Conscious Mind
By
James Harvey Stout (deceased). This material is now in the public
domain. The complete collection of Mr. Stout's writing is now at
http://stout.mybravenet.com/public_html/h/
>
Jump to the following topics:
- What is the conscious
mind?
- The
conscious mind is directed by various factors.
- Techniques
for enhancing the use of the conscious mind.
What is the conscious
mind? We can consider these definitions:
- The conscious mind is an instrument -- like a spotlight --
which we employ to direct our attention toward a particular object
which has been selected from the limitless assortment of thoughts,
emotions, feelings, physical sensations, sensory messages,
archetypal field-elements, etc. When this instrument is not
willfully wielded, our attention zigzags from one distraction to
another, making the conscious mind seem more like a nebulous
"realm" than a precisely directed instrument. (In contrast, the
unconscious mind is a "realm"; it is the default which
contains everything which we are not observing at any
moment; i.e., it is the area of "darkness" which is not currently
being illuminated by the spotlight of the conscious mind.)
- The conscious mind is the "piece" of consciousness itself
which we claim as our own.
The
conscious mind is directed by various factors.
- Impulses. Our conscious awareness is automatically drawn to
the most-powerful impulse from the mind, emotions, senses,
physical sensations, a-field elements, or another source. Thus,
the spotlight shifts from our reading to a radio's music to an
itchy arm to our reading to a memory evoked by the reading, and so
on.
- The will. For example, we can choose to be attentive to our
reading despite the influence of contrary impulses (e.g., the
radio). Or we can willfully direct our attention from the reading
to the radio and back again.
- The soul. Consciousness is a characteristic of soul; the mind,
senses, body, etc., are merely material instruments of perception
by which the soul peers into its own spirit-substance, to explore
a particular archetype as it would appear in various "dimensions"
(e.g., mental, physical, emotional, etc.). Thus, while we might
believe that the senses are conscious of an event, it is actually
the soul which is conscious of the event, through the
instrument of the senses within the senses' "dimension." Soul can
send an intuitive message to our human "conscious mind" such that
we direct our attention toward an item of interest; for example,
we might suddenly feel an impulse to look at a particular person
who is walking past us.
Techniques
for enhancing the use of the conscious mind.
- Archetypal field-work. As we discharge the residual charge
from elements in the a-fields, our attention is not diverted by
the needs of those elements; for example, we can concentrate on
our reading without being distracted by the anger-charged thoughts
which remain from a prior situation.
- Meditation techniques. Any type of meditation will allow us to
study consciousness, enhance our will, and clarify the field of
the conscious mind. These types of meditation might be most
effective:
- Thought meditation. We examine the process by which our
thoughts arise, and we learn about consciousness, which is the
separate function by which we are observing those
thoughts.
- Mindfulness meditation. In mindfulness, we simply attempt
to remain conscious of the events around us and within
us.
- Concentration. We use the will to direct our attention
toward a single object (e.g., a candle flame). In the resulting
conflict between the will and the distractions, we explore
the will, the distractions, and the nature of conscious
attention.