Special Invited lecture series : In Search of Conciousness

The objective of this invited lecture is to explore multiple perspectives of consciousness. The speakers will be distinguished person in own area of knowledge. The knowledge is not the last word but for the advancement of Research. 

9.8.20

Topic: Swami Vivekananda in search of consciousness.

Speaker: Swami Kamalasthananda, Principal  of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College.

Chairperson: Dr. Pranab Krishna Chanda. Dr. Pranab Krishna Chanda. Ph.D in Physics( Jadavpur university) B.Ed. ( RIE: Bhubaneswar. Acted as Supervisor  of 1 scholar in Physics and 2 Schoo in Mathematics. Ex. Principal, Siliguri B.Ed. College. Former Registrar of the West Bengal University of Teachers Training Education planning and Administration. At present honorary advisor, Dept. Of Education, North Bengal University.

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Topic: Rabindranath Tagore and Rishi Aurobindo. 

Date and times: 2.8.20,  11am

Speaker: Dr.Soumitra Basu ,MD, DPM 

Chair person: Dr. Subrata Basak, Principal, Institute of Engineering and Management, Salt Lake, Kolkata. 

Abstract:

Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo had commented: Tagore has been a wayfarer towards the same goal as ours in his own way..” That goal was the New Consciousness that was to unfold -- the Unborn Future. In fact, in his spiritual odyssey, Sri Aurobindo uncovered supra-cognitive states of consciousness that ranged from the Higher Mind that held all contradictory and complementary ideas in an “orchestral largeness”, traversed the zone where thoughts imparted an  illumination  without the necessity of expression through words (“revelatory ideograph”), crossed the realm of True Intuition that ushered in the Mantra and got linked up with the field of Global Cognition that held the higher archetypes before culminating on the creative matrix of Integral Cognition. Sri Aurobindo discovered that poetry per se was waiting to lead to the faint beginnings of that great journey. Such a commencement was already discernible in the efforts of a handful of poets like Whitman and Carpenter but with Tagore there was an important shift for the idea of the poet as the Rishi (which had been in oblivion since the Vedic era) had again made its appearance. Thought and life were linked in a joyful fusion and oneness without negating everything in a featureless Nirvana but by discovering “the greatest integral power of our complete existence”. It signalled a return of the Indian Spirit to a new integral form in consonance with the Zeitgeist or Time-Spirit. Poetry would be a medium for new explorations in consciousness. This is how Sri Aurobindo wrote his famous treatise “The Future Poetry” where he showed how poetry was undergoing transmutational changes so as to voice the dawn of the New Age of the Spirit. Tagore who was one of the first persons (Other than Tilak and Brahmabandhab Upadhyaya) to recognize the messiah in Sri Aurobindo when he wrote his poem Namaskar (Salutations) in 1907 again reciprocated when he wrote about his feelings after he met Sri Aurobindo in 1928: “His face was radiant with an inner light…I felt that the utterance of the ancient Rishi spoke from him of that equanimity which gives the human soul its freedom of entrance into the All.”  

Introduction to speaker: 

 Dr.Soumitra Basu ,MD, DPM is a Consultant Psychiatrist, dividing his professional time between Kolkata and Pondicherry. He has been working to develop consciousness paradigms in health and psychology from Sri Aurobindo’s perspective. He is one of the editors of the Journal of Integral Health , NAMAH (www.namahjournal.com), one of the Founder-Directors of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Integral Health and Research, Pondicherry, Director of the Institute of Integral Yoga Psychology, Auroshakti Foundation and Honorary Secretary of Mirravision Trust (a public charitable Trust dedicated to Sri Aurobindo’s vision).  He has been serially presenting chapter-wise discourses on the Life Divine (www.iiyp.net) and the Ideal of Human Unity (www.motsac.org) from the psychological perspective. He has been exhaustively working on the psychological insights in Integral yoga on a long-term research project initiated by Dr. A.S.Dalal and at present, together with Dr. Michael Miovic of USA has been constructing a module of Consciousness Based Psychology.  He conducts workshops on consciousness models of psychological growth and Stress Management in both academic and corporate sectors. He is a senior Faculty in Social Work, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India and extra-mural Faculty in Indian Psychology at Calcutta University.  He has authored numerous articles on the psychological, psychopathological and social  perspectives related to Sri Aurobindo’s Thought and his books include Integral Health, Integral Education, The Caste System of India—An Aurobindonian Perspective, Sri Aurobindo’s Political Life (Bengali) and Consciousness Based Psychology (in press).

