What is consciousness? In technical terms it can be described as the cognitive processes of awareness. What is a cognitive process? In technical terms a cognitive process could be simply stated as the formulation of thoughts. What is awareness? Unfortunately, awareness on the other hand, cannot be so technically defined. The essence of that word describes the ‘expression of existence’ – to be aware… Of something; to have any form of sense perception. But what if we took away all the “things” in our awareness and continued on and took away any form of sense perception? What would we be left with? We cling to “things” as we experience them, in all senses available to us. But is there such a thing as awareness present if we took all these “things“ away? What exactly is awareness? And is it possible to explain how it fits into the model of this universe and reality we all experience? These are some of the questions we will explore.

Most people, possibly yourself included, believe that the brain through its neural networks derives consciousness. That it is a phenomenon manufactured by the contents of brain matter. It’s a seemingly obvious deduction and one that is seldom questioned. So why do I question it? It’s because awareness itself – which is the core and foundational expression of consciousness – is nonlocal. What does that mean? It means the awareness you are experiencing right now does not express itself in a physically definable location. I bet someone reading those words is screaming, “yes it does, and it’s inside my head!” And though I’d agree on the straight and narrow first glance that it sure the hell seems that way, I must concede to the fact, that this phenomenon we know and experience as awareness, is nonetheless a nonlocal phenomenon. Although we attribute it to the brain, no one has found a place or a way that this happens anywhere in that organ. To make matters more confusing, events occur that make those assertions questionable. And to top it off, scientific experiments have shown something peculiarly nonlocal about consciousness. So the next question is, why do we believe consciousness is derived from the brain?

The most obvious answer is because we know the brain to be the central control organ of the entire body. But there’s an even more fundamental reason than that. Before humans were even aware of the fact there was a brain inside their skull, this notion of a head-centered consciousness was an assumed fact. That’s simply because all five senses that sum up the general conscious experience are all attached to the head. The only sense that extends beyond it is the sense of touch. All the other senses; sight, smell, taste and hearing are restricted to the confines of the head. Naturally then, given the primary senses of conscious experience are all attached to the head, we pointedly assume that’s where the consciousness resides, inside the head. Our eyes look out, so naturally we assume the source is inside us, behind the eyes that look out. But are all these factors definitive in deducing that the awareness that contains the experience resides or is restricted within the vicinity of the contents inside your head?

Unfortunately for us, if we are to be rigorously scientific the answer is no. Making pointed assumptions without direct sourced principle evidence can only be properly labeled as conjecture. In this pursuit it is paramount we accept only hard evidence and unequivocal deductive reasoning. Empirical evidence in this regard is virtually impossible to contrive because the object we are trying to study is not an object at all – it is as I stated before, nonlocal…and more directly speaking, the observing nature of ourselves. Scientifically speaking, we are about to study the observer. So this pursuit if it can lead anywhere, will require the evidence be sourced mostly through deductive reasoning, some scientific experiments we can use to narrow the scope of what can be said to be fact or fiction, and of course the primary source and subject of study; our experience itself. Meaning, the observer must observe the observer in order to determine what exactly the observer is. Interesting conundrum perhaps, with barriers on empirical study, but not on study itself. After all, we are the observers who by virtue of what we are, learn by having the experience of observation.

At this moment in historical time we are in a state of understanding that builds on the paradigm of materialistic determinism. In this state we observe the world and all of reality as a function of predictable movements of matter that exhibit effects that we can track and predict. Some obstacles and dead ends appear in this approach when observing the quantum scale of reality. And of course, this method runs right into a wall when we turn our conscious focus onto the metaphorical mirror and begin to observe our very awareness that is doing the observing. At this point all the traditional scientific methods of inquiry such as scaling and measurement become useless – considering there is no physical object to study, or location with which to pinpoint the phenomenon we are engaged in studying. Basically, science has a difficult time studying its own cognitive origin – meaning, it isn’t a simple task to describe, measure, quantify and definitively ascribe origins to, the mind or consciousness in general. On top of that, it can seem paradoxical to have the essence that observes, not observe anything outside itself but dwell at the level of observing its own observing nature. So how do we proceed?

For millennia, the subjective course of study used to examine our own awareness has been meditation. This practice is primarily the silencing of thoughts in order to become present in the experience of pure awareness. To relieve oneself of the distraction of mental noise and then to realize and experience the fundamental awareness at the core of all experience. Take notice that the basic practice of meditation is not to be confused with all the various forms of meditation practices that involve chanting, making sounds of any kind, visualizations, or contemplation. To meditate in the deepest sense is to halt all internal and cognitive focus and simply reside quietly in the experience of awareness itself. It is through this practice that we will pull from in order to determine some of the underlying factors we can deduce to be factual.

The other focus will be on the scientific knowledge base we have acquired, which we will utilize in order to make positive deductions in favor of an omnipresent awareness. There are also factors in scientific understanding where the holes it leaves in understanding are filled by the coalescence of our overarching understanding that we will build on throughout this discussion.

This endeavor we are about to undergo is one with great potential for human evolution if tackled and understood. We may find that a solid understanding of our very nature could unravel some misconceptions and propel our species towards a frontier of unparalleled growth and furthering developments, both scientific and personal.

Let me add this before we embark on this journey together. The pages that follow although at times intricate, dissecting and complex are epistemologically congruent and logically sound. Read it with due care and mindful, contemplation as you seek to understand these fundamental concepts. Furthermore, semantics is something we will pay particular attention to as we progress. Many words I’ll use are very common but it’s important to note that the way I define them and the connotations I convey them with, is of the utmost importance.

Due to the complexity of this discussion and our inherent conflict of interest with the said point of study, the nature of our awareness that is, coming to terms with the fundamental concepts behind the words used, often times requires an earnest hard look and time spent in deep conscious thought in order to capture what is being conveyed. The biggest hurdle here is getting passed our preconceived notions of what we think we already know – and instead let systemized, logical, deductive reasoning take the lead, show us what stares us in the face but we fail to see.

To honestly understand what follows you need to first understand we are going to dissect everything we know about our experience, right down to the very core of it. So all the preconceived notions of what you think reality is, the universe is, science itself is, has to be suspended in order for you to even allow your mind to grasp the meaning of this book.

With that, let’s depart!