Levels of Consciousness, Part 2

Levels of Consciousness, Part 2

“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.”[1]

Lao Tzu

One of my first formal exposures to levels of consciousness occurred in an introductory Psychology class in college with Sigmund Freud’s model of the psyche. He named three mental foci as the id, ego, and superego, all present in varying degrees in all people. The id makes up our instincts and desires and seeks immediate gratification. The ego factors in social norms and seeks to control the impulses of the id in socially acceptable ways. The superego is the moral conscience which considers ethics and other broader concerns. In the imagery of the cross consciousness model I presented last week (see image below), I once visualized the id as the lower levels of the vertical axis, the ego as the area of intersection with the horizontal axis, and the superego as the upper reaches of the vertical. While that application of this model may have some usefulness, I no longer find it very helpful.

Another of the early pioneers of modern psychology, Carl Jung, theorized another three levels making up the psyche as the conscious ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. In other words, Jung postulated two broad levels of consciousness as we experience it: consciousness, or awareness, and unconsciousness, or that which we lack conscious awareness of. Jung’s conscious ego consists of those thoughts and observations which make up our daily mental activity. The personal unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and emotions we have forgotten but that still strongly influence our behaviors. This realm includes past experiences that formed biases and prejudices that we consistently express, although we no longer remember what led to their formation. The collective unconscious is shared by everyone and everything in creation. The unconscious portions of consciousness are storehouses of all experiences and symbols that can make their way into our conscious awareness under certain conditions, particularly in dreams.

While these are only models and presented here in severely simplified form, I tend to find Jung’s theory of conscious and unconscious aspects of consciousness useful, particularly when viewed in the context of personal awareness or lack thereof. The portion of consciousness that is unconscious to us is far larger than that of which we are conscious. It is like the vast ocean of unfathomable possibility within which we exist. It surrounds and penetrates our being and is that from which we emerge, or that within which we live and move and have our being.

As we consider levels of consciousness using my Cross Consciousness Model, we find ourselves at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical axes, labeled as the Present moment, surrounded by our time-bound visualizations of past and future, and the ethereal and material aspects of universal consciousness which are unconscious to our normal awareness. The portion of the universal consciousness of which we can be aware is limited to the area around the intersection of the two axes. Everything else, extending infinitely in all directions, is unconscious to us under normal circumstances. The dividing line between what is conscious and unconscious, however, is porous and varies not only between individuals but also varies for a single individual depending on the day, how they are feeling, and what is going on in their life at the time. For example, when we dream or meditate, the boundary between the realms opens. When we are creating – as in painting or writing or playing music – the boundary softens. When we are emotionally distraught or otherwise in an uncomfortable situation, the boundary becomes less firm. For many of us, having the boundary become more porous is a spiritual awakening – a stark realization that the portion of consciousness within our awareness is a tiny part of something much larger. Certain forms of mental, illness like schizophrenia and psychosis, can also open the gates to unfamiliar portions the unconscious, as can psychedelic drugs.

My point is that as we explore levels of consciousness we are still almost exclusively looking at a very small cross-section of the universal consciousness – that portion of which we can both be aware and still function in an acceptable way in our social setting. What we consider our shared reality is necessarily limited to that portion of consciousness, and most of what lies outside that shared reality will appear nonsensical or insane. Even so, if the barrier between the conscious and unconscious were impenetrable, there would be no new inventions, medical breakthroughs, art in its various forms, or any of the creative additions to or improvements upon our human condition. It is by accessing materials that are normally unconscious to us that new combinations of materials are discovered. We want and need some access into levels of consciousness beyond the barrier with the unconscious, but not so much that we stray into a level of consciousness that is incompatible with shared life on earth, i.e., insanity.

This is the 4^thin a series titled The Perplexities of Consciousness.Life Notes are my explorations into mysteries that interest me. They are invitations for readers to explore more deeply into life’s mysteries. Engage with me or explore contemplative spiritual direction at ghildenbrand@outlook.com.

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[1] Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher, born 571 BCE.