Panpsychism

The Marriage

 of 

Cosmic Consciousness 

and 

Quantum Mechanics

Cosmic Consciousness is a term often used to denote a higher or particularly spiritual level of awareness and consciousness.

This type of awareness may be associated with an experience of “knowing God," or of transcending the five senses and finding a hidden consciousness or reality which is beyond the perceivable world. For many, the journey to experiencing cosmic consciousness involves practices such as yoga, meditation, prayer and acts of faith.

It is said that in a state of Cosmic Consciousness, the human mind is elevated beyond the awareness of the self and the ego, and enters a place of oneness and unity with the universe. Finding this unity is one goal of yoga practice.

When Cosmic Consciousness is reached, the individual moves from believing in the oneness of the universe to having a direct knowledge of that fact. This level of consciousness requires letting go of the superficial ego.

Some claim that reaching this awareness may cause a person to retreat from the noise of the outside world and seek solitude. They will develop a heightened awareness of their own mental state and that of those around them.

In 1901, Richard Maurice Bucke -- a Canadian psychiatrist -- wrote a book about Cosmic Consciousness, in which he defined it as the highest of three levels of consciousness found in living beings:

• Simple consciousness  --   which both mankind and animals possess
• Self-consciousness  --  which includes thought, reason, and imagination and that mankind possesses
• Cosmic Consciousness  --  which is a higher and more spiritual consciousness than most ordinary people possess    SOURCE:  Yogapedia

A popular meditation and spirituality figure in the West, Deepak Chopra has postulated that the concept of Cosmic Consciousness may be related to the hidden dimensions of quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics explains how the universe works at a scale smaller than atoms. It is also called quantum physics or quantum theory. Mechanics is the part of physics that explains how things move and quantum is the Latin word for 'how much' .   Quantum mechanics describes how the particles that make up atoms work.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia


Panpsychism
is the view that mentality is fundamental and ubiquitous in the natural world. The view has a long and venerable history in philosophical traditions of both East and West, and has recently enjoyed a revival in analytic philosophy. For its proponents panpsychism offers an attractive middle way between physicalism on the one hand and dualism on the other. The worry with dualism—the view that mind and matter are fundamentally different kinds of thing—is that it leaves us with a radically disunified picture of nature, and the deep difficulty of understanding how mind and brain interact. And whilst physicalism offers a simple and unified vision of the world, this is arguably at the cost of being unable to give a satisfactory account of the emergence of human and animal consciousness. Panpsychism, strange as it may sound on first hearing, promises a satisfying account of the human mind within a unified conception of nature.  SOURCE:  Standford.edu

Cosmic Knowledge

I am reminded of a book I read not too long ago, BLINK:  The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.  The book is written and presented in a popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious: mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information....  he refers to this process as THIN SLICING... but, it also revolves around the concept of INTUITION.

"Intuition is the highest form of intelligence, transcending all individual abilities and skills."  –Sylvia Clare, Mindfulness Teacher

According to Deepak Chopra: Your intuition is subtle sense; it’s a form of second attention that transcends the conventional material level of reality and plugs you into the universal field of interrelatedness. The information and knowledge accessed through intuitive channels doesn’t kick down the door into your awareness; it whispers, gently nudges, and tugs your attention in a particular direction. So if you are like most people living a busy life, those intuitive cues might not make it to the surface of your attention before getting drowned out by all your other activity.

There are 7 basic methodologies to access one's intuition...  these are:  

1. Remember Your True Self

This is a fundamental point of departure for intuitive growth. As long as you believe yourself to be an isolated speck, a tiny flesh-encapsulated ego cut off from the rest of the world in a random and unintelligent universe, you will block the intuitive signals trying to get through. 

2. Have the Intention to Receive Intuitive Guidance
Your intuition isn’t likely to respond to a wishy-washy hope for guidance. Instead, form a clear intention and put it to paper where you can see it regularly and prior to going into meditation (see below). 

3. Still Your Mind
A turbulent mind will never be able to perceive intuitive guidance. Trying to pick up intuitive signals using a mind that is overwrought with thoughts is like listening to music on a static-filled radio station—you only get bits and pieces of the song. Meditation is possibly the most important of the seven steps to intuition because it cleans up the signal and prepares the mental space to receive the message. 

4. Ask a Question
From a still mind, formulate and release a question or issue that you seek insight into. For example, “Is this the right choice for me to make?” 

5. Reach Out with Your Awareness
Once you have released your question, project your awareness out into the world like an ever-expanding soap bubble. Imagine this bubble of awareness enveloping your home, city, state, country, the planet, the Milky Way galaxy, and beyond. Feel your awareness encompass the entire universe. Feel all that was, is, or will be within you as you silently repeat to yourself the sutra, Tat Tvam Asi—I am That.

6. Tune into Your Feelings and Your Body
Feel the world around you—imagine reaching out into the room or space you find yourself in, noticing sounds, sights, and sensations of all kinds. Then, try to feel the presence of others, their emotions, thoughts, or energy. 

7. Trust the Message
When you notice a sensation in your body, a twinge, a slight warmth in your stomach or chest, or the faintest level of feeling, tune into that. Does the sensation feel good, or does it feel slightly uncomfortable? 

The knowledge is out there and some of us BUT NOT ALL OF US have the power and the ability and the mental gifts to access it so that it can be shared with the rest of mankind and their humanity.