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2678_050201
Audio of Jan Cox 02 May 2001
Notes by CF November 2013
Suggested Title: Consciousness (The Light of Observation)
Begin: Picking up from last time. Operationally when layman and experts speak about consciousness they are normally referring to two features. The features are self consciousness and thinking.
Self Consciousness (awareness of one’s self) from what we can tell is found in no other animal except man. (When using the blanket statement for self consciousness we can include feelings of being too sensitive, fearing others opinions about our self, and fear of being stared at. Etc.)
The other feature of consciousness is thinking. We can create and then deal with and manipulate symbols in our head to better suit us without going through physical trial and error. So we have two features of consciousness – the very thing people like us attend to. (No matter what its called.)
But if you look at consciousness – not as a state – but as the ability to observe a thing – an it – within you that leads your so called life, then its not consciousness observing itself. It is consciousness being the “ability” to observe this thing that lives on your behalf and operates under your name.
05:00 It shifts from being an awareness of self to awareness of “it”. So you cannot suffer from blanket self consciousness. (ex. Too sensitive, etc.) A side note is if the shift is useful and welcomed you may later think “What am I doing housing this other thing? I am a “for life” landlord of an unwanted tenant.
I am not referring to physical features as always. (ex. Too short etc.) The censure that has to do with consciousness is of itself. (ex. I think, I feel etc.) Its the ordinary view of consciousness where the talking part of the brain is conscious of itself.
Taking the second feature of consciousness (thinking) where the brain can manipulate physical symbols such as distance – miles, and food – grains and meat, these symbols save time and effort. (ex. The food is ten miles north.) But if you shift the awareness from self to “ it “ my view still works.
10:00 It is still you observing something that is manipulating symbols. Rather than being entangled in trying to affect your own thinking it becomes “the thing – the ‘it” thinking. (This shift has nothing to do with justification as it is called.) Its an operational explanation (a different view) based on experience.
Someone just starting out ( self remembering, self observation, etc.) could mistakenly see this view as a blindsided justification. But if by now you see for yourself that in trying to change the talking part of the brain I know you have met resistance. Very few people get past this resistance.
And getting past the resistance is realizing you are not making headway in changing the talking part of the brain. The talking part of the brain is talking to itself. When the talking part of the brain thinks it is making progress or not making progress all it is doing is manipulating symbols about itself.
It is not limited to folks like us who are working on consciousness. Ordinary people can manipulate symbols about themselves in something as mundane as losing weight. They think effort and progress are the same thing. It may appear subjectively one’s effort has caused a weight loss but not to others.
15:00 When folks like us work on consciousness we are not working on the soul. We are working on the talking part of the brain. When we first hear that man is in a distracted state and he can awaken we know its true. The talking part of the brain is the only thing we find fault with. Its not behavior, community, or the environment.
20:00 If you look at consciousness – the thing “you” think is “you” thinking or the thing “you” think is “self remembering” and look at it another way (awareness of it) and I am not playing with words, it is an immediate beneficial shift. And it will have a useful effect as soon as you get your own grasp of it.
Consciousness is not what I am aware of right now. (Self consciousness and thinking) Consciousness is my “observation” of this thing in my head doing all this thinking and being self conscious. Speaking metaphorically being awake consciousness shifts somewhere in the brain to a level of objectivity.
It is as if consciousness turns into a flashlight. Consciousness becomes like a light and light is impartial and does not comment. (Its a description of being awake.) “Its not I am conscious of this and here is my opinion.” Consciousness is “me” being impartially aware of the talking part of the brain. It works.
25:00 Notice how resilient the mind is when confronted with the question, “What are you going to say next? I cannot believe how the questions does not wake everyone up the first time we hear it. One day this question just hit me and I thought this is it. I am going to merge with the universe.
It was a bittersweet moment. The downside was I was not going to blast off into metaphysical orbit. The upside was seeing again the impressiveness of the human mind. “What are you going to say next?” addressed to yourself and you do not have any idea what you are going to say next. Nothing.
A cacophony or symphony of six billion voices and no one on the planet knows what they are about to say. They have sex, they carry on conversations, they fall in and out of love, and they give directions and no one knows what they are going to say next. And still we press on like we did not hear it.
30:00 The mind likes to talk. But ask the mind “What are you going to say next?” and it will not get up and leave town. (with its overcoat turned up and head down) The mind will stand right there and look at you and its like you blink first – in essence saying we won’t push it.
The real humor is the talking part of the brain is talking to itself. But that is OK if you take this new view based on the same facts. Instead of self consciousness it is “it” consciousness. Consciousness is simply the “awareness” of “it.”
If you can see consciousness as the continual mechanical observation of the thing living what you call your life you quit trying to change consciousness. (nothing about an observation you can change.) From one view constantly self remembering is trying to make an observation observe itself.
