Naval aviator and NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell believed that there is a spectrum of consciousness available to all human beings. At one end of the spectrum is what one may refer to as material consciousness. At another end one may experience what could be referred to as ‘field’ consciousness, where a person becomes one with the universe, perceiving the universe. When he was out in space and looked at our beautiful planet, Mitchell said that he felt having attained a state of field consciousness.
Different Hues of Consciousness
Identifying different hues of consciousness is akin to the case of seven blind men trying to describe an elephant. People have different perspectives.Many of us use our brains to explain what we understand it to be. Many others use our hearts to do so. But the concept of consciousness is rather profound. It is beyond the sensory limitations of the human mind, which has an uncanny ability to divide and analyze things. So, when Mitchell spoke of field consciousness, he was possibly referring to the part of the consciousness spectrum which is beyond human imagination.
Spiritual masters tell us that consciousness is the breeding ground of all things, the source of creation. Thus, whatever we see on the material plane – all species and each one of us – possesses consciousness. Our individual consciousness is embedded in this universal consciousness. In the interim stages, we have collective/group consciousness. All of these could be different but lead eventually to the universal/field consciousness.
On the mortal plane, for those who are aware of their inner reality, a shift from one to another kind of consciousness becomes possible. As per the Shamanic tradition, this would be like shifting the Assembly Point.
How Travel Becomes an Uplifting Experience
Many decades back, as a kid, I had the privilege of seeing – from a distance, of course – Yuri Gagarin, a former military pilot and the first human being to have travelled to outer space. When he looked at Planet Earth from inside his Vostok 1 capsule in 1961, he expressed his feelings thus:
“Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it”.
When one looks at our planet from outer space, geographical and man-made boundaries disappear. Fault lines arising out of religious beliefs, caste, creed and nationality vanish. Conflicts look petty manifestations of the inflated egos of our leaders. Wars sound meaningless and a waste of precious resources. One ends up seeing the bigger picture. A composite whole becomes the reality.
Not many of us get to travel to outer space. However, even at the mundane level of our lives, our experience is not different. Once we shift our Assembly Point, so to say, or change our frame of reference of viewing things, people, objects and incidents, we experience the exhilaration of a fresh perspective on the situation at hand. By distancing ourselves from our immediate surroundings, we allow the windows of our minds to open up to newer possibilities and ideas. Our problem solving abilities improve.
Take the case of what happens when we travel. The worries of prior preparations melt away. The concerns at the point of destination take some time to pop up. In this brief interval of time, we often gain a fresh perspective. We get charged up. Likely solutions emerge to intricate problems which sounded insurmountable till yesterday. Hope dawns. We walk into the sunset with our heads held high and our vision clearer.
Three Catalysts of Universal Consciousness
Switching over from one kind of consciousness to another one is not easy. Nor is the inner journey from material consciousness to universal consciousness. Three catalysts, which can help us to achieve this universal consciousness, are: Awareness, Care and Intent.
If simple awareness is the starting point on the spiritual path, attaining a deeper level of awareness brings us face to face with our true selves. The more we care for our environment and our society, the better human beings we become. If our intentions are as pure as fresh snow, driven by a compass of benign values, the actions we take and the resultant results we get are more likely to enrich the cosmos at large.
Enlightened leaders who strive for a higher purpose in life are indeed the conscious ones whom we could all look up to.
(Inputs from Dominique Conterno and Esther Robles, co-founders of Consciousness Enterprises Network (https://www.consciousenterprises.net) are gratefully acknowledged).
(A version of this article also features on the website of Conscious Enterprises Network: https://consciousenterprisenetwork.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-cosmos-and-consciousness-by-ashok.html)
Related Posts:
ashokbhatia 
Insightful. When we think about our pursuits in life, we are driven both by the need to find logic as well as find meaning. A logical explanation is agreed upon by many people. But when it comes to meaning, it is so subjective. The meaning I create from my experiences, is very different from the meaning another person may create out of the same experiences. And both these meanings may be valuable. The perspectives or frames from which we see the experience, is different. Consciousness is therefore hard to define, but I guess we can feel the moments of conscious awakening in our minds. We are always reactive to a situation initially. But as time passes and we internalize the situation, we interpret and reinterpret the situation at an unconscious level. At some point, we see something more than what we saw. We stumble on a new truth and this becomes a moment of conscious awakening. As you wrote, the frame can shift again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said. However, when you state that “But as time passes and we internalize the situation, we interpret and reinterpret the situation at an unconscious level.”, perhaps you mean ‘subconscious’ in place of ‘unconscious’?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ashok, being a student of medicine, we only had conscious and unconscious processes in our literature. I got habituated to using unconscious. Even now, I don’t recognise clearly the difference between unconscious and subconscious- there is a lot of confusion in my mind. So in all my writings, you will probably find the use of only ‘unconscious’. I must read up more to see how they distinguish subconscious and unconscious beyond being accessible/not accessible.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Freud had the same problem, I think, so you are in good company! I am not sure how a neurologist would answer this question!! Let us keep learning.
LikeLiked by 2 people
P.S. I would like to take time and read your articles because there is much to learn from them. I will post my responses as and when I complete reading them. Your blog is such a valuable resource I stumbled on!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sure, Do please take your time! Thank you for the appreciation.
LikeLiked by 2 people