Re: conscious, conscience, consciousness... there are actually 4 levels

It is understood that Professor Anil Kumar is best known for translating Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's discourses into English.

These statements are coming from a translator. The information is already coming second hand. A translator will never get things quite right because that which is being translated will be distorted. It will be limited by his own understanding, by his own mind.
The words he chooses to use will have the meanings that are colored by the interpretations his own mind places on the words he is hearing (or reading) to be transcribed. (The words may not even be of a different language.)

Being a professor means the individual has spent many many years filling his mind with information in his pursuit to gain a PhD. The word ‘Professor’ (Latin: person who professes to be an expert in some art or science, teacher of highest rank ) already it shows that this translator may be quite biased when it comes to speaking of the intellect. For these people have cultivated, groomed and polished their intellects to such a degree that they have come to hold it close and dear to themselves. It is their treasure which they have come to be so much identified with it. So, his translation of what role intellect plays has been played up and somewhat exaggerated into the positive role that he has given it.

Such so-called experts are there helping to distort the truth as it is uttered by those that are in such states of knowing. It has always been done like this throughout history. It has always been done by the intellects, the well-educated, by the priests, politicians and the pundits. Plato did it to Socrates. Ananda did it to Gautama Siddartha. Others have done it to the words of Jesus and the same has been done to the words of Mohammed, Mahavir, Zarathustra, and all the great Masters of the past, etc….et cetera.

conscious, conscience and consciousness... mmmmmm...

First:
Sorry, but mind cannot feel... mind can only think. it can think that it can feel, but, in itself, it cannot feel... heart can feel, body can feel, but not the mind.

Mind has learned a trick. That trick is that it can easily lie… it has learned to pretend. So, obviously, this may be a pitfall for the professor. One can easily be deceived [by his own mind] into believing that the mind can feel. Mind can only think! And when it does think, heart is being prevented from feeling. When mind is thinking...a barrier is created. The clouds of thought prevent the heart from fully feeling.

Secondly:
Mind can react but it cannot respond. They are distinctly two different words and have two different meanings. Reacting is habitual learned behavior, it comes out of the past ways of dealing with situations time and time again... it is acting the same way to different situations again and again... it is automatic... it is robot-like. It comes out of having a conscience... and a mind full of borrowed information.

A conscience is the accumulation of ideas that have been placed within the mind from the outside… outside of oneself, from that which one learns from outside sources. This can also be called the intellect. It is the storage house of information. Much of that information is learned when a person is usually quite young, such ideas like: what is good-bad, right & wrong, come from family, friends, schools, teachers, churches, priests, politicians, news media and whatever else makes up the society. It is the constant ongoing noise that one carries with himself, the mob of voices that can be heard telling you what is good to do, and what is not good to do. And so, it is this conscience that provides you with the ready-made answers and reactions to different situations as they arise. These ready-made answers, that come from the intellect, to deal with real life situations is why history goes on repeating itself.

A response , on the other hand, is action out of spontaneity... the root also makes up the word responsibility. It is action that arises out of the newness of a situation, it arises out of being in the moment of the here and now... it is not habitual... it does not come from what has been learned before... from that which has been stored in the intellect. It does not arise out of the conscience...but requires one to be aware... and to be conscious... to use one's intelligence, not intellect. A conscious mind is a mind that is still and quiet, not making noise... it is a mind that is purely reflective... not engaged in thinking about anything... not about any other situation. In other words, mind cannot function in the present moment of the here and now. If it is functioning, then know well that the mind has taken you away... and has swept you away out of this present moment. Mind functions only in recalling past memories or projecting an "edited version" of these memories into imagining a future scenario for itself.

Hence, being conscious is not a mind phenomenon, on the contrary, being conscious is no-mind phenomenon. It arises more when mind becomes less. Or, the more the mind is functioning the less conscious one will be.
Which brings in the third thing: the conscience is not at all close to spirit, it is the furthest point you can get away from soul. It is the very obstacle to experiencing truth. But the intellectual professor would have you believe otherwise… because he has a very polished intellect that he is, with no doubt, very proud of and would not want to let go of. He has invested so much... it would be a waste not to have it there... a waste not to use it. So he makes it sound as if is quite a holy thing to have.

And finally:
There are four levels of mind states: sleep, dream, awareness and turiya. Turiya is the state of pure consciousness that is beyond these three. It is the fourth, that is what turiya means. It simply means the fourth.

"Early Hindu philosophy told of another state of consciousness known as turiya, which underlies the common states of consciousness while also transcending them. In turiya, the self does not think, feel, or do, but rather observes thought, emotion, and action. We are, in this fourth state of consciousness, blissfully whole and, for the first time, capable of truly understanding the totality of the universe.

The existence of turiya is proven by the simple fact that we are wholly aware of our existence in jagrata, svapna, and susupti. The source of this awareness is the pure essence of self, which lives through and witnesses the common states within us. We connect with this element of humanity when we enter the turiya state. To achieve turiya, you must consciously isolate yourself from both the corporeal self and the mental self. Accomplishing this is a matter of extreme self trust, as you must first be confident that your existence in a higher plane of consciousness will not compromise your ability to navigate effectively in the physical plane. Meditation practiced with the mantra "I am the soul," can help you let go of the need to be grounded in body or mind. As you unlock the key to the fourth state of being, remember that turiya has no limits and no endpoint. It is infinitely transcendent, which means its potential is forever expanding.

The self you discover in turiya is the representation of your permanent, intrinsic, essential, yet all-encompassing nature. You are a unique individual and you are a vital part of a larger universal life force that transcends everything on earth. When you touch this part of yourself through meditation, the manner in which you experience the three common states of being will change profoundly. Reality and truth become more clearly defined, allowing you to perceive that which lies above, below, and beyond the human experience."
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