What is Consciousness? 6 Myths Busted and 4 States Explained

“Consciousness happens not because you are doing something, but simply because you have allowed it. Life is happening to you, but it is not your doing.”

—Sadhguru

"Consciousness” is a highly abused word. It is used in many different ways. Let me define what we refer to as consciousness. As a piece of life, as a body, you are a certain amount of earth, water, air, fire, and ether, or akash. And there is a fundamental intelligence that puts all these things together in a particular way to make life out of it. The same ingredients that are lying there as mud sit here as the life you are. What an incredible transformation! There is a profound and unimaginable level of intelligence that can make simple things like air into life.

Whether it is a tree, a bird, an insect, a worm, an elephant, or a human being–everything is made up of the same simple material. We call this intelligence that makes life happen “consciousness.” If you are unconscious, you do not even know whether you are alive or dead. If you are in deep sleep, you are alive, but you do not know it. The only reason why you experience life and aliveness is because you are conscious.

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