Living the Attentive Life: an Exploration of Consciousness, Mind, Memory and Senses

consciousness

By Harry Krueger

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

A species whose thoughts are not self-generated cannot make claim to the distinction of having freedom of choice.

What we perceive as our daily relationship experiences (for the most part) is not compatible with natural law. Our pre-conceptions are born out of the illustrations of a faulty imagination.

Before the arrival of human beings, all life forms adapted to their environment by resourcefully using their instinctive skills for survival. In time, these skills become enhanced and thus makes it possible for them to become stronger. Then, as now, all species in their natural habitat progress through the survival of the fittest.

Somewhere in time (a very long time ago) nature took a quantum leap and for the first time, introduced a new life form whose functioning did not entirely depend on the environment for its development. This new species forever changed the way in which Earth’s life  forms shaped their destiny.

Because it is Nature’s nature to create perfect species, it did not however foresee that, in time, the physical appendage of its newest creation – memory – would take a misleading turn.

Memory is absolutely essential.  The function of this instrument is to record, store and recall (when needed) information which is then relayed to the consciousness via the sense.  Without it, we would not enjoy the many benefits of the natural sciences and all the marvellous technologies that enhance our living. However, it acts as a hindrance when it is involved in relationships.

Relationship is a function solely between the consciousness (when it is not clouded by thoughts) and the intelligence. Intelligence is the mysterious harmonious expression of all that exists. When the senses are functioning in their pristine state, acting as life’s antenna, they broadcast directly from the intelligence to the consciousness as life’s true expression.

The senses have a dual role. They transmit necessary daily functional knowledge from the memory to the consciousness and in matters of relationship, from intelligence to consciousness. Neither memory nor the senses can function independently as autonomous entities.

Somewhere along the line, the misguided senses (being overlapped by memory) altered the proper use of its functioning – thereby throwing the entire mechanism off-track. This disfunction is responsible for the many ills, chaos and confusion of all societal institutions. How did it all go awry? How did we veer from Nature’s chosen path?

In order to understand what we are, we must first understand how we function. This understanding, being self-evident, effortlessly reinstates us on Nature’s chosen path.

When we look at any object, that object is registered in our minds as one frame. The naming of the object is registered independently, as one frame. The same principle applies to its shape, color, function, sound etc. All knowledge is recorded independently onto the memory cells as one frame.

When we look at a piano, there is a recognition of its shape, color, function etc. But you can only know this because of prior knowledge given by others. This outside knowledge, first stored as memory and then passed onto consciousness via the senses, is what is known as Mind. The Eskimo word for mind is: outside.

The process of recollection (thinking) is memory transmitting to consciousness, via the sense, the collected individual frames stored there. When something is not remembered in its entirety, or not at all, it is because those independent frames have not been passed on (for whatever reason) to the consciousness.

The functioning process is similar to the way a motion picture film projector operates. The projector represents the memory where the story is recorded and stored as individual frames of film, to be then projected onto a blank screen. Similarly, consciousness acts as the screen where the many independent frames of film – memory – are projected onto. Consciousness cannot produce any images without the necessary help from the memory-senses acting as its projector. On its own, the consciousness cannot generate a single thought. The most important function of consciousness is to discern what passes through it.

The only way that that memory-senses can seemingly function as ‘independent agents’ is to deceive the consciousness into believing that it is generating its own thoughts. Freedom is only  possible because the consciousness is capable of true insight – to see its predicament as being duped. That ‘seeing’ frees the consciousness of its false bondage. This insight is essential if we are to function as unique individuals.

When very young, I recall going to the penny arcade where there was a machine in which, when looking into it, I saw many cards – and each card was slightly different. Each card represented one frame. When the handle was turned, the cards spun past, giving the illusion that you were experiencing one continuous movement – like a cartoon. That principle is similar to how Mind functions. There is no thinker inside, thinking those thoughts  as an autonomous entity. It is a mechanical function, operating at a speed far greater than a nano-second.

Every society, with their variety of cultures, is experiencing life through the assimilated knowledge of others. What we call ‘making choices’ (as decisions that guide our lives) is, for the most part, a reflection of the accumulated indoctrination of misinformation.

When we individually see through the conscious lense of Intelligence that this process is constantly usurping our conscious energy, then that knowing – acting as a catalyst – makes it possible for our consciousness to no longer be divided by thoughts. This path, as it was in the beginning, unburdens the consciousness so that it now functions without uncertainty, anxiety, stress etc.

Almost from the beginning, each new birth is inculcated with false doctrine. We are the reincarnation as clones of all previous generations. Our acceptance of this deception, created by this and past generations, allows false information to function as an adverse entity. This adversary is the only enemy of the living organism.

When focusing attentively to our daily experiences, you will notice that at the end of each response to a challenge, there is a gap. That word-less space is the natural attentive state, and true state of consciousness. That gap is also an indication that the thinking process is short lived.

Conscious energy alone – the sole property of consciousness – is capable of discernment. But what prevents this from happening in actuality is its puppet-like behavior. This behavior manifests when consciousness believes that its responses are self-generated and does not see that the memory, generated from behind the screen of the senses, is pulling the strings. Unless and until we see with true clarity the functioning of this false phenomenon, then memory will bridge the gap so that it can endlessly perpetuate itself. Its objective is to fulfil its own destiny, by being a constant interloper and occupier of the space.

If we are to function with caring and humanity, we will allow for the natural cyclical ending of each experience and remain in that attentiveness so that we can be present – as a wordless presence – whenever there are responsive needs from other challenges. In that state, we receive the incoming impressions directly from the pristine senses. Only then do the pristine senses become the receivers of, and first responders to, life’s relationship challenges. This process is right relationship. This process is a unitary simultaneous action.

In relationship, we are not created to make decisions – to think and then react – but rather to act by what we instantly know is true.

Life is real (and only then) when living the attentive life.

That knowing is my wish for you.

About the author:

California-based Harry Krueger has spent the past 40 years working to awaken humanity to concepts of peace freedom and consciousness.  When he was 35 years old, he discovered a book by Sri Krishnamurti (which he read 7 times in a row) and it changed his outlook and consciousness forever. Harry is now 85, and has never looked back.

Through his writing, Harry reveals the glorious reality of who we human Beings truly are, and offers insights to help us to break through the false identification of who we are not.

“The Shift is real and the  time is right”


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