Consciousness, the TRUE Intelligence

By Lori Lines

Navigating your way through the daily rigors of life, it is easy to become bound to the ticking hands on the clock and the finite existence they represent. Unfortunately, the demands of modern life make taking a pause for reflection seem like a luxury many can’t seem to afford.  What if you took this moment as a gift? A moment to release the shackles of chronological time and reflect on your timeless nature. You are more than your name, job, and to-do list…You are your consciousness, which is infinite.
 
With no name other than the great “I am,” it can be challenging to conceive of, let alone define consciousness. So, let’s begin with what it isn’t. Your consciousness isn’t your anxious, fearful, angry, doubtful, or ever-chattering thoughts. It does not live in the past, or project into the future. The only time you can fully embody your consciousness is the present. Consciousness is now and exists on an infinite spectrum of “nows”.
 
Consciousness is authentic intelligence, and yet it is not the mind, an important distinction to make. You have been conditioned your whole life to believe the mind is the seat of intelligence. However, the mind is like a computer or smartphone’s artificial intelligence. The mind’s intelligence is based on schemas and conditioning, its own type of artificial intelligence. The mind can only know what it has been taught, whereas consciousness has innate wisdom and understanding.

Like a binary operating system that recognizes only 1’s and 0’s, the mind only recognizes what it can experience through the five senses. If the mind cannot see, touch, hear, taste, or smell something, it does not recognize it. The mind has been conditioned to dismiss non-experiential input, only deeming tangible experiences as factual, real, or meaningful.

Of course, your mind serves a purpose, helping you navigate through life, preparing food, driving a car, reading this text. Yet, like your car, it is a tool. Just because it helps you get from one task or location to another doesn’t mean it is you. People who become overly aligned with the mind are unknowingly led by the ego.
 
The ego, whose existence serves to protect only itself, is sustained by the chattering thoughts of the mind. When we align who we are with what we think, the ego is maintained. The comparison-loving, attention-seeking ego is misaligned with the stillness of consciousness. The ego feels a kinship with the busyness of the mind. The ceaseless prattle of the over-empowered mind swells the ego with importance. In a society where people wear busyness, no matter how superficial, like a badge, the more overthinking the mind does, the more secure the ego feels.
 
Ego-death is instrumental in the process of spiritual growth because while the ego portrays itself as who you are, it is an impediment to connecting with your true self. Your mind’s idle chatter distracts you from confronting your pain body and shadow self, unearthing wounds and truths that allow you to ascend towards enlightenment, undermining your ego’s very existence!

Consciousness, on the other hand, is secure. It lies within you and is you. Pervading every aspect of who you are, yet so much more, consciousness is self-sustained. From this life to the next, your consciousness is the only enduring part of who you are. With nothing to prove and beyond any comparison, consciousness doesn’t yearn for attention and acknowledgment like the insecure ego. Therefore, unlike ego that constantly seeks your attention, you must seek consciousness out, searching for it in a world whose chaos can drown it out and obscure it with a vast accumulation of "knowledge."
 
Where is consciousness found? You can find it in the present moment, shining brightly through breaks in the mind’s noisiness. The more glimpses you get of consciousness, the more you will intuitively seek its peace, wisdom, and power. The source of infinite intelligence and irrefutable truth, all members of humanity must awaken to consciousness or be left behind, imprisoned by the walls of the mind that the ego so steadfastly guards.
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While many may feel lost and afraid when first encountering the stillness of consciousness, it is only the fleeting cries of the ego, fearful of its own demise! The ego will try to mislead you into believing that, because you are your mind, its silence belies your existence. That the end of the unceasing stream of thought is indicative of the death of your personhood. When in fact, it is the gentle stirring of your authentic self. The illuminating dawn of consciousness heralding a brand-new day and existence!

In love and truth,
Lori Lines
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