The Spiritual Nature of Consciousness

THE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS is a theological study which helps unravel the mystery of Consciousness, that unique Reality which is God and Nature of which humanity and the non-human world are a part. Consciousness is a unity which means everything is dynamically connected with everything else. Consciousness is who we are and what everything is. It is why we breathe and experience things, why we know that we know. We awake ‘into’ It each day, meaning we become aware again that we are experiencing Consciousness. Consciousness is uncreated, All-That-Was-Is-and-Will-Be. Consciousness is about our lives, how and why we are here. It is why there is something and not nothing. Consciousness-God is not ‘out there’—there is no ‘out there’—but ‘In Here’ = Consciousness = All. By practising a contemplative silence we will know more of this ‘In-Here-ncy’. We give Consciousness well-known names—I, Me, I Am, Myself—which everyone the world over shares, another sign of our oneness. The study of Consciousness is also the study of peace, justice and compassion for humanity and the Earth. Consciousness is not generated solely in the brain, as many wrongly believe, but the brain obviously plays its part along with the whole body. Consciousness is omnipresent within and around everything. Since matter and Consciousness are One-All, everything is Consciousness-matter. Consequently, matter and Consciousness are not independent of each other. This non-dualism requires no intermediaries between God, humanity and all-Nature. At the same time Consciousness is not ‘almighty’ (e.g. in the way we’ve been taught in Church, Synagogue or Mosque) except as the omnipresence of Love, and, being Loving cannot unilaterally interfere in human and/or natural affairs. To do so would mean a radical reconfiguring of Itself which would be catastrophic for all life as we know it. So, non-intentional fine-tuning perhaps, undoubtedly a measure of chance, but no intelligent design. Being All-Unity helps explain why matter is never directly experienced beyond our perception but is a refraction of our finite minds. Consciousness is Is-ness and cannot die, shrink, disappear, cease or collapse. After our bodily death, It is instantly liberated into a non-dual harmonious interaction in and with Love-Consciousness. Consciousness-God-Love-All is not a person but is personal and can be accessed directly and immediately by transcending within. Its non-duality can, if we so choose, be spread as the Kingdom of God (The Way) through our own healing peace, justice, compassion and Nature-care. This orthopraxis, enriched by the regenerating, sustaining nature of Omnipresence-Consciousness, gives our lives meaning, purpose and thus a practical, down-to-Earth ‘grounded’ hope. Consciousness-The Way enables science, philosophy and theology to grow co-operatively, and it is where our life-long individual identity can develop. The book’s third Discussion gives considerable space to Nature-care and progressive political living including the value of intentional community.