Consciousness - The Chopra Foundation

What Is Consciousness & Where Is It?

[youtube]http://youtu.be/vXC0RUH1axE[/youtube]

What is the fundamental activity in the universe? Although neuroscience has made enormous progress in looking at the brain correlates of subjective and objective experience, there is still no theory on how we experience mental or perceptual reality.

This is known as the “hard problem” in consciousness research.

• Is there a scientifically viable way to explain consciousness?
• Does mainstream science have the methodologies to address this question?
• How do we explain intention, insight, intuition, imagination, creativity, or free will?
• Is free will an illusion?
• Are there states of consciousness that go beyond waking, dreaming and sleeping?

Wisdom traditions speak of higher states of consciousness such as soul consciousness, cosmic consciousness, divine consciousness, and unity consciousness. Is there a way of understanding these states or validating them scientifically? Is our current science which is based on a subject/object split equipped to answer these mysteries? What is the nature of the universe? What is the of nature awareness that makes it possible for us to experience the universe?

Deepak is addressing in this talk these questions as well as others cosmic riddles.

A Better Answer to “Who Am I?”

By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP

image credit: h.koppdelaney

It’s strange that we use the word “I” more often in a day than any other word except “a” and “the” without really knowing who “I” is. Ancient thinkers, both East and West, considered the self to be the highest mystery. The ultimate question, then, is “Who am I?” For most people, however, the question isn’t something they dwell on. But think of the bedtime prayer that every child learns, the one that begins “Now I lay me down to sleep.”

When you get to the phrase “if I should die before I wake,” you’ve hit upon something incredibly urgent. Your “I” arrived on the scene when you were born, but will “I” disappear when you die? In the Indian tradition nothing is more urgent than to reverse the wording. “If I wake before I die” is all-important. It expresses the state of enlightenment, and with it the assurance that “I” is more permanent than death.

The issue isn’t just Indian but universal. Let’s see if we can get the experience of intellectual enlightenment right this minute, simply by redefining “I.”

The casual belief that “I” is very easy to define comes from everyday life. Everyone uses the word all the time, which gives a false sense of security. “I” is the first person, the experiencer. We hang all kinds of labels on it: I am Indian, a doctor, a male, a father, husband, and brother. But in times of personal crisis, such as severe grief or depression, these labels become hollow. “I” feels desolate and alone, owning nothing but a handful of ashes. (more…)

The Future of Happiness – Up or Down?

By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP

It’s unsettling that so little is known about what it takes to be happy, and a lot of what we do know is contradictory. On the one hand, most people report that they are happy when asked by pollsters – up to 80% in most developed countries. On the other hand, psychological studies and various reports don’t share such a bright picture. The following things make happiness a problem:

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The Mystery of God and the Brain

By Deepak Chopra, M.D., FACP and Jordan Flesher, BA Psychology

As science has steadily undermined the long-held beliefs of religion, almost all that remains for people of faith is to say that God is and will forever be a mystery. Insofar as Einstein was religious, he possessed a feeling of awe and wonder at the mystery of the universe. But science hasn’t stopped chipping away at mystery, promising to reduce spiritual experience to measurable brain activity. It’s doubtful that belief in God, the soul, heaven and hell, and other tenets of faith will be drastically affected – polls continue to show that these things remain articles of belief for around 80-90% of responders.

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Wireless Sensors Used to Study Meditation’s Effect on Heart Health

STSI teams with Chopra Foundation, Chopra Center in innovative research

Can meditation improve heart health by lowering blood pressure? Does it help relieve chronic pain? Should doctors prescribe meditation to some patients just as they do with pharmaceutical drugs?

Using leading-edge wireless technology that can track vital signs like never before, researchers with the Scripps Translational Science Institute have teamed with renowned physician Deepak Chopra to shed light on some of the mystery that still surrounds this ancient practice. Read the news release for more information. (more…)