Consciousness

At a Glance

What is Consciousness? In this specialization, you will begin to explore and define the meaning of consciousness by delving deep into the awareness, perception, and psychology of human consciousness as it relates to Transpersonal Psychology.

As little as 1.5 Years (full-time)

Masters

Online

Overview

Asking the question, “what is consciousness?” is not too different from asking the question, “what is life?” or “what is existence?” And the answer to all these questions is, in any definitive sense, we don’t know. One can’t help but acknowledge a degree of inherent mystery here. However, the human spirit is such that we must try to plumb the depths of the big questions. As a result, there are many “views” on consciousness produced by different aspects of human thought and study: contrast the following two quotes, the first from ancient Hindu philosophy and the second from modern science:

“Thou canst not see the seer of seeing, thou canst not hear the hearer of hearing, thou canst not comprehend the comprehender of comprehension, thou canst not know the knower of knowledge; he is thy soul, that is within all.” —Upanishads (Brh3.4)

"You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity, and free will (your consciousness) are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules." —Francis Crick (molecular biologist and neuroscientist, 20th century)

These are such diametrically opposite views on consciousness that one must surmise they arise from completely different ways of knowing or exploring the question. And there are
many others in between. At AU we examine perspectives on consciousness with particular attention to their relationship to the transpersonal. These include the study of mythology, theories of hypnosis, and the relationship between the scientific and the spiritual. In addition, there are the views of Depth Psychology originating with Carl Jung and his ideas on the Collective Unconscious. We invite you to join us in our ongoing investigation of the challenging issues that arise from the human effort to understand consciousness.