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Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| January 2017 | Volume 8 | Issue 1 | pp. 51-55
Pereira, C. & Reddy, J. S. K., The Manifestation of Consciousness: Beyond & Within from Fundamental to Ubiquity
ISSN: 2153-8212
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research
Published by QuantumDream, Inc.
www.JCER.com
51
Essay
The Manifestation of Consciousness:
Beyond & Within from Fundamental to Ubiquity
Contzen Pereira* & J. S. K. Reddy
Abstract
Consciousness being the very source of subjective experience is needed for our life experiences,
for the working of our body, to perceive, to cognize, and to express. Agreeing to a fundamental
approach for consciousness is more about embracing the true understanding of consciousness
rather than avoiding it. Consciousness can, therefore, be located anywhere and everywhere, but
in a form that we do not understand until it takes shape within the limits of our reality. Monism
related approaches to consciousness are an act to run away from the problems associated with
dualism and therefore the need of the hour is a holistic sense of consciousness. Holistic
approaches to understand consciousness opens the doors to many versions of this unique
ubiquitous feature that we possess; that we do not understand, and that which gives us the ability
to go over and beyond emergence.
Keywords: Consciousness, manifestation, fundamental, ubiquity.
Introduction
The millions of forms are the manifestation of consciousness. It is the millions of
forms which get created and destroyed, but universal consciousness itself is
unborn and undying. Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1994, 32-33
The unique nature of consciousness is what makes it a fundamental and ubiquitous phenomenon
of existence. In a true sense, we are manifested forms of consciousness, and what we think we
are, is just what we carry as contents of our consciousness. Seeking consciousness is like looking
beyond oneself or rather beyond the universe and its source; for consciousness is a more primal
principle than its manifested forms. Since we are created in consciousness and experience
ourselves and the world around us as consciousness, it is difficult to understand and define
objectively what consciousness is; bestowing us with the liberty to only experience it
subjectively (Reddy and Pereira 2016a, b). Consciousness being the very source of subjective
experience is needed for our life experiences, for the working of our body, to perceive, to
cognize, and to express.
* Correspondence: Contzen Pereira, Independent Researcher, India. E-mail: contzen@rediffmail.com
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| January 2017 | Volume 8 | Issue 1 | pp. 51-55
Pereira, C. & Reddy, J. S. K., The Manifestation of Consciousness: Beyond & Within from Fundamental to Ubiquity
ISSN: 2153-8212
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research
Published by QuantumDream, Inc.
www.JCER.com
52
In its manifested states (i.e., limiting forms), it gets bounded within the domains of objective
experiences; this is when it expresses itself by means of the body and therefore can be attempted
to be understood within the limits of reductive scientism. The raw experience of consciousness
denied or called illusionary by many is the true essence of consciousness; qualia or the so called
hard problem of consciousness (Chalmers 2002). The reason of denial is mostly because it seems
difficult to prove and capture within the limits of science and scientific methods (Reddy and
Pereira 2016a,b).
“….It is because consciousness is unborn and undying that the millions of forms get
created and destroyed; it is a continuous process…Understand that……Only that in
which consciousness manifests itself is limited and is created and destroyed. The total
potential of consciousness remains. It is unlimited.” [Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1994, 32-33]
Science and Consciousness
“We as conscious beings are manifested forms of consciousness, looking at itself (in its
own ability), trying to study and understand its own nature.”
Considering consciousness to be fundamental helps us understand the ubiquity of consciousness,
wherein the many theories within and beyond the realms of science can be incorporated with this
factual understanding to build on the aspects associated with this phenomenon. Agreeing to a
fundamental approach for consciousness is more about embracing the true understanding of
consciousness rather than avoiding it. Consciousness as a fundamental unit opens up a more
holistic approach where the views of an atheist, theist, agonist, biologist, religious, physicist,
psychologist, socialist, neurologist, artist, poet, etc., can be accepted to understand the workings
and expressions of consciousness. In fact all these areas and disciplines of study are different
expressions of the contents of consciousness. This is where consciousness can be understood
from an objective sense as well as a subjective sense which may seem to originate from the brain,
but is expressed by the body; someday high sensitivity based tests could prove the existence of
this flow of the manifested form of consciousness (as energy). Manifested within the body, we
can perceive it as the experiential element in higher order forms; the existence of the experience
may be understood but the purpose of this experience will remain a mystery, just like that of
energy.
“Consciousness alone feels the expanse of consciousness........Whatever is known is
known by consciousness, is in the field of consciousness.” [Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1994,
31-32]
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| January 2017 | Volume 8 | Issue 1 | pp. 51-55
Pereira, C. & Reddy, J. S. K., The Manifestation of Consciousness: Beyond & Within from Fundamental to Ubiquity
ISSN: 2153-8212
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research
Published by QuantumDream, Inc.
www.JCER.com
53
One can otherwise think of the elusive nature of consciousness as analogous to that of pure
energy; where we are only able to understand its various aspects and properties in a relative
sense via its manifested forms, but still open to questions concerning the absolute nature of
energy (Coelho 2009). There is no sensible explanation as to why we lack the compact definition
for energy in science; as is the case with our present understanding of consciousness and its
various other aspects (Reddy and Pereira 2016c, d). This is because the fundamental
phenomenon always seems to be subtle and elusive in nature; which means they cannot be
objectified and modelled in the usual sense.
