(differentiated consciousness), the personal unconscious (undifferentiated consciousness), and the only be answered one collective unconscious (transpersonal consciousness). Clearly a time-space continuum is not a limiting factor in consciousness (ego awareness), but then way for logical positivists. Next Page 7 TMI JOURNAL 2012 what are the mental states transcending consciousness, or is this merely a case of linguistics, and we would all be better served by good comparative analysis of terminology? For those literal adherents of the scientific method, consciousness is framed by the physical boundaries of the earth-life system. Of course the definition of our physical boundaries is constantly under revision, but the approach is one of “empirical verification.” In essence, only what is observed through our physical senses is the proper study of science (laboratory instruments are extensions of our senses). Philosophically, this orientation is known as logical positivism and shows up in universities under the umbrella of cognitive studies. For these individuals, the study of consciousness is the study of the brain and its functioning and the effects on human behavior that result with
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changes to brain functioning. A worthy endeavor, in which most everyone will agree that brain chemistry does have an impact on ego development and altered states of awareness. Nonetheless, the question of what comes first, the brain or consciousness, can only be answered one way for logical positivists. Then there are those who want to start looking for a definition of consciousness somewhere between a religious (mystical) and a scientific (empirical) orientation. For these individuals (whom I call Human Potential advocates), evidence of extraordinary human functioning (out-of-body experiences, remote viewing, death-defying feats of endurance, etc.) illustrates aspects of consciousness that extend beyond the laws of a physical universe. They start with events or experiences and create models or theories based on inductive reasoning or inference. These are not “scientific” theories in the traditional use of the term (independently verified by other scientists), but rather are theories verified by repeated individual experiences or collective patterns of experience. For those in this middle orientation, consciousness exists across a spectrum extending beyond space and time in which “an individual observer” is present (pure awareness), though the question remains as to who or what that observer is and how it relates to the unique ego-based personality bound by space and time.
To this last point, developmental psychologists have noted that the ego continues to evolve throughout our lives (the idea that there are elements of personality fixed after a certain point in time remains true, though it is not immutable). The ego has a regulating function in integrating the different aspects of personality. Introducing the concept of an “observer” in the experience of Self is part of the emergence of greater personal-efficacy (what might be described as inner guidance). Ego development is therefore critical to the translation (integration) of transpersonal experiences. As one psychologist notes about the direction of human growth and development: “In the Judeo-Christian cosmology there is the Garden of Eden at the beginning and the Kingdom of God at the end. The two are not the same. The Garden of Eden is the original pre-ego state of mind. The Kingdom of God is a return to our original condition but as ego-conscious individuals. . . . The point is to break through to an insight into our original nature as mature adults and to integrate that insight into our conception of ourselves and of the world. This cannot be accomplished without an ego.” (V. Walter Odajnyk, Gathering the Light: A Psychology of Meditation, 1993, pp. 65–66.) From a developmental perspective, consciousness is not only a spectrum but an expanding spectrum that enriches what has come before as the ego extends its linking or integrating mechanism to incorporate new ele-