Beyond Intellect: Neville's Living Consciousness

While modern thinkers define consciousness through intellect and attention, Neville aligns with esoteric tradition: consciousness is a direct, living experience that transcends thought itself.

In the last episode entitled “What is Consciousness? - A Journey to Neville” we reviewed concepts of consciousness: first, the colloquial notion used in common parlance; and then the philosophical and psychological definitions, drawing from eminent authorities CG Jung and Bernardo Kastrup. Bernardo’s presentation of Analytic Idealism did help us make sense of both 1. a mental universe; and 2. a universal consciousness fragmented into vast humanity, and so help our conceptualization of Neville’s worldview (see three prior posts on “Affinity”). However, on the question of the experience itself of consciousness, we must part ways with Bernardo.

You may have been surprised to see that these authorities on consciousness, at least as far as I can determine, are clearly limited to the function of the intellect. Their understanding of “consciousness” is really limited to the dictionary definition of “apperception”:

1. introspective self-consciousness 2. mental perception; especially : the process of understanding something perceived in terms of previous experience. ~Merriam-Webster

By his own admission, Kastrup (on a podcast) says something to the effect of : “Well, I’m not an enlightened being”, so, that’s fine. He’s a perfectly modest person, and my comments here are not any kind of value judgment. I am simply trying to point out to the reader that neither of these two authorities, Kastrup and Jung, are reaching the essential point.

For his part, Jung, despite his stature, makes no mention that I have seen (or, apparently, that Kastrup could find in the collected works) of personal consciousness beyond the pedestrian thought (to paraphrase): “I know that I have thoughts; I know that I have emotions.” Jung, for his part, says, “There is a world of difference between ‘I do this’ and ‘I am conscious of doing this’. ” There may be a world of difference, but I’m not sure what he means, because there is no further description. Back to Kastrup: he tries to refine the notion by drawing the reader’s attention to his own breathing. No, as it stands, in both cases they are simply talking about focused attention.

Well, I have really tried to give the benefit of the doubt to modern science. I looked at the contemporary concept of “mindfulness”, and even watched intently presentations by Dean Radin. No, everyone is still stuck in dualism (mind and matter), and, at best apperception..

it is necessary to make a qualitative shift, that is, to consult sources that can only be called esoteric. While I did quote the sources briefly and give you an idea of the exercises, I’m asking the reader to access and engage quietly with them directly, because my intermediation will only mar the experience you. Go to the show notes for all the references.

In today’s podcast episode, I will continue the discussion by quoting from Neville Goddard himself, showing how he aligns with the true understanding and practice of consciousness. Go to S02E08 Beyond Intellect: Neville's Living Consciousness; access either the audio or transcript.