UG & Consciousness - An Introduction (Full Article available as PDF Download)

The Holy Grail of Science: Consciousness

Cognitive Scientist is someone who is devoted to the pursuit of 'consciousness', trying to fathom its biological roots (or the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC)) within the dense brain tissue of 86 billion neurons. 

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary domain and cognitive scientists come from any of the major disciplines of science or humanities. They include neuroscientists, neurologists, molecular biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, linguists, anthropologists etc. trying to decipher 'consciousness', the holy grail of modern science.

The big question for these scientists is, "What is the 'biology of consciousness'? Or what is the 'biology of experience'? In other words, what is the reality behind experience of the 'redness' of the rose, or 'coldness' of ice, or the 'bitterness' of neem etc.?

Any gadget, any instrument or device, any software or algorithm, any mathematical or computational theory, any AI model, any test or experiment, in short, any trick in the world that could give away a clue to the challenging phenomenon of consciousness is being intensely pursued by researchers at advanced laboratories around the globe.

This is a completely scientific undertaking unlike the religious or spiritual quest that is about 'what is the 'agency' of experience?' The spiritual seeker, unlike the scientist, asks questions bordering on the mystical or the mysterious, 'Who is the 'experiencer'? Is there a 'soul' or 'spirit'? What is the 'entity' that is 'experiencing'?

It is sacrilege for the scientist to think of any 'agent' or 'experiencer' or 'ghost in the machine'. The scientist, therefore, seeks answers strictly within the boundaries of scientific possibility or explanation. For him or her, the answer should lie in simple and pure physical reality, the be-all and end-all of science.

     

            Physical reality, remember, is not just about 'matter' but also of 'energy' with its underlying quantum world of atomic and subatomic particles or waves. Reality remains an intriguing and inexplicable challenge to both scientists and philosophers. Matter and energy form different expressions of the self-same reality, two sides of the same coin as Einstein established masterfully in the expression E = mc2, where 'E' is energy, 'm' is mass (matter) and 'c', the speed of light.

            After somewhat establishing the correlates of 'energy and matter', the scientists are now determined to go after yet another formidable challenge , 'consciousness and its reality'.

            David Chalmers, the Australian philosopher has termed 'consciousness' as the 'hard problem' of cognitive science, and rightly so.

" The really hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When we think and perceive, there is a whir of information-processing, but there is also a subjective aspect...

 

It is widely agreed that experience arises from a physical basis, but we have no good explanation of why and how it so arises. Why should physical processing give rise to such a rich inner life at all? It seems objectively unreasonable that it should, and yet it does." (1990)

 

— David Chalmers (1990)

    The 'soft problem', of cognitive science, on the other hand, is related to the functions or roles of various modules within the cortical and subcortical structures of the brain and their interrelations or interactions. This is considered 'soft' as it is relatively easier to establish these 'observable' phenomena either scientifically or clinically. No wonder, enormous progress has already been made in many of these areas.

         Thanks to brain science, we now know many facts about the brain modules. For example, we know where our 'language' modules are located. The left half of the brain (cerebral cortex) houses the two key speech modules - one, the Broca's area responsible for formation of a sentence and two, the Warnicke's area responsible for production of actual speech. Both these areas have to coordinate in order to produce the final speech coming through our vocal cords. (The-lobes-of- the-brain-diagram/)

        Incidentally, the 'rational mind' or the 'human intellect' or the 'thought processor' or the 'knowledge cruncher', call it what you may, doing all the 'heavy lifting' including problem solving, reading, writing, math, logic, reasoning, analysis, dialectic thinking or any cognitive task to do with survival in our sophisticated society or cultural environment is linked to the left half of the brain wherein the language and speech processing modules are located.

         Thanks to the 'cultural conditioning' including our upbringing and education, the left brain (or the thinking brain) seems to be more dominant, the one calling the shots rather than the right brain (or the empathising brain), says the Scottish scientist Dr. Iain McGilchrist. He also adds,

"A way of thinking which is reductive, mechanistic has taken us over, we behave like people who have right hemisphere damage." 

— Iain McGilchrist (The Divided Brain)

"The left hemisphere's goal is to enable us to manipulate things (narrow outlook), whereas the goal of the right hemisphere is to relate to things and understand them as a whole (holistic outlook).

 

Two ways of thinking that are both needed but are fundamentally at the same time incompatible."

 

— Iain McGilchrist (CBC Radio)

Now, where does UG come into all this?

           Ironically, the brain science has made enormous progress through findings or takeaways derived from neurological disorders or tragic accidents resulting in brain damage. Disease or damage has come across as more revelatory about the workings or complexities of the brain than the study of a normal, healthy brain.

        Cognitive science has attempted to find the biological basis for many inexplicable phenomena like the OBE (out of the body experience), RHI (rubber hand illusion) or 'phantom limbs' (experiencing pain in the amputated limb) or 'xenomelia'('foreign limb syndrome' or refusal to see your hand as yours but belonging to someone else) and other disorders falling under the broad spectrum of 'subjective experiences'.

        UG's uncanny insights and observations about the intriguing phenomena like mind, experience, consciousness etc. force us to revisit, rethink or reevaluate our understanding of phenomenological realities.

        The case of UG is extraordinary and unique and he challenges many of our scientific and philosophical assumptions especially with regard to 'subjective experience'. His many observations and also his state of biological functioning (the Natural State) offers some powerful counterfactuals, contradicting many phenomenological facts that we unquestioningly assume or accept as true.

         UG's uncanny ability and authority to articulate and elucidate the 'matters of mind' is well known. This has everything to do with his 'death and resurrection' (he called it the 'calamity') on his 49th birthday. You could visit the Mystique of Enlightenment online to read UG describing his 'calamity' in his own words.

         The freakish death 'event', amongst other things, seemed to be a psychological 'reset' that wiped out the 'psychological identity' called 'UG'. His physiology including all of the sense organs underwent tremendous changes and began to function with great vigour and heightened sensitivity.

        It is important to note here that this was purely the physical organism falling into its primal natural rhythm or resonance of its own. We must remember that the event did not result in any pathological consequences or complications for UG.

        More importantly, post 'death and resurrection', UG continued to remain in pink of physical and psychological health, all through the remaining four decades of his earthly sojourn, with absolutely no hint of any condition suggesting disorders like autism, dementia etc. No suggestion of delusion either.

        'Calamity', in no way, affected UG's social life or his seasonal worldwide travels. Hale and hearty, bubbling with vim, vigour and vitality, he was a real human dynamo till his demise at the ripe age of 89.

        His final act was to invite his close friends from across the globe, to bid them goodbye. He passed away quietly in Vallecrosia, Italy on the 22nd of March 2007. His most trusted lieutenant, the Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt was by his side to ensure that the final parting remained a low-key, anonymous non-event as per the wishes of the diseased.

        'Calamity' had flushed away the 'acquired conditioning' or the 'cultural roots', releasing UG from the clutches of 'human thought' (the cumulative experience and knowledge of humanity over centuries), unleashing the life energy to express itself fully and naturally. He used to refer to it as the 'Natural State' and emphasised that it is the primal state of every human being freed from the clutches of 'cultural conditioning'. UG maintained that Thought is your enemy.

        Thought has two different facets - the functional and the sentimental.

     Driving a car, cooking a meal, fixing a computer, performing day-to-day commercial, technical transactions are all functional aspects. Here, thought plays a beneficial role.

And, embracing a perverted ideology, following a cult, pursuing self-serving agenda could all prove divisive and destructive. Here 'thought becomes our enemy.'

NOTE: To read the full article visit online flipbook at this link: 

UG & Consciousness - An Introduction

Or as a PDF downloadable file: UG & Cognitive Science -An Intro

"It is neither physical nor psychological transformation" ~ UG

JK and UGK -The Anarchist Duo

    The current audio clip has been sourced from two separate recordings of UG's conversations. Here, UG is on a mission to set the record straight about some of his statements in the book, 'The Mystique of Enlightenment'. 

    Post the 'calamity' (death and resurrection) on his 49th birthday, 'UG' (or 'the personal identity') lost all the moorings, the physiology shifted gears to the 'neutral' or the 'declutched state' falling into its own natural rhythm. Heightened sensitivity, awareness and vitality became the default mode of functioning. 

    For lack of a better description, UG labelled the 'new normal' as the 'Natural State'.  This entire happening was later captured in his own words and published in the book, 'The Mystique of Enlightenment'. 

    The 'calamity' happened in Saanen in Switzerland. It was a sheer coincidence that his namesake, Jiddu Krishnamurti (JK), the world-renowned philosopher happened to be in Saanen at the same time. He was there on a lecture tour. There happened to be some common friends between the two Krishnamurtis  who shuttled between the two camps. For them, UG having gone through 'calamity' was the 'new kid on the block', a new philosopher of sorts, singing an altogether different song about the fascinating Natural State.

    For common friends, the 'JK lingo' was part of their daily diet. UG found it difficult to express his 'calamity' to such minds drunk high on JK's intellectually intoxicating stock phrases and expressions. UG decided to go the other way, avoiding all platforms and discussions, he started describing the physiological changes seen in the Natural State. For the limited audience, this was an entirely new dimension into reality. This was in total contrast to JK's intellectual 'armchair trips' or 'journeys' or 'voyages on uncharted seas' to inquire into the 'unknown'. 

    JK, to his credit, was the first ever thinker to completely brush aside all kinds of religious or spiritual overtones in any inquiry into reality. He encouraged fearless, independent inquiry. He debunked churches or crutches of all kinds, discouraging recourse to a beaten path or technique or teacher. 

    JK's was a commendable feat, a tremendous achievement given the vicious grip of tradition or culture over the human mind for centuries upon centuries. He, for the first time, in modern times, singularly dismantled the deep religious or cultural structures, nay, their very foundations, loosening their vicious grip over our minds. Many tasted their 'first freedom' and savoured the power in JK's enchanting words to inquire into reality beyond the boundaries of any known religion or tradition. 

    JK's approach was refreshingly different and intellectually invigorating. JK had managed to brilliantly put together one of the finest and the most refined vocabulary to date to facilitate probing or inquiry. His audiences were mainly those who were fed up with the status quo. Revolting, daring and intellectual minds from all walks of life eagerly welcomed and embraced JK's new lingo. His talks were appealing, seductive and intellectually stimulating.  

    Dissection and analysis were the essential ingredients of a regular JK diet. With JK on the dais, there was always the magical element of anticipation in the audience of some great adventure. It was the feeling of being on an airplane about to take-off. The engines roared and the airplane gathered enormous speed, rolling on and on... but for some strange reason, the plane failed to lift off. In aviation parlance, this is known as an RTO (rejected take off) when the plane returns to the gate. This happened time and time again. 

    JK's overemphasis on analysis, verbosity and generalisation brought home intellectual weariness and exhaustion. Also, his catchy abstractions - 'the flight of the eagle', 'first and the last freedom', 'the mind will come upon that which is 'sacred' and 'nameless' - all bordered on the poetical and mystical. In fact, these odysseys and discussions added more and more layers of intellectual and mystical baggage running contrary to JK's own idea of 'freedom from the 'known'. 

    After listening to JK for years and his umpteen references to the mystical - like the 'unknown', the 'sacred', the 'religious', the 'nameless' etc., the intellectually exhausted sought a new kind of freedom," the freedom from JK's 'unknowns'." 

   (An aside: I too was a die-hard JK freak, 'haunted' by JK every waking moment of my life for years that completely wrecked my academic life. In a strange climactic moment, one fine morning, as I stood alone on a terrace, JK simply got flushed out of my system, once and for all, leaving no trace behind, I tasted 'last(ing) freedom' from an extraordinary man who had 'possessed' me during the most youthful years of my life.)

    UG too had his share of 'one on one' exchanges with JK. They had a similar background; both were part of the Theosophical Society of India. UG pushed back and revolted against all those mystical 'abstractions' and demanded clarity. Between them they had many heated exchanges but for some reason, JK was not very forthcoming. 

    Many followers of JK (UG began to refer to them as JK's widows), after listening to JK for years, realised they were stuck on square one. 

    In this audio clip, UG accepts that it was JK's overemphasis on the 'psychological' or the 'intellectual' that had initially pushed him to revolt with his own counter narrative with emphasis on the 'physiological'. He gracefully acknowledges that while doing so, he may, in fact, have gone overboard. And offers this necessary correction.

    In the clip, UG rubbishes the very idea of 'transformation', either physical or psychological. And maintains that it is only a concept or notion, with no basis or reality,

    " Any time anybody throws a sentence at me from the book, I tear that book even at the risk of people calling me you are inconsistent. I don't want to talk about the mistake (mystique) of enlightenment, the description, it is (actually) neither physical nor psychological transformation. 

    That book gives the impression that it is more physiological than a psychological one. 

    At that time, I was surrounded by these (Jiddu) Krishnamurti freaks in Saanen. They were throwing all those phrases at me, the 'Krishnamurtian lingo'. So, I had to answer that way. 

    But even that, it is neither physiological nor psychological because there is nothing there to be transformed, so, this (physiological transformation) is also misleading, that has to be corrected by me."

Natural State or 'unconditioned consciousness'

    UG has remained largely ambivalent about the loaded term, 'consciousness', sometimes using it as a synonym for 'life', sometimes denying or debunking it, treating it as a pure mental construct.

    But here is UG's rare take on 'consciousness':  

    " This consciousness which is functioning in me, in you, in the garden slug and earthworm outside, is the same.

    You have no way at all of finding out for yourself the seat of human consciousness (brain etc.), because it is all over, and you are not separate from that consciousness.

    All the experiences - not necessarily just your experiences during your span of thirty, forty or fifty years, but the animal consciousness, the plant consciousness, the bird consciousness -- all that is part of this consciousness. " 

                                                                      ~ UG (The Mystique of Enlightenment) 

    In this light, 'primordial consciousness' means 'life' or 'essence', beyond the bounds of all experience - animal, plant, bird or human. It remains untouched or uncontaminated by any 'conditioning'. Nothing, no thought or knowledge or experience can ever taint its pristine purity. 

    Compare that definition of 'primordial consciousness' with UG's description of the Natural State: 

 " Then thought cannot link up. The linking gets broken, and once it is broken it is finished. Then it is not once that thought explodes; every time a thought arises, it explodes. So, this continuity comes to an end and thought falls into its natural rhythm." 

                                                                     ~UG (The Mystique of Enlightenment)

    UG's descriptions of the Natural State and the 'primordial consciousness' provide us a tiny little glimpse into what he refers to as 'calamity'. 

    'Calamity' or whatever happened to him and so many others perhaps was just the restoration of the 'primordial consciousness' or the 'unconditioned consciousness ' that always exists including in each and every one of us.

    " This kind of a thing 'must have happened' to so many people. " ~ UG

    " Hundreds of people - 'probably something happened' to so many hundreds of people. This is part of history -- so many rishis, some Westerners, monks, so many women, and sometimes very strange things..." ~ UG

    Natural State or the state of original 'unconditioned consciousness' presupposes no 'linking of thoughts', no 'continuity of thought' and therefore, the absence of any 'psychological identity' or 'thinker' or the 'I' or the 'self'. 

Conditioned Consciousness - the ' self ' and 'psychological time'

    It is important to remember that conditioning is very essential for our functioning or survival in the environment. Conditioning involves experience and learning and is all about memorisation and sensitisation. All life forms undergo conditioning or adaptation to survive and avoid natural threats or hazards like fire or predators etc. 

    Like the animals, humans too are conditioned and sensitised to various threats in the natural environment. But apart from 'physical conditioning', humans undergo the 'cultural conditioning' for functioning in a social or cultural setting. Yes, humans face not only the physical threats but also psychological threats in the form of enmity, fear, uncertainty, anxiety, hatred, war etc. 

   Cultural conditioning, therefore, is essential but there are many undesirable consequences including psychological distortions, illusions and delusions that wreak havoc.

    One of the outcomes of cultural conditioning is the solidification and stratification of thought or the 'buildup of human knowledge'. This is passed on from generation to generation. UG suggests that this collective human knowledge creates a powerful 'field of thought' that always surrounds us and envelops us. He calls it the 'thought sphere'.  

    Whenever there is 'thinking', there is the 'movement of knowledge' or some mental activity like fetching, sorting, recalling, reasoning or recognising etc. This 'movement of knowledge', according to UG, is behind the illusion of the 'self' or the 'I'. 

    'I' is akin to the illusion of a 'shadow' that has no basis or independent existence. As long as there is light, there is shadow and as long as there is thinking, there is the 'I'. 

    Sages like Sri Ramana, UG, Nisargadutta summarily dismiss psychological identity as an illusion, a mere simulation born of cultural conditioning. 'I' is a virtual reality, like a 'character' in a videogame that takes on a life of its own, distinct and separate from physical or biological reality. 

    Apart from the illusion of a psychological identity, conditioning fabricates yet another powerful illusion, the idea of 'psychological time'.

    Thought is memory. When an event occurs, it gets memorised giving rise to the notion of 'cause' and 'effect' (as in 'smoke and fire'). UG explains that this notion of 'cause and effect' projects the virtual reality of time, the 'psychological time'.  

    The notion of time (or the timeline) runs as a common thread through all of the memorised events. We can't think of event without time, the time of occurrence. Time helps to 'mark' or 'link' or 'connect' independent or isolated events to create a running commentary or autobiography. This is the mechanism behind all rumination or 'talking to oneself' about yesterdays and tomorrows. 

   The more we cling to society, the more we invest in society, the more we participate in society, the deeper is the 'cultural conditioning', the more entrenched and stubborn the 'self'. 

    The powerful illusion of the 'I', the 'time' and the 'autobiography' is the tyranny of the 'conditioned consciousness'.   

                                                                ****  

 Death' of steel is the 'rebirth' of iron

    The most debilitating symptom of cultural conditioning is a deep sense of restlessness, a nagging discontent, a constant disturbance in the psycho-physical complex that eats into our vitals. This is because our true reality, as per UG and many other sages, is the original 'unconditioned nature' or the 'Natural State'. 

    UG describes cultural conditioning as a superimposed reality, an artificial imposition, a tyranny that distorts our original nature by forcing us to embrace unnatural ways of living through the dictates of its value-system. 

    The Natural State, our original reality never stops goading us or beckoning to us. This is a call from the depths of one's being to 'return to the source' or to return to one's true or essential nature. 

    As long as we chase after non-existing psychological goals like happiness, fulfilment etc. or spiritual pursuits like God, enlightenment etc. we remain 'conditioned' or enslaved under the tyranny or dictates of culture. The goals lure us away from the 'source' leaving us conflicted, restless and frustrated. 

     Our story is not very different from the 'conditioning' of iron into steel. 

    Natural iron is abundant in nature. And steel is a 'conditioned' form of iron, an alloy of iron and carbon fused at very high temperatures. 

    If steel is out in the open, it is subject to weather conditions or natural elements, it then begins to rust. Rusting is the 'reversion' of steel back to its original form of iron, a completely natural process. 

    In other words, death of steel is the rebirth or the resurrection of iron. This is the magic of nature. Perhaps herein lies the golden key - going back to nature, going back to the source is to recover one's true nature. 

   Calamity or death, as in the case of UG, perhaps is akin to the death of steel. And like the rusting away of steel, the withering away of the 'conditioned mind' (the 'withering away of the will' ~UG) seems to be the rebirth of the natural or the original or the real human. 

Audio Clip

Audio Transcription

UG: I am telling you that I made the biggest mistake in that book, the Mystique of Enlightenment to emphasize and overemphasize the physical side of it in contradistinction to what ( Jiddu ) Krishnamurti was talking about.

Only Krishnamurti freaks visited me in those days, they were throwing all the garbage at me, psychological garbage.

So, I had to emphasize this, overemphasize that this is only a physical thing.

But it is neither a physical transformation nor a psychological transformation.

It is useless to talk of it as a physical transformation or a psychological transformation because there is nothing there to be transformed.

So, what is left? What is left here is the physical functioning of this body, that is what I am describing.

~ ~ ~ ~

UG: My mission is to tear apart, that is what I am doing. Any time anybody throws a sentence at me from the book, I tear that apart even at the risk of people calling me you are inconsistent.

I don't want to talk about the mystique of enlightenment, the description. It is neither physical nor psychological transformation. 

So that book gives the impression that it is more physiological than a psychological one.

At that time, I was surrounded by these (Jiddu) Krishnamurti freaks in Saanen.

They were throwing all those phrases at me - the Krishnamurtian lingo. So, I had to answer that way. But even that, it is neither physiological nor psychological because there is nothing there to be transformed. 

So, this is also misleading, that has to be corrected by me, not for pristine purity or anything. I am not interested.

But I have been doing great injustice to myself and to the people who hang around me by allowing that at all, no!

Q: But what do you say about the physiological changes that occurred then?

UG: That is a side effect, is the shifting of balance, that's all.