“Consciousness in its many forms could well be ubiquitous, even down to the simplest
of organisms.” [Trewavas and Baluska, 2011]
Consciousness can manifest itself during the formation of a single cell with an ability to enhance
its expressivity in multi-cellular beings (Pereira 2015). It is evident from the complexity of
evolved biological life that we see around us, where consciousness projects life and its playful
expressions over matter. At an atomic scale it supports the connections between atomic particles;
it forms the building blocks to maintain the structure but with no expression of life; this is its true
form. Being fundamental it is ubiquitous; ever prevailing and ever pervading. The existence of
consciousness supersedes the very essence of its existence where it exists in its form unknown.
The vividness of the animated form of consciousness spells out the beauty of consciousness
which increase with the complexity of the fractal nature of the universe (Reddy and Pereira
2016a, d). Organization is the key to fractal re-arrangement and just like the plasticity of the
brain reveals the plasticity of this ubiquitous consciousness. This fundamental unit has the ability
to build and store information that effortlessly repeats with no errors. Matter is therefore a
derivative of consciousness with the beauty to express and to understand the expression.
Consciousness can therefore be located anywhere and everywhere but in a form that we do not
understand until it takes shape within the limits of our reality.
“Manifestation needs time and space, but the source of [personalised] consciousness
was there before manifestation took place…” [Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1985, 86].
The duality of consciousness is always challenged wherein it seems more unlikely that it is dual.
The duality arises when matter is created but ultimately matter itself is a product of
consciousness or rather consciousness itself is a product of consciousness. This is a rational
approach in an irrational world which seems irrational because of the control of matter that is
falsely imposed on the consciousness that drives expression. The brain is one of the organs that
impart such falsification, wherein it imposes the essence of consciousness much before the
understanding of its existence; this pushes one to believe that consciousness is a derivative of the
brain. The fact is that the brain is derived from consciousness that supports its functioning just
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| January 2017 | Volume 8 | Issue 1 | pp. 51-55
Pereira, C. & Reddy, J. S. K., The Manifestation of Consciousness: Beyond & Within from Fundamental to Ubiquity
ISSN: 2153-8212
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research
Published by QuantumDream, Inc.
www.JCER.com
54
like any other organ in the body. It remains fixed and objectified with limitations and resistances
within the three-dimensions of matter.
Consciousness being fundamental makes it causal with realizations beyond dimensions and with
the freedom to manifest and understand the experience of its manifestation. The existence of
consciousness supersedes the essence of consciousness; it is not mystical or phenomenal, but
feels mystical and phenomenal; for its existence is its reality which is beyond the ability of the
most intelligent being – the human, to perceive. Consciousness therefore lies much before even
the creation of the self, the self is thus the creation of consciousness and is created with the
understanding of the ‘I’; the manifested or the manifestation creates the ‘I’ which wholly
depends on the consciousness consuming ability of the being.
“That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal
space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme
non-dual Brahman - that thou art.” [Adi Sankaracharya]
Conclusion
The ubiquitous and fundamental nature of consciousness makes it subtle and of central
importance where the manifestation takes place within the sea of its existence to shapes and
forms that brings out the beauty of consciousness. Monism related approaches to consciousness
are an act to run away from the problems associated with dualism and therefore the need of the
hour is a holistic sense of consciousness. Holistic approaches to understand consciousness opens
the doors to many versions of this unique feature that we possess that we do not understand, and
gives us the ability to go over and beyond emergence. Consciousness manifested is the
consciousness that can be observed through experience in both the subjective and objective sense.
The free form is purely subjective and is beyond the limitations of the human mind, as it needs to
be understood as whole and not in components, making it much more difficult to believe.
“I think consciousness will remain a mystery. Yes, that's what I tend to believe. I tend to
think that the workings of the conscious brain will be elucidated to a large extent.
Biologists and perhaps physicists will understand much better how the brain works. But
why something that we call consciousness goes with those workings, I think that will
remain mysterious. I have a much easier time imagining how we understand the Big
Bang than I have imagining how we can understand consciousness...” [Edward Witten,
2016]
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| January 2017 | Volume 8 | Issue 1 | pp. 51-55
Pereira, C. & Reddy, J. S. K., The Manifestation of Consciousness: Beyond & Within from Fundamental to Ubiquity
ISSN: 2153-8212
Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research
Published by QuantumDream, Inc.
www.JCER.com
55
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Maharaj Nisargadatta. Prior to Consciousness: Talks With Nisargadatta Maharaj
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Maharaj Nisargadatta. Consciousness and the Absolute: The Final Talks of
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