Loh o Qalam [31]

Lecture 31

Four Consciouses

Senses are of two types: one, which keeps on changing and the other that do not change. With the change or alteration in the senses colors keep on producing and where there is no variation, is a state of colorlessness or an achromatic state. Change in the senses commences at the Ultra-achromatic that causes to bring the achromatic into being. When the achromatic undergoes a change the senses experience the colors one by one. Accumulation of many colors results in a spectacular colorfulness. The change initiates at the stage of Fantasy and after traversing the stages of thought and vision (imagination) it takes the form of feelings. Thought, vision and feelings travel in a circle and after becoming feelings the change rebounds and leaving the felt impressions behind it returns towards the state where there is no variation. This is going on and on since eternity and will continue forever.

The journey of thoughts and imaginations determines the spatio temporal distances. In order to witness and know the stages and the ultimate destinations of the journey of thought, imagination and feelings we have to go through three consciouses. And, after passing through three consciouses the invariant state that we encounter is termed as the Unconscious. The conscious that is known by the people is classified as the fourth conscious. For having the understanding of the rest of the three consciouses we have seek guidance of the prophetic knowledge. If we could develop understanding of these three consciouses we can comprehend the state of Revelation (Wahi).

If the scholars of the present era are sincere in their efforts to resolve the enigmas relating to the universe and to explore the reality, they have to rally upon this theory that this tangible universe is not a collection of solid material particles but a reflection of the Conscious.

Name of the first conscious is the Simple Noor. The second conscious is known as the Compound Noor. The third one is called the Simple Nasma and the Fourth one is termed as the Compound Nasma. People know of the fourth conscious only and they are versed with the senses of the Compound Nasma only, they are oblivious of the rest of the three consciouses. Apart from the fourth conscious the psychologists have so far traced only the third conscious, which they term as the Unconscious

In the course of exploring the formation of the universe we observe that there are three unconsciouses and one conscious are operative in the structuring of the universe.

First Conscious --- Simple Noor --- (Noor-e-mufrad)

Second Conscious --- Compound Noor --- (Noor-e-murakab)

Third Conscious --- Simple Nasma --- (Nasma-e-mufrad)

Fourth Conscious --- Compound Nasma --- (Nasma-e-murakab)

Mohammedan Reality

We pass through three stages before an activity of life could be performed. Any action starts from the Fantasy. This Fantasy is such information that is called Thought when it deepens and descends upon the brain as a pressure. The information after exerting pressure becomes stable. The information that takes the form of a thought is devoid of form and features, or to be more exact, the features are not registered upon the mind. But, when it deepens further, details of features start emerging in the information about an activity. At this stage the thought is visualized and we conceptualize the activity to be conducted. When this stage of imagination attains depth it becomes a feeling. This is the descending state of information, that is, information coming from the unseen realm takes the form of a sensual feeling and then this feeling starts ascending towards its origin after becoming imagination, thought and fantasy.

Conscious is the name of that agency which provides information and knowledge about something and the way he knows something after having a sensual feeling about them. The psychologists during their detailed study of the conscious discovered that conscious is such an instrument that receives information and ascribes meaning to them. With this, they also considered that the information becoming thoughts in a person after being translated into meanings must have some source from where these are originating. The source from where the information is emerging is named as the Unconscious. To wit, they acknowledged that there exists another conscious, which is opposite to the conscious states known to us.

When the spiritual masters talk about the Conscious they do not mention one conscious rather they tell us about four consciouses in all. According to them the universe is composed of four consciouses, that is, the creation of the universe is based upon four pillars and all the activities of the universe is being carried out and processed by four consciouses. Mankind, in general, is familiar with only one conscious but the people of learning and having a scholarly approach consider that the life of man and the universe is composed of two consciouses. This means that generally people are oblivious of the other three consciouses.

Deliberations upon the teaching of the holy books including the holy Quran help us to conclude that there are four consciouses in all and not one or two. The three consciouses other than the conscious known to us are collectively termed as the Unconscious.

Scholars in defining Conscious say that it helps us to know the things that could take the form of a vision to be sighted by the physical eyes, there is distance between that thing and ourselves, it is solid, has gravity in it and can be felt tactually.

When we come in contact with something, first of all, a fantasy like state enters into our mind, which transforms into a thought and the thought after attaining depth becomes a visionary form of imagination, which becomes a sensual perception in its last stage. This whole process of becoming a sensual perception of a fantasy hardly takes a millisecond. This process is repeated continuously at such a great speed that the things present before our sight appears to be static and stationary. Anything that we see present before our eyes is witnessed when it passes through the stages of Fantasy, thought, imagination and feeling. After it is seen, it fades away to become a fantasy following the same path backward. Fantasy, thought and imagination are three states that ascend just as they make their descent. This cycle of descent and ascent is divided into six circles. Or in other words, it can be said that man is composed of six circles and four consciouses.

A person desirous of knowing his reality in the cosmic perspective is required to know the working of the six circles of descent and ascent. And, for having knowledge in this regard it is necessary for him to know that man is composed of four consciouses and just like the creation of man the whole universe, too, is composed of these very four consciouses. The state of fourth conscious in which one finds oneself after passing through three consciouses, is known as Royat (Appearance). This is the state, which is known to the people in general. The conscious of Royat is a combination of other three consciouses. Our life commences in the Ultra-cosmic Conscious, which is invariant. The Ultra-Cosmic Conscious is the stormy state of the Attributes of God that causes it to spurt like a fountain, which at the third step becomes an individual. The first step is when the Silhouette of the whole universe appears like a small tiny point (dot). In the second step Silhouette of species emerges and in the final stage it transforms and is exhibited into an individual.

When a movement takes place in the countless colors, characteristics and properties found in a person, a fountain of colors spurts from within and the feelings are showered upon us. As this gushing fountain contains the entire range of colors in it, therefore, to maintain the sequence of the colors in our memory or conceiving these colors properly is almost impossible. This is the reason that when we live in the senses of the fourth conscious, we commit mistakes. In order to have a fair idea of the colors gushing out from the fountain we have to seek the support of conjecture, therefore, all that we see in this state is known as fiction and the world of assumptive senses. Since the fourth conscious is influenced by the conjectures and fictions therefore, according to the view point of spiritual sciences, it is not at all reliable and all that is witness in the state of fourth conscious is declared as hypothetical and unreal.

In the spiritualism the most reliable of all the consciouses is the First Conscious as the holy will of God is revealed there and after having the knowledge of the Will of God chances of mistake are eliminated. Since this conscious is the source of all the realities, it is also named as the Reality of the Facts (Haqiqat-ul-haqaique). The very same Conscious is also known as the Mohammedan Reality (Haqiqat-e-Mohammadia). No prophet prior to Mohammad (PBUH) had commented anything about consciousness of this degree. Their teaching remained limited to the training of the Fourth and the Third Consciouses. Teachings of the Christ do range up to the Second Conscious. Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) was the only amongst all the prophets who managed to explore the First Conscious and for this very reason it is named after him as Haqiqat-e-Mohammadia, which is termed as the Knowledge of the Pen ( Ilm-ul-qalum) in the holy Quran.