘consciousness’.
‘Jeevan’ or the conscious-unit has been identified as having 10 activities – 5 in state (stithi) and 5 in motion (gati). [every unit has state (stithi) and motion motion (gati) . state or stithi of a unit is its being in itself, while motion or gati is its expression in the larger order]. These 10 activities of the ‘self’ or ‘jeevan’ are inseparable from each other:
10 Inseparable activities of the Conscious Unit (Self), or ‘Jeevan’ with the 5 ‘Powers’ and 5 ‘Forces’:
* English-equivalent words in the table above are indicative only & to assist getting a sense of the activity. They are under revision. See Definitions for clarification on these activities. These activities will have to be understood retaining their original hindi nomenclature to ensure the meanings are not ‘mixed up’
Atma (Soul*): Is the name for the centre-particle of the conscious atom (‘jeevan’, Self). Its activity is Realization (Experience) of Coexistence and its Evidencing/Display. Evidencing is in the form of the force of ‘Evidence’ in expression, or the name of the activity of Evidencing is ’Evidence’
Buddhi (Intellect): Is the name of the first orbit of the conscious atom (‘jeevan’, Self). Its activity is Comprehension and Determination. Determination is in the form of the force of ‘Truthfulness’ in expression, or the name of the activity of Determination is ’Truthfullness’
Chitta (Imager): Is the name of the second orbit of the conscious atom (‘jeevan’, Self). Its activity is Contemplation and Imaging. Imaging is in the form of the force of ‘Desiring’ in expression, or the name of the activity of Imaging is ’Desiring’
Vritti: (Disposition) (Vritti literally means whirl, from ‘pravritti’) Is the name of the third orbit of the conscious atom (‘jeevan’, Self). Its activity is Weighing and Analyzing. Weighing takes place on the basis of one of 2 sets of perspectives: “likes, health, profit” OR “justice, religion, truth”. [religion: inseparability]. For the human living in animal-consciousness, only the perspectives of “likes, health, profit” are active. Analyzing is in the form of the force of ‘Thought’ in expression, or the name of the activity of Analysis is ’Thought’
Mun (Mind): Is the name of the fourth orbit of the conscious atom (‘jeevan’, Self). Its activity is Tasting/experiencing and Selecting. Selecting is in the form of the force of ‘Expectation’ in expression, or the name of the activity of Selecting is ’Expectation’
The conscious unit is saturated in space (consciousness) and hence has ‘consciousness’
The principle activities of a human being can thus be understood by the activities in jeevan. The rest is merely the physio-chemical activities of the body. Activities in ‘jeevan’ include all familiar activities like “identity of Self or I”, of ‘existence’, tasting, selection, evaluation, thinking, memory, desiring, feeling, imagining, dreaming, curiosity, using logic, reason, intuition and yet-unidentified activities which are detailed out in Madhyasth Darshan.
All these activities can be studied and known. I.e. it is possible to know ones ‘conscious self’ fully.
Unawakened state: Living in Delusion, in animal-consciousness:
As of today, we ‘use’ or are ‘aware of’ or, are ‘awakened’ in only 4.5 of the above 10 activities . The remaining 5.5 activities still remain to be ‘known’ – or awakened. This is the basic cause for our unresolved condition, unanswered questions, our problems.
The human living with only 4.5 of 10 activities awakened in ‘jeevan’ is living in the purview of ‘animal-consciousness’. This is ‘delusion’ and the cause for illusion of ‘reality’ (Incomplete/ wrong estimation of reality). The ‘view of reality’ while operating at this level of cognition is restricted to the dimensions of ‘form & properties’ and hence only ‘Assuming’.
The faculty of Knowing remains to be fulfilled. The only perspectives (drishti, or vision) active in ‘weighing’ are those of “likes, health & profit”. Our thinking, desiring, and goal of living remains confined to these aspects.
The dimensions of innate-nature, Religion & Truth is unknown; we only have the language & assumptions for these realities. Living at this level, there is no sound basis for the activity of Imaging (Desiring) , and therefore, our Desires, Thoughts and Expectations keep changing, and ‘we really don’t know anything in our own right’. We are unable to be ‘stable’, we have contradictions within, and this itself is unhappiness.
