The mythologies imprinted in men’s brains across this planet all tell of a hero, (consciousness), who dies in one condition and then returns in an improved one. His nature is transformed from carnal to spiritual; from ignorant to enlightened, but always a matter of the old consciousness being replaced by a new.
Again, in spite of the species wide, innate support of this view, it is not true. The reality of what occurs in ordinary people’s lives does not match the words they use to describe what occurs. A man converts to religion X: his sinful-self dies, and is reborn as a self-proclaimed X-er. Yet everyone, including him, clearly realizes that his old self has not disappeared and actually been replaced by a new X-self. In momentary lucidity men will admit, “No, I am not truly an X-er, no one can actually meet the standard; all you can do is try, profess your allegiance thereto, then do the best you can.” Simply and demonstratively, that is the way things are.
The few with that special, intensified hunger, who search outside the common religious and psychological structures for a way to transform the little person of consciousness within them, also think un-analytically in terms of replacing him. They think of being presently in a sleeping, dark state of consciousness, but of achieving an awakened, enlightened state to replace it, but this is not what occurs.
The consciousness you were born with cannot be eradicated, it will always be with you. A new consciousness that a few do somehow produce in their brain, does not replace the old one – it competes with it. That is the first transformation (awakening, enlightenment, liberation),
and this is as far as most of the few ever take it.
However it happens, one day their consciousness suddenly realizes something, which causes it to know that the ways it had always thought about life were totally out of order. This new consciousness will never see life in the old ways, but the appearance of the new consciousness does not spell the end of the old. Their different views now simply compete. Sometimes you are awake and aware of how life really is, and sometimes your natural-born, original little man of consciousness is back in charge and he sees things no differently than he ever has.
J.