What does consciousness mean?

consciousness as a little man inside head

Without consciousness there would be no meaning at all in life. No one could even ask "what does consciousness mean?"  We would be like zombies, intelligent biological robots who may be able to act in response to circumstances but who would have no awareness of doing so.

Moreover, if no-one had consciousness there would be no-one to appreciate the fact. No appreciation, no awareness, no experience, no knowledge. Life would be dead. The universe might exist but no one would know. There would be no point to its existence.

Consciousness is the foundation of all meaning. We need to understand it and develop it if we want to enhance our own appreciation of the meaning of life.

What is consciousness?

Consciousness is the ability to know.

Knowledge comes from awareness, memory, experience and the ability to think. Also from our powers of intention and imagination, creativity and intelligence.

And of course, it is passed down to us by our parents and teachers.

The meaning of consciousness includes all these different factors.  Yet in reality and for most people, it is simple. If you are awake and can think, if you can experience the world and make a creative response, if you can know and understand something, then you are conscious. The idea of consciousness is usually left to philosophers and scientists.

However, if we are to understand and appreciate the full meaning of life, then we will need to know something about the different states of consciousness, including the higher states.

So, back to basics.

Can we give a satisfactory definition of consciousness from which to start? 

Towards a satisfactory definition of consciousness

The simplest definition of consciousness is this: consciousness is that aspect of our existence which enables us to be conscious!

OK. Can we answer in more detail?

Yes, but the details will be different depending on the context. What does consciousness mean to a scientist or a philosopher or a deeply spiritual person? Or what does it mean from an ordinary, everyday perspective?

Below, we discuss the meaning of consciousness from an everyday perspective. Even so, we will have to deal with higher states of consciousness since an enlightened person still has to manage their own activities of the day.

The question "what does consciousness mean" in more specialised contexts such as science, philosophy and spirituality is covered on their own pages. Links are given at the bottom of this page.

The everyday meaning of consciousness

consciousness word cloud

What does consciousness mean from an everyday perspective?

We can think of consciousness as a particular state of being. In one state of being, the waking state of consciousness, we are awake and aware of our surroundings and we can experience objects, events and processes. We can also choose actions in response and we can learn as we go along.

In another state of being we are dreaming and our experiences turn out to be a fantasy of memory and imagination. In a third state we are in deep sleep, unaware of any particular thing or event but able to be woken up at any time.

Our daily experiences in these three states of being give us the everyday answer to the question - what does consciousness mean?

We all cycle through the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states on a daily basis and each state has its own different quality of consciousness. The dreaming and deep sleep states of consciousness support life in the waking state by allowing our minds and bodies to recover from fatigue and stress and to help us consolidate the experiences of the day.

Through our experiences and actions in the waking state, we develop knowledge and we learn about ourselves and our world. If we have been guided well by our parents and teachers and if we have chosen life-supporting actions, with a good balance between rest and activity, our consciousness expands and our life becomes filled with greater meaning and purpose.

More on the everyday meaning of consciousness

The dictionary meaning

We can help to find the answer to what does consciousness mean by looking in a dictionary. The Penguin English dictionary gives the meaning of consciousness as "the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings and of responding to them normally."

We can also look up “aware” in the same dictionary and read that “aware” means "to have knowledge". And “awake” means either that you have just emerged from sleep or that you are conscious of something that physically exists.

Also, the word "conscious" is made of two parts: "con" meaning "with" and "scious" meaning "knowledge".

So the everyday meaning of consciousness is that it is a state of being which allows you to experience real objects and events in your surroundings, have knowledge about them and be able to respond normally to them. Consciousness is the vehicle through which we find meaning in life.

Senses and Organs of Action

Further to the question " what does consciousness mean?" we find that, in order to be aware of our surroundings, to experience the objects and events that are a part of our life, we must have senses. That means ears to hear with, eyes to see with, fingers to touch with, tongue to taste with, nose to smell with. And we must have the mental functions of memory, imagination and intellect to go with our senses, otherwise we cannot know what our senses are telling us.