It is enjoyable but the punchline is you can’t shine light on light. If you look at consciousness as the light of observation there is no way to change it. The light is neither good or bad, The light is either on or off. Once you see that light has no interest in changing what it falls on it sure can be useful.
35:00 Consciousness is not a something; it is an awareness of something in you that lives – leads what you call your life. When you attempt to alter it you are trying to alter the nature of light.
36:53
Jan’s Posted Daily Fresh Real News
May 2, 2001.
Everyone is orthodox
believer, atheist, agnostic – all are orthodox.
There is a dogma that all humans follow,
and each man has a personal spiritual advisor
to whom he listens,
(spiritual here as opposed to sensual.)
Everyone is orthodox in that they:
Conform to an Approved form of a doctrine, philosophy, or ideology;
are conventional in the attitude toward a sanctioned belief system —
this is: man-the-ordinary: man-the-routine;
man-the-sane-&-acceptable:
a species which a few of its members finds to
live too near a state that
too closely resembles hypnosis,
(an ideal condition, by the way, for orthodoxy).
Although men can vary greatly in their physical behavior,
they cannot in their non sensual beliefs;
from ordinary views they certainly may appear to,
as one man professes his allegiance to Ideology P,
and another, his to Ideology Q —
but they are nonetheless, both orthodox,
and solid supporters of The Approved Doctrine.
He who insists that god’s name is Jehovah,
is no different than he who calls him Allah,
and not distinct from either is he who denies that
there is a god. They are all orthodox.
(Same in other intangible fields, such as in politics:
Liberals, Conservatives, and Anarchists, and in art:
Modernists, Traditionalists, and Avant Garde, and in music: Classical, Contemporary, and Experimental, etc.)
When men deviate from prescribed orthodox behavior they are punished by their peers,
via such methods as imprisonment; and even execution,
whereas there ARE no punishments for straying from The Approved Doctrine — and why? —
— because no one strays.
The Approved Doctrine blankets & embraces all;
Everybody is orthodox.
Again, standard thought will disagree, and point to people who do express ideas that are in opposition to the prevailing ones of the time & place,
but opposition to any particular idea simply offers continued support for belief in substance to its existence.
The idea of god is not harmed by ideas that hammer it;
Bach is not denied by cries that it is a good thing Mahler was not alive contemporaneously.
A P.R. axiom is that it does not matter what is said about you — as long as your name is spelled correctly,
which coincidentally pinpoints precisely
the manner in which men unnoticingly,
continually affirm their orthodoxy:
they always spell Gods, Marxs & Mozarts name correctly, whether they be expressing support therefore,
or otherwise.
In that being orthodox is being:
Correct in your belief, or opinion, note that
on the sensual side of man’s existence
he has no beliefs, or opinions:
no one believes that water will cure thirst —
men instinctively know it, and it is never debated,
and men do not hold opinions regarding whether or not it is good to consume food, or stay out of the rain,
or have sex, etc.
Men only have beliefs and opinions in the
non sensual, spiritual area of their lives,
and therein, you are orthodox if you have any;
it does not matter what the beliefs or opinions ARE,
all that matters is that you HAVE them.
If you have any — you are orthodox.
In that being orthodox is in having:
A conventional attitude toward the sanctioned
belief system,
the all encompassing belief being that the
orthodox ideas being supplied automatically
to your mind are the only correct ones.
Indeed, the-cry-of-The-Orthodox:
Thoughts Know Best.
YOUR thoughts!
.the ones you are having right now!
.the ones you have always had.
These are the thoughts — what ever they are — that
— Know Best!
You couldn’t be a rebel if you tried
it is a talent that must be learnt,
and its realization is blocked by
your present pitiful attempts at rebellion,
(which are nothing more than meaningless,
mechanical manifestations of your innate
sore-headedness calling itself intellectual-rebellion).
Even a rebel is orthodox,
you can never NOT be orthodox, (and confused),
without you
walk off the playing field of orthodoxy altogether.
As long as you will spiritually struggle —
— the struggle has got you;
as long as you denounce the devil — you are his;
as long as you deny god — you are not your own person;
as long as you decry the stupidity of man, and yourself — you will remain blind to what is obvious.
Being orthodox-in-your-mind is to be sane & normal;
to take, OR reject the Approved Ideology,
(whatever it is),
to be the expositional & final word on matters
is to assure yourself of a continued, non exertive state of walking-slumber & distraction.
What the few hunger for
is not the overthrow of orthodoxy,
but release from their heads pointless captivation thereby.
A man who knows what is going on
does not fight meaningless battles;
a man who knows what is going on
fights no battles — they are ALL meaningless.
You fight your shadow, and the only relief is to
step into the light,
and thus stop the fight.
J