Consciousness Studies, Where Heading to

Abstract

The quest for consciousness in one form or another viz. mind-body problem, philosophy, spiritualism, etc. have long been a contemplative aspect to many in different parts of the world. Consciousness study traditionally a subject for philosophers recently has drawn the attention of many scholars of different disciplines viz. neuroscientists, neurobiologists, and physicists, including noble laureates as well as authors of other related ones. Two mainstreams are neuroscience where presence its inside the brain and physics where hypothesis of its existence is current focus of the research. Conspicuously, the subjective experience also sometimes called phenomenal experience has been brought into the active study cum research domain. It appears from the ongoing research are indicative that the state of the human brain and the external world are not disjoined and at least to some extent progressing towards a future unified theory where fundamental laws are will be inclusive of any aspect that to date yet to include in. Indian philosophy and spiritualism ascribe that the outside universe and inner lives are in harmony with each other. Moreover, pure consciousness is all-pervasive, and one needs to look inward to discover it. This lead one to attain realizing the truth and the state of the journey is, nonetheless, full of own experience and evidence bestow on oneself at the individual level. In this paper, a brief overview of contemporary studies on consciousness from different perspectives has been provided in the light of Swami Vivekananda’s one letter describing his spiritual experience. Moreover, a recent discovery of a record of a dying human brain is a baffling event from to date scientific knowledge and indicative that consciousness is independent of the brain.