We make wrong assumptions about human-human relationship and human-nature relationship and these manifest as the multitude of problems we have. It is not possible to understand Existence, Reality or any ‘grand-unifying-theory’ when operating from this level.
Awakened state: Living with Knowledge, in human-consciousness:
Living with all 10 activities awakened is living in human-consciousness. This itself is ‘Resolution’ & happiness. Living with all 10 activities in conscious or ‘jeevan’ means having a) Knowledge of Jeevan (Self); b) Knowledge of realistic-view or darshan of Existence (Coexistence); and c) Knowledge of complete-Humane Conduct.
This means understanding and living with ‘Law, Restraint & Balance’ [niyam, niyantran, santulan] with the rest of the three ‘natural-orders’ and with Justice, Religion & Truth [nyaya, dharm, satya] with the Human Order.
This is only possible when we have knowledge of all four dimensions of reality: form, properties, innate-nature & religion of all the four ‘natural-orders’ for which ‘consciousness-development’ is needed.
Thus, one lives with knowledge of Actuality, Reality & the Truth and is ‘resolved’ and hence in harmony, is happy. Our imagination, which earlier had no basis of its own and was driven by assumptions, now functions according to the knowledge gained in the Orange shaded region, which itself is surety about the truth, confidence, happiness.
Truth is understood as “Absolute Truth, Relative Truth and Objective Truth”.
122 conducts in the awakened Self or Jeevan
The conscious unit (Self, or Jeevan, commonly referred to as ‘I’) has been found to be a “constitutionally-complete atom”: There are 61 particles in the conscious-atom (jeevan). Each of these particles has state (stithi) and motion (gati). There is a conduct (behavior) for every state and every motion.
There are thus a total of 122 (61 x 2) activities or ‘conducts’ in the fully ‘awakened jeevan’ or conscious unit “Self”
- 64 activities in the fourth orbit: ‘mun’ or mind (32 in state, 32 in expression);
- 36 activities in the third orbit: ‘vritti’ or disposition: (16 in state, 16 state in expression)
- 16 activities in the second orbit: ‘chitta’ (8 in state, 8 in expression)
- 4 activities in the first orbit: ‘buddhi’ or intellect (2 in state, 2 in expression)
- 2 activities in the centre: ‘atma’ or soul (1 in state, 1 in expression)
Each of these activities has been identified, named and defined in Madhyasth Darshan.
The ‘degree of understanding’ (and hence its certainty) cognizable in ‘jeevan’ progressively increases from the fourth orbit, inwards until the centre. The reality ‘understood’ by the centre particle (atma) is the most (& complete), while this ‘understanding’ can be described in one line. As we move from the centre to the fourth orbit, the degree of understanding reduces, while the explanation, expression and words increase.
Thus, the understanding of the conscious-unit (jeevan)*, becomes the basis for:
human knowledge, human psychology, sociology, economics, materialism, spiritualism, humanism, education, conduct, norms, systems, culture & civility and universal human constitution, since all these are desired by, understood by, carried by ‘jeevan’ or the conscious-unit, in human tradition. (* includes knowledge of darshan of coexistence, jeevan & humane-conduct)
Today, (while living in animal consciousness) we only have the words and imaginations of the above conducts, activities and systems, do not have the meaning, the understanding, and hence do not live according to the above. With only 4.5 activities awakened, we have deformed versions of the conducts (behavior, realities) and systems given above.
Snapshot of activities & 122 conducts in the awakened conscious-unit Jeevan or Self (constitutionally-complete atom) when living in human-consciousness
[wpspoiler name=”122 activities in the awakened Self or Jeevan” ]
* Words used in English are only indicative. Please see Original Hindi Literature for accuracy.
