The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science

by Culadasa (John Yates)

Consciousness is the process of information exchange between unconscious sub-minds, so some might question how there can possibly be “consciousness without an object.” How can there be an information exchange without any information? Strictly speaking, this is true, and consciousness must always be “consciousness of” something. However, there are two components to the process of consciousness: the object of consciousness, or information to be exchanged; and that which is conscious, or the recipient of the information. With cessation, the first is completely lacking, but the second is still present. Yes, it does fall outside our definition of consciousness, but the event itself falls completely outside ordinary experience as well, so to talk about it at all, we must be flexible in our use of language.It is worth noting that the ex post facto interpretation of a cessation event as “consciousness without an object” or a “pure consciousness experience” can easily lead to the mistaken attribution of some substantive, self-existent nature to consciousness. Since this accords so well with common intuition, and to the desire to locate something that can be identified with a soul, ātman, or True Self, it is a particularly insidious tendency. Always remember that consciousness is a dynamic process, arising and passing away moment-by-moment, and totally dependent on its component parts. That which is conscious, the recipient of the information being exchanged via consciousness, is no...