1. What is Consciousness?

My definition of Consciousness is simply awareness of what's going on around us and what's going on within us.

Here's one way of looking at it:

Suppose we are all in a large room, which is full of furniture: There are tables, chairs, sofas, stools, etc. And we have to get from one corner of this room to the opposite one. Let's say the lights are extremely dim and it's difficult to see anything. We start walking towards where we think our destination lies, and as we progress, we don't see very well so we start bumping into things, we crack our shins, we trip over objects, we smack into stuff. It's a painful journey and we really can't tell if we are even going in the right direction or if we are making any progress at all.

Now, suppose that some of us get to undertake this same journey but with the lights turned on. We see the obstacles, we see shortcuts, we see where we should be headed and the journey becomes much easier.

Well, Consciousness is like the light. With more of it, we see more of the grand scheme of things, we see pattrns and trends, and life is easier. Those with a relatively low level of Consciousness, have a life filled with more fear, pain, anger, shame, guilt, grief, resentment, dis-ease and many other depressing emotional states. On the other hand, those with a relatively expanded degree of Consciousness live in a reality involving more peace, love, joy, trust, optimism, kindness, abundance, cooperation, generosity, ease, etc. I think you get the idea.

Incidentally, those with a high enough degree of Consciousness are referred to as enlightened, meaning they have more light available to them than the rest of us, they see much more of the bigger picture and they enjoy a life of continuous peace.

Consciousness correlates to spirituality: The more conscious we are, the more spiritual we become. It also correlates with energy vibration, which is the subject of the next article in this series of ten articles.

In future articles, I'll be explaining some more concepts related to this subject of Consciousness. Of course, you can also find an expansion of this information in my book on Spirituality, which, with its many reviews, can be seen on my website at: http://www.peterhdennis.com/Book_-_Spirituality:_Understanding_It_and_Pursuing_It.php.