Consciousness, Awareness, and Attention
Part Two: Understanding Yourself
“To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom”
Jiddu Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known
The Roles of Consciousness, Awareness, and Attention
In part one, I suggested that Consciousness, Awareness, and Attention are best considered as a Trinity, One Whole with three roles and functions. However, experientially we have psychologically “divorced” these roles from each other. It may be helpful to understand why and how this occurred.
Getting a grasp on how is not difficult when you consider this; the fundamental nature of language is inherently dualistic. Language is based on naming objects and the activity of objects that we encounter. This is not an evil thing. On the contrary, it has proved to be very helpful. I don’t need to belabor the point. It takes only a few moments to imagine what life would be without language.
But the question remains, why did this split occur? To avoid distracting debates I’ll point out that I am not making any scientific claims on the origin of consciousness, at what stage of evolution consciousness first appeared, or whether homo sapiens were indeed the first and only sentient beings capable of abstract thinking. I have my theories but it’s enough for us here to acknowledge the obvious. We as human beings are conscious, aware, and able to focus attention.
Returning to my definitions in part one you may recall that:
· Consciousness, the capacity to sense internal and external circumstances and events, is primary to the functioning of instincts.
· Awareness, the capacity to access information from sensations in consciousness, is primary to the functioning of intuition.
· Attention, the capacity to focus and access information provided via awareness, is primary to the functioning of intellect.
As you can see here, the function of consciousness is to sense. And its primary role we call our instincts.
The function of awareness is to access information from the perspective of the totality of consciousness. Its primary role is our intuition.
Finally, the function of attention is to extract, organize, and retain information. And its primary role is what we call our intellect.
Now, by simply observing how the information above has been organized in two different ways you can begin to see how it came about that the whole of consciousness has become gradually abstracted. This results in incremental shifts in perspective until we are left with three separate functions that we have conveniently named and possessed.
In the first listing, there is a separation. But the bullet points still provide a subtle, tentative connection. It is akin to awareness, the intelligent mirror derived from consciousness.
The second listing is concise and easy to understand. But the separation is dramatic and obvious. Not surprising since the nature of attention is definitive.
Again, this is not an evil fall from grace. Like language, it is easy to see the huge benefit of being able to distinguish separate phenomenal objects in the environment and the mind. We likely would not have survived as a species without this heightened ability. The question now is, can we survive the effects of the highly distorted illusion it has come to produce?
We act as if we are not only separate from everything and everyone but as if we are separate from the earth itself! We even separate from our obvious connection to nature! We call it human nature and believe it sets us apart from animals and those “nasty” insects. Death to them all unless we can eat them. To hell with the trees, unless they are suitable for building materials. And the dirt beneath our feet? Take what we want from beneath it unless it can be made suitable for growing our food or building our homes and our cities. OH! And those other people — they can either conform or suffer the consequences!
What was it that I said about good intentions? Ok, you get the point.
In general, the tendency is to blame the elite (those conniving intellectuals), and/or the ignorant (all they want to do is fight or fuck), and/or the pious (the high and mighty with their superiority complex). You may recognize that these haphazard, disparaging categories are related to the intellect, the instincts, and the intuition respectively.
The fact is we all, knowingly or not, rely primarily or exclusively on one mode or the other at times, depending on the situation at hand. But do we respond appropriately? Oftentimes not. You remember those intentions, right?
So, what is the problem? Well, the problem is that although we regard these three roles of consciousness as separate compartments of our psyche, they are not. Rather they continue to function as they only can, in an integrated fashion, informing each other at every moment in feedback loops, and the results are quite amazing. Not always pleasant or appropriate to the moment, but amazing, nonetheless.
Hold it! Did I say integrated? Wasn’t the sub-title of part one, “Exploring reintegration for healing and wellbeing”? Aren’t we supposed to be learning about reintegrating consciousness, awareness, and attention? Actually, no.
Do you remember that odd man out in the definitions? You know, the psyche.
· Psyche: The totality of your inner life — the mind, heart, will, and imagination; our thoughts, desires, passions, and dreams; the center that categorizes and qualifies information to control everything…
Yes, the psyche can also be considered our most stable identity, although stable is a relative notion, approximate might be more accurate given the many personas that we change into more frequently than we change our clothes (although sometimes they do get changed at the same time, at least temporarily). It is the combination of this sense of identity and its function as the qualifier/controller of everything that causes our problems. There’s that intention thing again.
First, it is the intention we have to see ourselves and be seen by others according to this base identity. Therefore, any information that we think and/or feel contradicts or threatens that identity is subject to alteration, sublimation, suppression, or annihilation. If any of the sources of that information are persistent with their bad news, they are subject to banishment, compartmentalization, or disassociation. Our pavement is getting close to the gates.
However, just because we psychologically believe we can shut off the integrated nature of consciousness does not make it so. The feedback loop continues. The senses sense and cause sensations, some cause automatic reflexes and the whole is held in awareness to be passed on or intentionally sought out through attention.
The more concentrated our attention the more real the object of attention begins to feel on a spectrum ranging from ecstatic to life-threatening. That information is then passed back into what we commonly call the subconscious, but it’s more accurately described as being below the threshold of awareness. The level of that threshold is determined by the psyche, our qualifier/controller.
What has happened psychologically is the psyche has effectively inhibited, disabled, distorted, or even disintegrated its connection to one, two, or possibly all three functions of consciousness. There is no free movement of undistorted information flowing through the system.
While I do not ascribe to the crude characterization given in the parenthesis above, there are indeed people who are overly identified and reliant on their intellect, instincts, or intuition. The majority of people are not so far out of balance. However, the distortions and suppression in the system due to cultural, social, and personal conditioning are significant and at the root of our violent and conflicted nature.
What needs to be reintegrated into consciousness is the psyche. I say reintegrated because I do think that the psyche comes into play relatively early in human development, it is the basis for self-awareness. It is the feedback loop between the functions of consciousness that is responsible for its development. Initially, it does not possess the intention of the will and therefore its potential for distortion and illusion is limited. Severe trauma can change that in an instant. Less dramatic trauma will take its toll as well, especially if sustained over time.
So, as I see it, there is humanity’s problem. The question now is, can the psyche be reintegrated into consciousness? Can we once again become whole?
I invite you again to take stock of what is happening at the moment. Let your awareness expand to take in your environment, be it a room or somewhere outdoors. At the same time be aware of the flow of thoughts and feelings. There is no need to name things, thoughts, or feelings. But if you do so that’s fine. Let that enter awareness as well. Sit with all of that for as long or as short a time as you wish.
We will take up our questions in part three: Being W.H.O.