|
Potential in Jeevan |
‘Location’ in jeevan atom |
Basic Activity |
Corresponding Conducts (in Awakened or jagrit jeevan) |
| Atma | Centre | (know the) Property of indestructibility and active presence – (astitv – naash rahit gun) |
In state: Realization (anubhav) The complete acceptance obtained from existential-progression. (anukram se praapt poorn sweekriti) Conduct is: Eternal-presence in the form of Nature saturated in Omnipotence. (truth, satya) |
|
In motion Evidentiality: (pramaanikta) Supreme Bliss: (paramanand) Transparency of Atma, and experience in pervasiveness (omnipresence). Conduct is: Expression, Communication & Exposition of realization. Decision to express on the basis of Realization ( anubhav) |
|||
| Buddhi | First Orbit | Compre-hension of Truth (satya bodh) |
In state: Comprehension. (bodh) Comprehension of Truth, Reality, Actuality (yathartata, vastavikta, satyata ka bodh) Conducts are: – (bodh) Clarity as meaning of reality in existence. The bodh of reality and earnestness for its realization with conviction. This itself is truthfulness. -(dhee) The earnestness for manifestation with joyousness. Potential for absorption of knowledge and influencing.
|
|
In motion: Determination (Sankalp) Allegiance, Unwavering objective for evidencing (being according to) Realization. Decision on the basis of comprehension. Conducts are: -(sankalp): Expression of having permanence in conclusion of justice, dharma, and truth. – (dhriti): Absence of fear, trust in present.
|
|||
| Chitta | Second Orbit | Form, Properties, Counting, Time, Expanse, Effort, Motion, Constitution(roop, gun, ganana, kaal, vistaar, shram, gati, parinaam) |
In State: Contemplation: (chintan): Emergence & qualitative improvementActivity for, in, by the force of Desire. Understand meaning, purpose in existence. Conducts are: Verbalization(shruti), Wisdom, Lustre, Scrutiny, Love, Satisfaction, Guidance, Reverence |
|
In Motion: Imaging, chitran: [Desire, ichha] Absorption of Images (memory) and Creation of images. Absorption & Creation of Shape & type, purpose & possibilities. Taking a Decision based on Contemplation Conducts are: Memory, Art, Form, Properties, Prosperity, Unanimity, Spontaneity, Veneration |
|||
| Vritti | Third Orbit | Decision on basis of likes, health, profit OR justice, religion, truth[priy, hith, laabh, OR nyaya, dharma, satya] |
In State: Weighing, tulan: On the basis of likes-health-profit OR justice-religion-truth. Conducts are: Knowledge, Fame, Definiteness, Peace, Grace, Firmness, Competency, Gratitude, Glory, Trust, Truth, Justice, Identity, Moderation, Courage, Feelings, Race, Contentment. |
|
In Motion: Analyzing, tulan; [Thought, vichaar] Taking a decision, expansion of Images on the basis of perspective in weighing. Conducts are: Intelligence, Entities (realities), Steadfastness, Kindness, Compassion, Forgiveness, Zeal, Politeness, Simplicity, Magnanimity, Religion, Sensitivity, Undauntedness, Law, Momentum, Time, Thriving |
|||
| Mun | Fourth Orbit | Tasting & Selection. These activities are in the jeevan, but get performed via the 5 senses in the Body. (sound, touch, form, flavor, smell) |
In State: Tasting On the basis of preference, values & goal. Conducts are: Devotion, Care, Respect, Affection, Son-Daughter, Colleague, Coworker, Self-reliance, Health, Likes, Enthusiasm, Natural-Disposition, Guru, Student, Brother-Friend, Sister, Acceptance, Preference, Happiness, Husband/Wife, Mother, Father, Soft/Hard, Cold/Hot, Sour, Sweet, Spicy, Bitter, Astringent, Salty, Pleasant/Unpleasant-odor, Nice/Bad-form |
|
In Motion: Selecting Taking a decision, based on taste in ‘Tasting’. Conducts are: Engrossement, Generosity, Compliance, Allegiance, Fondness, Responsibility, Duty, Prosperity, Health, Disposition, Pleasantness, Shyness, Evidentiality, Enquiring, Progress, Betterment, Welcome, Identification, Speed, Perseverance/Fortitude, Nourishment, Protection, Carrying, Inhale/Exhale, Welcome/Unwelcome |
* Each of the conducts above is defined and explained in the book: ‘human consciousness-oriented psychology’ (manav sanchetana-vaadee manovigyaan).
[/wpspoiler]