Not only that, we must be able to use that knowledge. We must be able to “respond normally”. That requires organs of action - arms and legs, hands and feet and the ability to express ourself through speech, for example.

Although we usually think of the senses and organs of action as being part of the physical body, a little thought tells us that they are rooted in the mind. How else could you experience something, formulate an intelligent response to it and then put that into effect?

This is the mystery of consciousness. Physical or chemical changes in our brain are converted into mental images and sensations. How is this trick accomplished? We'll have a closer look at this mystery on the "philosophy and consciousness" page

Consciousness and intelligence

Mother and baby orangutan

Intelligence is an intimate part of the nature of consciousness. The very state of being in which you are aware of your surroundings - and can recognise things, analyse movements and make appropriate responses - requires intelligence. Like the senses and organs of action, intelligence is certainly reflected in the body, for example in the way the brain works, but it is a fundamental property of consciousness.  The more "awake and aware" you are, the more intelligence you will display in your actions.

Consciousness and knowledge

Knower knowing and known graphic

Maharishi taught that "knowledge is structured in consciousness". This is the motto of Maharishi schools and colleges everywhere.

The basic structure is a three-fold one: The knower - the self that knows; the known - the object of knowledge, that which is to be known, and the process of knowing - the specific qualities of intelligence that link the first two together to create a lively piece of knowledge or experience.

For knowledge to be complete, all three aspects of consciousness must be complete and functioning coherently together. Now, the self is an inner and more silent value of the mind, the known is an outer and more active value. Therefore intelligence, the process of creating knowledge, must link inner and outer values, silent and dynamic values, for knowledge to be present.

When the mind is purified and clear, the self becomes the Self, the most silent and cosmic value of knowledge.

The specific qualities of intelligence are those already mentioned - intellect, memory etc.

He also taught that "knowledge is different in different states of consciousness". This is obvious for the three states of consciousness already described - waking dreaming and sleeping. However, their are three "higher" states that need to be considered.

Maharishi described those three higher states as Cosmic consciousness, God consciousness and unity consciousness. We will go into more detail on the page about the spiritual meaning of consciousness. And also, we will find that in higher states of consciousness we can experience a higher, more refined, more truthful quality of knowledge.

What does consciousness mean?
Conclusion

A full definition of consciousness requires both a body and a mind working intelligently together to construct the details of an individual awareness. Plus a spiritual essence which provides the basic ability to be awake and aware.

Consciousness is therefore a property of a body-mind complex - in other words, a living being, an organism. On this understanding it is reasonable to think that every living being has some kind of individual consciousness, including their own spiritual essence which gives them life.

The mind-body complex at the heart of every individual with consciousness has inputs and outputs. The inputs are the senses and the outputs are the organs of action. The inputs and outputs have both mental and physical aspects. For example, the eye is part of the body and thus physical, yet the eye functions to produce the mental sensations of sight.

Connecting the inputs and outputs together is an intelligent processing system which from the outside looks like nerve structures and brain processes but which from the inside looks like, or is experienced as mental states of different kinds involving sensations, memories, desires, feelings, thoughts, knowledge, direct experience, imagination, discrimination, intention and volition - all depending on the complexity of the life-form.

Importantly, individual consciousness is always personal – it belongs to someone. For example, your consciousness, my consciousness, Jane's consciousness, Felix the cat’s consciousness. I am always at the centre of my own consciousness and you of yours.

Individual consciousness carries with it the functions and abilities of the species plus individual variations imposed by many factors, including genetic variations, environmental factors, history of experience and learning etc. My consciousness, my state of being, my focus of awareness is different from yours. Partly because I am in a different physical location and partly because my knowledge, my memories, my intellectual and emotional characteristics, my mind and my body, are also different from yours.

All these different factors are involved in answering the question "what does consciousness mean? Find out more on these other pages: