cladking
Well-Known Member
... China will get a typhoon next week.
Who knows what havoc will have been wrought and what perfection created by the time he gets to Mexico?
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... China will get a typhoon next week.
That is a need of the humans beings to rejuvenate/recharge one's energies with sleep to spend next 16 hours in full consciousness and in normality. The time of 8 hours is not a time wasted but spent usefully. It also reminds the human beings that their consciousness is an endowment of G-d for which they need a continuous help from G-d for subsistence . Right, please?Yes. Indeed. Thank you.
Every other morning of my life it feels like about 8 hours had passed since I had gone to sleep.
That is a need of the humans beings to rejuvenate/recharge one's energies with sleep to spend next 16 hours in full consciousness and in normality. The time of 8 hours is not a time wasted but spent usefully. It also reminds the human beings that their consciousness is an endowment of G-d for which they need a continuous help from G-d for subsistence . Right, please?
Thanks for one's input.Right please?
I assume you want a response. I rarely directly answer such questions because it simply doesn't matter what I believe. My
beliefs have no impact on whether or not God(s) exist(s). It is certainly true that the average human needs eight hours sleep
every night. We tend to need more when young and less as we age. Individuals vary but most who get very little sleep are
probably harming themselves or, at the least, their ability to function well. This is simply part of the nature of being human
and one might certainly say that sleep is an imposition imposed by God as well as a gift. This assumes of course that one be-
lieves in God(s) and believes he can know His "mind". It is very equivalent to saying that nature imposes the need for eight
hours sleep on humans and that this sleep is highly beneficial (and necessary) to the individual. These are very much just two
perspectives of the same phenomenon. Instead of getting into such philosophical questions it would be possible to simply de-
fine sleep as a state of "semi-consciousness" in which humans must engage for about eight hours for their health and proper
functioning.
Consciousness comes from God(s)/ nature and is the means by which every individual survives.
And you can't have that awareness without some sensation.
Let me put it this way. If you consider deep sleep to be a form of consciousness, then we clearly have *very* different views of what the word 'conscious' means.
For me, deep sleep is *unconsciousness*.
Yes, I am still alive when in deep sleep. But I am not conscious.
Yeah. If a mentally-sensually person does not cognise, will you conclude absence of consciousness? Pure ground of consciousness, which we experience everyday in deep sleep, seems unconscious owing to lack of duality.
For me, almost by definition, deep sleep is unconscious.
If a person has no sensation, no thoughts, no emotions, etc, then they are unconscious.
And yes, a person can exist and not be conscious. That happens to me every night when I sleep.
All I can say is that if you see deep sleep as being a form of consciousness, then you have a *very* different notion of what the word 'consciousness' means than I do.
For me, almost by definition, deep sleep is unconscious.
That is true and what you say is the perception of 99% of ego selves. But it was already explained that one may experience unconscious episodes due to poor recollection of memory or due to absence of objects in consciousness. In deep sleep, there is no reflection of any duality in mind. Consciousness remains un-partitioned. There is no "I" and "Other". Conventionally this seems like unconsciousness to 99% of folks. But adept meditators know that state as pure consciousness, uncontaminated by a notion of local self and other objects different from the local self.
repeat that everyone actually unknowingly experiences infinite consciousness in deep sleep. In that same ground of apparent unconsciousness of deep sleep come up a) Dream state comprising subtle-mental self and corresponding world and b) Waking state comprising gross bodily self and a corresponding world. The self is that consciousness which links these three states.
Some folks may on reflecting upon the above everyday empirical experience immediately intuit that the conscious self is itself pure consciousness empty of contents and is also the seer of all that appears and disappears in consciousness. When objects appear, mind appears to become conscious (as in dream and waking states). When consciousness is devoid of objects, nothing is known. ‘Not knowing anything is not absence of consciousness.
But as for most people deep sleep state is ‘unconscious’, I presented some empirical evidences that indicate that consciousness is not absent -- only objects are absent. Probably, you did not pay full attention to those references. I am, in this post, repeating conclusion from a study by Windt, J., Nielsen, T. and Thompson, E. of 2016. The study concludes: “..there are good empirical and theoretical reasons for saying that a range of different types of sleep experience, some of which are distinct from dreaming, can occur in all stages of sleep“.
Authors identify three different categories of sleep experiences distinct from dreams: (a) non-immersive imagery and sleep thinking, (b) perceptions and bodily sensations, and (c) ‘selfless’ states and content-less sleep experiences that may be similar to those reported by experienced meditators.
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Yes. Mind is unconscious during sleep. That does not mean that consciousness is absent, else the same person would not dream and wake up and remember "I slept blissfully".OK/ Even so, I would say we are unconscious during sleep.
OK, so it seems to me that the goal of meditation is a type of unconsciousness. It is potentially one of the unconscious states seen in sleep.
atanu said:
I am, in this post, repeating conclusion from a study by Windt, J., Nielsen, T. and Thompson, E. of 2016. The study concludes: “..there are good empirical and theoretical reasons for saying that a range of different types of sleep experience, some of which are distinct from dreaming, can occur in all stages of sleep“.
Authors identify three different categories of sleep experiences distinct from dreams: (a) non-immersive imagery and sleep thinking, (b) perceptions and bodily sensations, and (c) ‘selfless’ states and content-less sleep experiences that may be similar to those reported by experienced meditators.
Reference:
Windt, J., Nielsen, T. and Thompson, E. (2016). Does Consciousness Disappear in Dreamless Sleep? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20 (12): 871-882.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661316301528
Yes. Mind is unconscious during sleep. That does not mean that consciousness is absent, else the same person would not dream and wake up and remember "I slept blissfully".
