Tues 11th Feb - Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness [RECORDING]

Following on naturally from the last week's discussion on dissociation, Tues 11th of Feb focused on Mind at Large.

The recording is at the bottom of this page.

This isn't true everywhere, but in our meetings, Bernardo makes a careful distinction between 'Mind at Large' and Universal Consciousness.

This is really important to understand or a lot of the conversation won't make sense!

For a quick recap, you can read below watch this, or both!

In this session we covered:

• Clarifying Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness and the hierarchies of dissociation
• “The physical universe” as an abstraction: a model based on many experiences
• Momentary vs self-sustaining dissociations
• Is the boundary or our alters the skin or the central nervous system?
• What does beauty signify in Mind at Large? 
• Why are we conscious but not a rock? (what is a thing?)
• Is the microbiome a part of us, or a separate alter?

Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness

Universal Consciousness is the ultimate substrate, pure being, consciousness itself.

It is the potential to have experience.

Metaphorically, you can think of it like an ocean which is totally still - pure being. When it starts to move, some waves (proto thoughts/ideas/emotions) appear. The excitation of Universal Consciousness is experience.

Now imagine each wave rises and falls seamlessly in response to movements of the whole ocean.

But some of these experiences, instead of waves seamlessly rising and falling within the whole, turn around themselves, like a whirlpool.

The activity within the whirlpool is seemingly cut off from the activity of the rest of the ocean. It is still an activity of the ocean. But compared to the waves, it is 'doing its own thing.'

This whirlpool is what Bernardo calls an 'alter.' A dissociated part of the whole. Bernardo believes that alters correspond to what we identify as living beings. It is the reason that although there is just one consciousness, you seem to have thoughts that are private to you, and I seem to have thoughts that are private to me.

The remaining "larger" part of the ocean outside the whirlpools is what we are calling Mind at Large. It corresponds to the physical world: the mountains, the stars, the galaxies.

But remember, both alter and Mind at Large are appearances within Universal Consciousness.

The whirlpool is a movement of the ocean.

The waves are a movement of the ocean.

Whirlpools are "dissociated" from waves, but not dissociated from the ocean. So Alters are dissociated from Mind at Large, but neither are dissociated from Universal Consciousness.

A whirlpool is universal consciousness whirlpooling.

A wave is universal consciousness waving.

Universal Consciousness = Mind at Large + All Alters.

Perception and Action:

Although a whirlpool seems to do its own thing, the activity of the waves will impinge on the whirlpool - this is what we call perception.

The world brushing up against the boundary of dissociation becomes represented on the screen of perception as colours, sounds, smells representing the activity of Mind at Large.

Equally, the activity of the whirlpools will in small ways affect the surrounding waves - this is how we affect the world around us.

So we also perceive the many ways in which other whirlpools, other beings, have impinged upon the world and make their presence felt:

To repeat, Mind at Large refers to all the experiences of Universal Consciousness that are not within the alters. It is the shared world we experience as the mountains, the planets and the stars.

So you could think of Mind at Large almost like an entity itself, like an alter.

Universal consciousness is the substrate that underlies all alters. The substrate in which all the activity we call living beings and the universe take place.

Remember, the waves and whirlpools are an imperfect metaphor, but hopefully one that helps to understand the terminology.

I'm sure this generates lots of questions for you, which is why we are so lucky to have these meetings with Bernardo!

Amir

Recording of the session: