Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
Chapter 1 – The arousing of thought
In the “presence” of every man, irrespective of his heredity and education, there are formed two independent consciousnesses, having almost nothing in common either in their functioning or in their manifestations.
One consciousness is formed from the perception of all kinds of mechanical impressions, arising accidentally or deliberately produced by others, including almost all words, which are indeed only empty “sounds”, and the other consciousness is formed partly from the “previously fixed material results” transmitted to a man by heredity, which have become blended with the corresponding parts of his common presence, and partly from his intentionally evoked associative confrontations of these “materialized results.”
This second human consciousness, which in itself as well as in its manifestations is none other than what is called the “subconscious,” and which is formed… from the “materialized results” of heredity and the confrontations produced by a man’s own intention, is the one that in my opinion—based on many years of experimental investigations carried out under exceptionally favorable conditions—should predominate in his common presence.
Chapter 31 – The sixth and last sojourn of Beelzebub on the planet Earth
“Soon after the beginning of my sixth sojourn I became categorically convinced, as a result of my experimental investigations, that most of the causes of the strangeness of their psyche lie, not in that usual consciousness in which they have automatized themselves to exist during what they call their ‘waking state,’ but in the consciousness which, thanks to their abnormal ordinary being-existence, was gradually driven back within their common presence and which, although it should have been their real consciousness, remains in them in its primitive state and is called by them the ‘subconscious.’
“This ‘subconscious’ is, moreover, just that part of their general psyche which, as you remember, was first observed by the Very Saintly Ashiata Shiemash, who established that in it there are not yet atrophied the data for the fourth sacred impulse, named ‘Objective Conscience.’
Chapter 32 – Hypnotism
“As for the sacred data put into them by Great Nature for genuine being consciousness—the consciousness which they ought to have from the very beginning of their preparation for responsible existence, along with the properties inherent in them for engendering the genuine sacred being-impulses of Faith, Hope, Love, and Conscience—these data also gradually become isolated in their presence and, remaining apart, they evolve independently of the intentions of the responsible beings surrounding them, as well as of the beings themselves, and come to be regarded as what is called the ‘subconscious.’
Inner Octaves, Michel Conge
What Evolves?
What evolves? …What is it that should evolve? The Work gives us invaluable indications on this topic: among the beings on this planet, there are men; among these men, a given man; and in this man, there is consciousness and will…
…evolution is the evolution of consciousness, the evolution of will. If I first remember these most precious facts …then I return to this amazing problem of being a machine…
I try to recall that Consciousness and Will are attributes of the Absolute. It is very important to remember this. I see the Ray of Creation and I see …an engagement in successive forms, successive levels — an involution. …In any case, I must understand that I am a machine and must necessarily remain a machine. This is an essential condition; without it, I can do nothing.
In any case, …as human beings, we are machines. And we have to be; this is a basic condition. But I can appear in this machine, I can fill it, I can inhabit it, I can become conscious.
Attention and the Two Natures, Michel Conge
…the fundamental idea is: I am the attention. Where my attention is, there am I. If the attention is weak, I am weak, if it is mechanical, I am mechanical, if it is free, I am free.
Of course one should also be able to say, “I am consciousness”; but this is not true for me today. It will only be true when my two natures have at last united. Then consciousness will live in my entire being, and I will know that I am consciousness, and consciousness is I.
The Reality of Being
7. Can we become conscious?
The work to be present is in the direction of consciousness—that is, a special kind of perception independent of the activity of the intellectual mind, a perception of oneself: who one is, where one is, and then what one knows and does not know. In the moment of consciousness there is the immediate impression of a direct perception. This is quite different from what we usually call “consciousness,” which operates more like a reflection faithfully accompanying what I experience and representing it in my mind…
…Can we become conscious? It is all a question of energies and their relation, with each energy always controlled by a finer one that is more active, more animating, like a magnet. The energy used in our functions—our thoughts, our emotions, our sensations—is passive, inert. Spent in movements toward the outside, this energy suffices in quality for our life as higher animals, but is not fine enough for an inner act of perception, of consciousness. Nevertheless, we do have some power of attention, at least on the surface, some capacity to point the attention in a desired direction and hold it there.
The practice of being present is self-remembering. Instead of being taken outward, the attention of the functions is turned toward the inside for a moment of consciousness. I need to recognize that I can understand nothing if I cannot remember myself. This means remembering my highest possibilities, that is, remembering what I open to when I come back to myself alone. To remember myself also means to be present to my situation—to the place, the conditions, the way I am taken by life. There is no room for dreaming.
82. My true nature is consciousness
Which is real: what I am conscious of, or consciousness itself? Deep down in my being I am already what I seek. This is the impetus of my whole search. When consciousness is here, I realize that consciousness is me. I and all that surrounds me are the same consciousness. My true nature is consciousness.