We all experience times when we feel like we’re living in a
dream-like state, times where we are “barely there,” or “in a daze.” At times
we barely notice our surroundings, at others we feel “dialed in,” focused and
deeply alive. There are instances where we can’t remember names of people
familiar to us and when even simple questions seem not so simple. Yet, there
are also moments of near total recall, great clarity and a feeling that we can
wrestle with any question and maybe even solve any problem. Some people
experiment with mood (or consciousness) altering drugs if they are afraid of-
or unhappy with- their existing state. Then there are those who talk of
“consciousness-raising.” Do we really have the power to “raise” our own
consciousness?
In one sense, if we don’t have a higher level of consciousness, we
wouldn’t know we don’t have a higher
level of consciousness, or what that consciousness level might be. Although,
given a certain level of consciousness, one that, for better or worse, most
humans do possess, we can ponder the
question and weakly speculate as to what could be. Yet, in much the same way as
we can’t ask to be born nor know with absolute certainty what happens “on the
other side,” we cannot know, at least on this earth, the highest level of
consciousness.
At times I wonder: Am I unaware of my consciousness? Can I truly
be conscious of that of which I’m unaware?
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