What is Consciousness?

My definition of Consciousness is awareness of what's going on around us and what's going on within us. Here's one way of looking at it:

Suppose we are all in a large room, which is full of furniture: There are tables, chairs, sofas, stools, etc. And we have to get from one corner of this room to the opposite one. Let's say the lights are extremely dim and it's difficult to see anything. We start walking towards where we think our destination lies, and as we progress, we don't see very well so we start bumping into things, we crack our shins, we trip over objects, we smack into stuff. It's a painful journey and we really can't tell if we are going in the right direction or if we are making any progress at all.

Now, suppose that some of us get to undertake this same journey but with the lights turned on. We see the obstacles, we see shortcuts, we see where we should be headed and the journey is much easier.

Well, consciousness is like the light. With more of it, life is easier. Those with a relatively low level of consciousness, have a life filled with more fear, pain, anger, shame, guilt, grief, resentment, dis-ease and many other depressing emotional states. On the other hand, those with a relatively expanded degree of consciousness live in a reality involving more peace, love, joy, trust, optimism, kindness, abundance, cooperation, generosity, ease, etc.

Incidentally, those with a very high degree of consciousness are referred to as en-lightened, meaning they have more available light and they see more of the bigger picture than the rest of us.

So, against that background, I have created a series of podcasts in which I showcase those who, in my opinion, are expanding our consciousness, shedding more light and helping us to evolve. You can tune in to these podcasts by going to: http://www.peterhdennis.com/Podcasts.php.

In future articles, I'll be talking about some of the things that are holding our consciousness back as well as about some of the things we can do to expand it. You can also find this information in my book on Spirituality, which you can see along with its many reviews on my website at www.peterhdennis.com.