How Conscious Are You?

Anger, aggression, pride, grief, fear, hatred, apathy, lust, pleasure, these are examples of various emotions that we feel from time to time. Sometimes we might wonder why we feel such emotions, but usually we come to the conclusion that it is external factors that make us feel that way. However, contrary to popular belief, it is actually the workings of our own minds in reaction to those external factors. Sounds confusing? Well, first you must know that the mind consists of the conscious and the subconscious. Most of our behavior is controlled by our subconscious mind rather than our conscious mind. Most of our emotions are a result of the subconscious mind pulling the strings of the body. Emotions enhance our ability to evaluate our environment thus increasing our chances of survival. Without our conscious mind, we would be controlled completely by our subconscious mind; our genes or cells piloting us to their will, whatever their will is. Our conscious mind is what allows us free will. Life is no longer just simple fight or flight because of our consciousness. However, I can say with a great degree of confidence that, everyone safe for a handful of people do not actually use much of their consciousness. These people(myself included) allow themselves to be controlled by their emotions, giving in to workings of their subconsciousness. Because of that, they allow others(also controlled by their subconsciousness) to manipulate them, simply by playing on their emotions. Fear, one of the most commonly experienced emotions, is also one of the most commonly exploited ones. Other emotions, such as pleasure, also play a huge part in determining which decisions we make in our lives. However, not all emotions are the workings of the subconscious mind only, there exists emotions that are a result of conflict between the subconscious and conscious minds, and emotions that are from the conscious mind only.

There are 17 levels of consciousness as given by David R. Hawkins in his book Power vs Force. Most emotions classify into these different states of consciousness. From the lowest to the highest, it basically means how much you actually use your conscious mind. We usually experience few states of consciousness at once, and we might fluctuate between different levels at different parts of our lives.

Firstly, the lowest levels of consciousness. These are what I would call the levels of subconsciousness. If you are living in these states of consciousness then you are probably living subconsciously.

Shame - Shame is actually a result of the conflict between consciousness and subconsciousness, however it ends in the triumph of the subconsciousness over the consciousness. It is a state of self-hatred where people feel they have violated social values or standards imposed upon them by others. It basically means hating yourself because you fail to meet standards that others place on you. Most people are this level are contemplating suicide. They have concluded that the only possible happiness is by eliminating the feelings of displeasure that perpetuate their lives. It is the lowest of consciousness because it defies even the purpose that emotions are for, to enhance one's survival.

Guilt - Very similar to shame, but people who experience guilt usually feel that way because they they feel they violated self-imposed values or standards.

Apathy - Apathy is a state of indifference where an individual has an absence of interest or concern to certain aspects of emotional, social, or physical life. These are the ignorant people, people who only seek to experience self pleasure without a care for anything else in the world, sometimes even for their own personal welfare. Hardcore video gamers, drug addicts, smokers usually belong here.

Grief - Grief is a state of sadness and loss. This is where an individual mourns over a loss of something close or important to him and does nothing but that.

Fear - One of the most important survival tools. However, living in the state of fear basically means fearing too much such that it interferes with your ability to make decisions consciously.

Desire - This is a state of addiction and lust. The individual is capable of thinking consciously but he chooses to let his subconscious desires get the better of him, and sets his goals towards achieving these desires. Very similar to apathy, however it is different to apathy because the individual is actually capable of using his conscious mind.

Anger - This is a state of frustration. The individual blames others for his own weakness, then seeks to eliminate his source of frustrations. However this is a needed emotion for self-improvement, although the individual might be stuck in hatred.

Pride - This is a state of pleasure, however it is dependent on external factors for the pleasure so it is vulnerable. Think materialism or religious fundamentalism. Selfish love also goes here; people might think that their love is in fact selfless but it is not(refer to previous posts). Most people might perceive pleasure to be happiness and get stuck at this level. This is also a state of refusal to be humiliated, to think that the beliefs and abilities of the self is better than everyone else.

The following are mostly a result of the conflict between the conscious and subconscious mind, usually ending in the triumph of the consciousness over the subconsciousness.

Courage - This is a state of self-improvement. This is where one finally picks up courage to improve himself regardless of the subconscious emotions that he might be feeling. The individual begins to drift away from the subconscious, self-driven thinking, and starts to do things that goes against the subconsciousness. For example: helping others etc. Note: Courage and fearlessness are 2 different things, courage usually involves self-sacrifice for others, however fearlessness is self-sacrifice for self only, think of it as pride.

Neutrality - This is a state where the individual is going through a relaxed pace, or just getting by. He has nothing to prove, thus he gets along well with other people. The individual is taking care of his emotional needs, however he does not push himself too hard. There is room for self-improvement, however the individual is contend with himself thus he improves himself rather slowly.

Willingness - This is a state of determination in self-improvement. This is similar to courage but in this state simply improving or getting by is not enough, instead the individual strives for the best. This is where the consciousness starts to become disciplined and organized.

Acceptance - This is similar to anger, however the individual attributes problems to himself instead of others and starts to work towards improvement. This is a state where the individual understands and accepts things the way it is.

The following states are where the individual starts to reject most if not all of the subconscious emotions.

Reason - This is a state where the individual is capable of using the conscious mind to reason and to think clearly and rationally. When you reach this level, you become capable of using your reasoning abilities to their fullest extent. You begin to look at the world around you identify problems and start trying to change the world for the better.

Love - This is a state of selfless and unconditional love or compassion.

Joy - This is a state of true happiness. This is happiness from within, not dependent on any external factors.

Peace - This is a state of inner peace. There is no longer a need to worry for the future.

Enlightenment - This is the highest state of consciousness. This is where the individual begins to understand the workings of everything. This is where the individual is totally free from any fear or suffering. This is where the consciousness completely overthrows the subconscious emotions controlling the body. Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha is a very notable person that attained enlightenment.

Some of these levels of consciousness might overlap each other, however the general model can be seen. Do not misinterpret though, for I'm not advocating that our life should be spent trying to move up the consciousness ladder, nor am I advocating that this is a model of right and wrong, but this is just a model for self-reflection. Only by mastering your own emotions will you be able to stop getting manipulated by others or will you cease to experience suffering. For me, I'm stuck in levels of anger and pride, what about you? How conscious are you? What rules your body? Your subconscious emotions or YOU?