What Is Consciousness - Air Institute of Realization

Am I consciousness? If I am not the body, and I am not the mind, then what am I? Both science and spirituality have concluded that I am energy. But for me to believe that I am energy – it is not easy. How do I comprehend energy? For me to define electricity is so difficult without the help of a gadget or instrument like a bulb. With the help of a bulb, I can easily understand what electricity is, as it flows through a filament to give light. While we understand energy that comes from electricity, it is strange that we don’t understand the energy that comes into a human body at birth and departs at death. While we are well aware of it, we have not invested time in spiritual experiments as we have on scientific ones. To explore energy in a human body, let us dwell a little on our consciousness. The energy in us is alive, but we go through phases of being conscious and unconscious. When we are conscious, our physical body is active, just as our subtle body or mind is also active. The energy in us makes us walk, talk and move. When the body goes to sleep, we lose consciousness, but our mind is still energized. Therefore, the mind subconsciously continues its existence in dreams. When we talk of consciousness, we seem to understand it so easily. But somehow we don’t understand it in the real sense. If you are conscious, you can listen to me, just as I can talk to you if I am conscious. We also understand that the body doesn’t forget to breathe when we sleep as our subconscious never stops. Man has not thought further. If we go a little deeper, we realize that we are the consciousness that departs at death. We are no more. Unlike at sleep, where we experience a different state of consciousness, when “I” die, the “me”– that is not the body and mind, but pure energy – leaves the body permanently. I can never regain consciousness because I am no more alive in the body.