The Substratum of Consciousness

Consciousness never ceases to be conscious of itself. The experience to which we commonly refer when we say 'I was unconscious' or 'I was in deep sleep' does not in fact indicate an experience of the absence of Consciousness. Rather it indicates an experience in which Consciousness was present, but there was no memorisable phenomena apparent - such as a form of thought, sensation or perception - and thusly, there was no 'thing', no objective content, to report about and remember. In that state of 'no-thing', Consciousness is present, shining by itself.

The substantial essence of Consciousness itself is not experienced as a form or what we commonly consider a 'thing' to be - that is, a limited phenomena that exists in time and space. In the essential experience of Consciousness itself there is no objectivity to render the conception or perception of time or space, and thus the experience of pure Consciousness does not have a duration or extension of any kind. Rather, there is just the pure non-dual subjectivity of Consciousness, all by itself, timelessly present, independent of thought, sensation and perception. In such wise, this timelessness is not really a 'state', for states are, by definition, events that have a duration in time. We could simply say that this timelessness is experienced, known, by Consciousness itself, as itself.

Such a timeless experience feels, retrospectively, when interpreted through the temporal lens of thought, to last for less than a nano-instant. For instance, when it is reported that the moment between falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning, or the interval between the beginning of anaesthesia and waking up in our hospital bed, seemed to last for the briefest instant. Yet, that 'instant' did not really have a duration. The pause between the ending of time and the re-emergence of it does not last in time. Consciousness, that which remains in the absence of time, does not last. Consciousness is ever-present. It is the immutable substratum of all the temporal forms of experience.

For there to be any phenomenon at all, there must be a presence from which it arises, and into which it will inevitably subside, a fundamental and irreducible substratum beneath the comings and goings of life, that is present independent of all phenomena. The only presence that is such is Consciousness itself. Consciousness is the only ever-present, irreducible presence in our experience. So if we're interested in revealing the nature of the substratum, the essential Reality of existence, we can simply turn to investigate the nature of Consciousness itself, our very own, innermost intimacy of Self.

However, before exploring the substratum of Consciousness with the intention of discovering its true nature and attributes - our true nature and attributes - it is helpful to set aside everything in experience that does not share the indubitability and immutability of our experience of being conscious. Anything that can be doubted or falsified, anything that could be a hallucination or illusion, anything that comes and goes cannot be relied upon to measure the true nature of Consciousness. All of the phenomena in the entire cosmological manifold are fleeting forms, appearances without lasting stability. No thought, sensation or perception has appeared and remained fixedly apparent for our entire stream of life. Every single one has vanished. How could that which is destined to vanish provide us with certainty of that which does not vanish?

The nature of what comes and goes can only ever provide relative certainty, for its appearance is fleeting and dependent upon other phenomena for its existence. Yet what does not come and go - the presence of Consciousness in which all appearances arise and dissolve - shines as unassailable certainty, independent of all temporary appearances. So, in this way of investigating to discover the nature of Consciousness, we set aside all thoughts, sensations and perceptions, and refer only to the pure evidence of Consciousness itself.

Consciousness is already its own complete substantial evidence before all forms of experience appear. Its presence need not be proved, nor can it be disproved by anything extraneous to itself, nor anything appearing subsequent to itself. Its presence is already self-evident before the line of thinking arises which would aim to prove or disprove its presence and nature. Thusly, we are not looking for proof here. We are interested to discover the Reality that does not require proof, that is present independent of the mind.

Consciousness is that presence which witnesses all mind-made attempts of proof and disproof as they arise and subside. No such attempts give Consciousness to itself. It is already itself, and conscious of itself, before such attempts arise. As such, Consciousness does not need mental verification. It is the ultimate medium that makes the conception of mental verification possible in the first place.

Consider the analogy of the sky and the clouds; the sky representing Consciousness and the clouds representing the phenomena of thought, sensation and perception. If we take this analogy a little further into our imagination, we can imbue the sky with Consciousness, and so the sky is innately conscious of its own skyness. From here, we can discern that the sky would not need the clouds to appear in order for it to be conscious of, and be the evidence of, its own existence. Its very presence is the evidence of its own existence.

Consciousness' knowing of itself, its certainty of itself, is unmediated by thought or perception.

Only that which remains absolutely certainty and present in every state - during waking, dreaming, thinking, feeling, perceiving and in the absence of these - can serve as a trustworthy foundation for knowing what we, Consciousness, truly are, for Consciousness is ever-present, changeless and immutable. We should, therefore, only investigate that in our experience which qualifies with the same unconditional, timeless attributes.

All phenomena arise for a time, shimmer with a temporary glow, and then subside back into the substratum of Reality from which they came. And what is that substratum of Reality, which precedes the appearance of all phenomena and remains present after their disappearance?

If we simply check the intimacy of our experience, it is evident that Consciousness is the only Presence that remains after all phenomena - thoughts, sensations and perceptions - have vanished. Just as the sky remains present after all the clouds have disappeared. As the cloud of phenomena disappear, the sky of Consciousness remains present, as the basic substratum of Reality.

In our investigation, as we set aside all the changing, ephemeral phenomena of experience, and reveal what remains immutably present, we discover the indivisible identity of Consciousness and Reality. When everything that can be removed from experience is removed, the essential, irreducible Substance of Reality remains; the pure experience of Consciousness itself.

Consciousness is essential, absolutely certain and independent of all apparent phenomena. Only here - in and as the presence of Consciousness itself - can we find the ground of truth about our Self and Reality. So what is Consciousness experientially to Consciousness? That is, what is Reality experientially to itself?

Without reference to any temporary phenomena, what does Consciousness know of Consciousness?

This is not a question posed to the mind for intellectual processing. It is a question posed to Consciousness itself. You, Consciousness, are the answer, experiencing itself. What can you know of yourself just by being yourself?

I am present and real.

I am conscious.

Right, that's the direct and simple truth. Any additional affirmations, citing objective concepts, would be superfluous superimpositions, for they would only have credible existence in reference to thought. Stay with the essential evidence of Consciousness, devoid of thought, and stay with what is really true of you.

All the great revelations of the nature of Reality and Consciousness are implicit within these two simple statements; 'I am present and real', and 'I am conscious.'

Being that all Consciousness is conscious of is its Presence and Reality, Consciousness never comes in contact with any Reality-Substance other than itself. That is precisely the experience of being infinite, unlimited. There is and can only be one unlimited, conscious Presence. That is the essential identity of all the unique expressions of existence called people, animals, creatures, foliage, objects, and so on.

We are all one in that simple statement "I am present and real, I am conscious." That experience has no limited, objective qualities intrinsic to it. Only the non-conceptual, non-perceptual infinity of Oneness remains. Abide here, and live from this omnipresent Oneness, and be timelessly complete as that which has no shred of 'lack' within its essence.