On the Nature of Consciousness

The lush, deep bass music played through the IEMs, pumping the sound through the air to the ear, where it is translated into electrical impulses that somehow are recognized as music. Somehow the very complex wiring of the ears feeds this information to consciousness.

Consciousness isn’t something that you can write about and understand; it’s not a thing to be understood, because it is the act of understanding itself. It’s like an eye trying to look at itself without a mirror.

But we can point you to it, we can bring you to the edge of the experience, and maybe certain words or experiences can show it to you, can explain it to you.

Because consciousness is all the senses, and the thoughts, and all the experiences you can have. All of them. Even being asleep is a form of consciousness.

So what is it? It is, right now. When you look around it is that, when you hear that thought it is that. It’s just constantly existing. When we get to this level, this background level of awareness, it becomes nearly a tautology, because, well, it’s just always there; there is nothing to differentiate it. But, there is everything to differentiate it, as every moment is different. Every moment carries a different consciousness.

So what does it mean to raise our consciousness? To me this means to be aware of more things at once, especially to be aware of those things that bring down consciousness. It is my experience that consciousness wants to expand, it wants to create, it wants more novelty and further higher states, that just feel good. I think you know these states when you feel good, it’s as simple as that. All of life has this drive to “higher” consciousness, it’s that part that feels good. This is what feeling good is all about really.

But the thing is consciousness can get co-opted by other drives that also feel good, but they have a limit of how good they can help you feel. This is why being a human is so awesome, we have the best ability on this planet to feel good, the most range of consciousness.

So we have to be very vigilant about what makes us feel good and follow that. That is raising our consciousness, that’s what that means.

But we also have to be aware of the traps, like for example drugs, or heck, even food. You can eat a bunch of sugary stuff, and for a moment you will feel good, and some people will just get in that loop for a long time, thinking that these things are the only way to raise their consciousness, which just means to feel better, but something tugs at us for more.

This more feeling isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing. It’s us wanting to expand, it’s the natural evolution of all of life and energy everywhere to know more of itself, better, and all the time. This is a beautiful inclination really, it’s very pure and primal and all of life feels it.

Then this energy can get directed to various forms of getting “more” because that “more” is defined by our experience. If we have had the experience of drugs then we might go to drugs to get some of that “more” experience, or food, or sex. These are the quick fixes. But usually the quicker the fix, the sooner it runs out and we are left in that state again.

So life nudges us, in such a loving way really, towards finding that higher consciousness in things that last longer, so we go on all sorts of quests to find that. All of human history is full of these quests. It is the history of life. It is the history of consciousness.

And one of the most amazing things about being human is that we have a way to transmit information to each other, so we can share in our experiences with each other, we can almost live the experiences of another, and we can learn without having to have the experiences ourselves. That’s actually pretty amazing, and it allows us to grow in consciousness very fast. This is pure “knowledge is power.”

So we start doing things like meditation, yoga, working out, tantra, breathwork and all sorts of things, because we see and read and follow others that show us these things make them feel better so we try them, and we gravitate towards what makes us feel better at that time for our constitution at that time, and it changes as we grow. And we really start to build a lasting change in our consciousness, because these things are more like building a foundation of health and feeling good.

When we have this foundation we can then start building other things on it. When we first started on this journey it might have been the quick fixes, like a quick fire that kept us feeling good for a bit but then quickly dissolved. Then we start to figure out how to make the fire last longer, we have to build maybe a structure to block the wind, and we need more firewood. These things take energy and trial and depend on our circumstances but we start to build a situation to feel good, all of the time for longer periods, we are expanding and raising our consciousness and keeping it there.

For me then with this deep understanding of the flow of all of life, and beyond life, it becomes easier to tap into the intuition of what is better for me right now. It is just as simple as “what feels good” but that goes deep, because for example, it might not feel immediately good to go workout, but damn does it leave me with a good feeling for the rest of the day and into the next day. So with experience all these things become knowledge in the body and mind to make decisions.

Then we are good at patterns too, and maybe then we can get better and better at raising our consciousness through listening, being aware of what is bringing us lasting higher vibes. And the beautiful thing about it is that it is not static, there are themes of course, but there is not one thing that is exactly going to be the same for everyone. This is why it’s so fun too, because you make it up as you go, this is actually a feature not a bug.

If it was the same for everyone it would be boring, which is probably the opposite of consciousness expanding.

So my advice really comes down to be aware, be aware of what makes you feel good, and not just for a short amount of time, be aware of those things that leave you feeling good for days, and those things that build on themselves like a machine that keeps you feeling good. It’s possible to build a life and systems around that are very beneficial for real, lasting and deep feeling good, i.e. higher consciousness, and from there then you can begin to unlock the even higher states, and they might not look like you think, at least from the outside.

And that’s really my invitation to everyone, to follow that stream, watch your thoughts, watch your actions, how much are you feeling good? Let your emotions guide you.

Maybe temporary good feeling is not just about how long it lasts, but what it leaves behind. Does it drain my energy, my clarity, my freedom? Or does it build something in me, like more health, more awareness, more trust in myself, more ability to feel good again later?

Raising consciousness is learning the difference between pleasure that expands us and pleasure that contracts us.

The universe is always moving toward more life, more awareness, more freedom, and we feel that movement inside ourselves as the desire to feel better, become clearer, and open more.

There is something amazing in being able to feel good. To just feel and experience in general, that is the gift of life, of existence. What do you feel right now, what are you sensing, beyond even your 5 senses, beyond your thoughts and what’s going on in your emotions, there is that. That’s real power.