So, do you imagine that meditators are all aiming for unconsciousness? You are wrong. Non dual experience is the pinnacle of successful meditation and it entails full consciousness of the partition-less awareness -- also called waking deep sleep. Sustained experience leads to freedom from any and all kinds of imagined pain that arise due to false identification of one's awareness with body-mind.
At least you must accept that deep sleep may involve: (a) non-immersive imagery and sleep thinking, (b) perceptions and bodily sensations, and (c) ‘selfless’ states and content-less sleep experiences that may be similar to those reported by experienced meditators.
I don't see why not. It is the same biological person, the same brain. Simply being non-conscious doesn't mean non-existent or dead.
I agree that there can be states similar to partial anesthesia that are present during some phases of deep sleep. I would not call them conscious.[/QUOTE]That is just a different experience. Whether you interpret that experience correctly is one thing I doubt.
If consciousness is absent, how the continuity is maintained? By whom? How the 'bliss' of deep[ sleep is remembered in mind? Please do not start your pet dialogue about phenomenon-less matter (neurons) giving rise to phenomenal experience of bliss.
I agree that there can be states similar to partial anesthesia that are present during some phases of deep sleep. I would not call them conscious.
You confound 'sensations-thoughts-feelings' that arise in consciousness rooted in local body-mind with the consciousness itself. I do not.
Consciousness has both potential and dynamic states and meditation is meant to help us realize its intrinsic nature by stripping away the layers of thoughts that cover up the object-less consciousness.
You can never explain/prove that phenomenal 'sensations-thoughts-feelings' arise from neurons. OTOH, there are now enough empirical evidences that suggest that consciousness is non local ontological primitive and brains are a 'Bayesian filters' that instantiate particular and unique local experience patterns. I do not need these empirical evidences since I have direct meditation experiences. Empirical evidences may however generate some healthy skepticism regarding too naïve materialistic view of consciousness in some readers.
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That is true and what you say is the perception of 99% of ego selves. But it was already explained that one may experience unconscious episodes due to poor recollection of memory or due to absence of objects in consciousness. In deep sleep, there is no reflection of any duality in mind. Consciousness remains un-partitioned. There is no "I" and "Other". Conventionally this seems like unconsciousness to 99% of folks. But adept meditators know that state as pure consciousness, uncontaminated by a notion of local self and other objects different from the local self.
I repeat that everyone actually unknowingly experiences infinite consciousness in deep sleep. In that same ground of apparent unconsciousness of deep sleep come up a) Dream state comprising subtle-mental self and corresponding world and b) Waking state comprising gross bodily self and a corresponding world. The self is that consciousness which links these three states.
Some folks may on reflecting upon the above everyday empirical experience immediately intuit that the conscious self is itself pure consciousness empty of contents and is also the seer of all that appears and disappears in consciousness. When objects appear, mind appears to become conscious (as in dream and waking states). When consciousness is devoid of objects, nothing is known. ‘Not knowing anything is not absence of consciousness.
But as for most people deep sleep state is ‘unconscious’, I presented some empirical evidences that indicate that consciousness is not absent -- only objects are absent. Probably, you did not pay full attention to those references. I am, in this post, repeating conclusion from a study by Windt, J., Nielsen, T. and Thompson, E. of 2016. The study concludes: “..there are good empirical and theoretical reasons for saying that a range of different types of sleep experience, some of which are distinct from dreaming, can occur in all stages of sleep“.
Authors identify three different categories of sleep experiences distinct from dreams: (a) non-immersive imagery and sleep thinking, (b) perceptions and bodily sensations, and (c) ‘selfless’ states and content-less sleep experiences that may be similar to those reported by experienced meditators.
Reference:
Windt, J., Nielsen, T. and Thompson, E. (2016). Does Consciousness Disappear in Dreamless Sleep? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20 (12): 871-882.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661316301528
...
Well, the continuity is because we have the same biological being. Why would that NOT provide continuity?
Well, what is the *definition* of consciousness? Having experiences, meaning thoughts, sensations, and feelings. So if those don't exist, neither does consciousness.
On the contrary, the evidence points to consciousness arising in the brain. it is simply a form of information processing, I disagree with your bolded statement.
You are repeating same statements. I have answered to these questions many times. To know continuity through three states: waking, dreaming, and sleeping, there must be ability for cognition/discernment. There must be a single conscious agent that exists and knows these states. The knowledge "I slept blissfully" indicates a phenomenality in the knowing.
No one has ever explained how phenomenality and power of cognition can rise in neurons.
Yes. In deep sleep, there is experience of lack of objects and experience of bliss, which floods mind as the organism wakes up. Ignorant fixed minds even after repeatedly being told do not recognize this. But introspective and /or mediators immediately understand this. I have also cited a paper which indicates presence of phenomenal consciousness in non dream sleep. You are so fixed in your bias that you ignore and refuse even scientific evidences.
Bulls. Information processing does not automatically become conscious agent. Information processing does not create a Seer/Self.
You show me one mechanism of how we feel pain. How electrical signals are felt as pain and not as smell of garlic. OTOH, given, consciousness as the non dual ontological primitive, the hard problem of consciousness needs no separate explanation and all physical laws remain valid.
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You show me one mechanism of how we feel pain. How electrical signals are felt as pain and not as smell of garlic. OTOH, given, consciousness as the non dual ontological primitive, the hard problem of consciousness needs no separate explanation and all physical laws remain valid.
OK, let's start here.
Do you agree that neurons can process information?
Do you agree that they can store information?
Do you agree that they get information from the senses?
Do you agree that memory is the ability to store and retrieve information?
Do you agree that awareness is the ability to process and store information?
For me, I answer yes to all of these. And I fail to see what else is required for consciousness.