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Date and Time: 26.7. 2020

Speaker : Dr.Prarthita Biswas,Head of the Dept.&Associate Prof.,School of Education, Adamas University.

Chairperson: Dr. Subir Nag, Principal, Satyapriya Roy college of education.

Abstract: This chapter deals wth consciouness or in search of consciousness.

The human conciousness describes the first three states which corresponds very closely with how modern science describes our 

• Waking state – Fast frequency chaotic brain waves due to processing huge amounts of sensory information.
• Dreamless sleep  – Slow-wave sleep that is synchronous and predictable and sweeps from the front to back of the brain, encouraging collaboration between distant regions of the brain.
• Dream sleep– fast and desynchronized brain waves processing the inner content of the mind – emotions, motivations, memories.

Yet 

This fourth state is usually called “pure consciousness” or “superconsciousness”. It sounds remarkably similar to the meditative states with distinctive brainwave activity that the scientists had observed in long-term meditation practitioners. We will talk about this groundbreaking study that was conducted in 2004 next time and discuss how it relates to the forth state of consciousness.

If we look back at the great Indian philosophers then where we are d

One of the greatest gifts you could give yourself is to seek, find, and apply truth in your life. This is the path to becoming a healthy person. Aligning yourself with the truth permits a better person to eventually emerge from within. Looking back at the western world, if one happens to agree then one will love the Johari Window. Years ago two gentlemen came up with this model. Their respective names were Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. The Johari Window helps you to categorize conscious and subconscious areas of your life. The window works much like a grid. It goes from the obvious and more conscious areas of your life to the less obvious areas that your may not be aware of.

The Johari Window can be looked at from many angles and provides four basic forms of the Self (the Public, Private, Blind, and Undiscovered Self). One

References :

• https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-johari-window/
• https://sequencewiz.org/2018/05/09/the-meaning-of-om-four-states-of-human-consciousness/

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In Search of Conciousness

Dr.Prarthita Biswas,Head of the Dept.&Associate Prof.,School of Education,

Adamas University

This chapter deals wth consciouness or in search of consciousness.

The human conciousness describes the first three states which corresponds very closely with how modern science describes our brain activity during those states:

• Waking state – Fast frequency chaotic brain waves due to processing huge amounts of sensory information.
• Dreamless sleep  – Slow-wave sleep that is synchronous and predictable and sweeps from the front to back of the brain, encouraging collaboration between distant regions of the brain.
• Dream sleep– fast and desynchronized brain waves processing the inner content of the mind – emotions, motivations, memories.

Yet Mandukya Upanishad also talks about the fourth state of consciousness, which is different from the other three states. “The fourth aspect of Atman or Self is Turiya, literally the fourth. In this fourth state, consciousness is neither turned outward nor inward. Nor is it both outward and inward; it is beyond both cognition and the absence of cognition. This fourth state of Turiya cannot be experienced through the senses or known by comparison, deductive reasoning or inference; it is indescribable, incomprehensible, and unthinkable with the mind. This is Pure Consciousness itself. This is the real Self. It is within the cessation of all phenomena. It is serene, tranquil, filled with bliss, and is one without second. This is the real or true Self that is to be realized.”

This fourth state is usually called “pure consciousness” or “superconsciousness”. It sounds remarkably similar to the meditative states with distinctive brainwave activity that the scientists had observed in long-term meditation practitioners. We will talk about this groundbreaking study that was conducted in 2004 next time and discuss how it relates to the forth state of consciousness.

If we look back at the great Indian philosophers then where we are deeply indebted to the Upanishads and the teachings of Buddha, Kabiguru Rabindranath agore speaks from his own personal experiences at once instinctual and individual, the values of the spirit which enables man to achieve communion with the divine in his everyday life.

One of the greatest gifts you could give yourself is to seek, find, and apply truth in your life. This is the path to becoming a healthy person. Aligning yourself with the truth permits a better person to eventually emerge from within. Looking back at the western world, if one happens to agree then one will love the Johari Window. Years ago two gentlemen came up with this model. Their respective names were Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. The Johari Window helps you to categorize conscious and subconscious areas of your life. The window works much like a grid. It goes from the obvious and more conscious areas of your life to the less obvious areas that your may not be aware of.

The Johari Window can be looked at from many angles and provides four basic forms of the Self (the Public, Private, Blind, and Undiscovered Self). One may find it quite useful as you journey forward into the discovery of who you are.

References :

• https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-johari-window/
• https://sequencewiz.org/2018/05/09/the-meaning-of-om-four-states-of-human-consciousness/

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