Everything you’ve ever experienced — every joy, fear, success, and struggle — began first as a movement within consciousness. Before a word was spoken or a hand was lifted, there was awareness. Consciousness is the silent stage where life unfolds, and imagination is the director shaping the play. Neville Goddard called it “the Christ within you.” Joel Goldsmith called it “the Infinite Way.” Both pointed to one truth: reality is born from within. What we hold in mind, we hold in life.
In this post, we’re diving into what consciousness really is — not as a theory, but as the living power that shapes your world every day.
Consciousness — that’s one of those words that seems simple until you start unpacking it. Then suddenly, it’s like standing in front of an ocean that has no shore.
At its core, consciousness is the state of being aware — aware of yourself, your thoughts, your surroundings, your experiences. It’s that inner “light” that lets you know you exist and that something is happening. When you stub your toe and wince, when you remember your childhood, when you notice you’re thinking — that’s consciousness at work.
Philosophers, mystics, and scientists all wrestle with it from different angles:
- In philosophy, consciousness is often called the hard problem — how and why a lump of gray matter in your skull can produce the vivid experience of being you.
- In spirituality, it’s seen as the eternal awareness behind the mind — not the thoughts themselves, but the witness of them. In that sense, consciousness is the divine spark, the “I AM” that Neville Goddard and Joel Goldsmith talk about.
- In neuroscience, it’s studied as the brain’s ability to integrate information and generate a unified sense of self and perception.
Some describe it poetically as “the screen upon which the movie of life plays,” while others call it “the universe becoming aware of itself.”
So you could say:
Consciousness isn’t something you have — it’s what you are.
1. The Spiritual View
Spiritually, consciousness is the essence of being itself — the eternal “I AM.” It’s not your thoughts, emotions, or body; it’s the awareness behind them.
Joel Goldsmith would say consciousness is God-awareness — the invisible Presence animating all life. Neville Goddard called it imagination, the creative power of God expressing as you. When you imagine something vividly, and it later shows up in your world, that’s consciousness shaping reality.
In this view, you don’t have consciousness — you are consciousness, temporarily identifying as a human. When you’re awake, dreaming, or in deep meditation, it’s all consciousness wearing different masks.
2. The Scientific View
Science, of course, strips the poetry and asks: what’s happening in the brain when you’re conscious?
Neuroscientists define consciousness as the subjective experience of awareness — the brain’s ability to perceive, think, and feel. They study it through brain scans, neural networks, and theories like:
- Integrated Information Theory (IIT) — the more interconnected your brain’s information is, the more conscious you are.
- Global Workspace Theory (GWT) — consciousness is like a mental “spotlight” that broadcasts certain thoughts and sensations to the rest of your brain.
But here’s the catch: science can map brain activity, yet it still can’t explain why you feel like “you.” That’s the so-called hard problem of consciousness.
3. The Philosophical View
Philosophers debate whether consciousness is a product of matter or whether matter itself arises within consciousness.
- Materialists believe consciousness emerges from complex biological systems — the brain being one.
- Idealists flip it around, saying consciousness is fundamental — the universe itself is made of awareness.
- Then there’s panpsychism, a middle ground claiming that everything, even atoms, has some tiny spark of awareness.
In philosophy, consciousness is both the simplest and the most baffling thing — because it’s the one thing you can’t deny. You can doubt the world, but you can’t doubt that you’re aware of doubting.
If we tie them all together:
Consciousness is the invisible field through which reality experiences itself — a mirror reflecting both spirit and matter, dream and dreamer, observer and observed.
In the end, consciousness isn’t something distant or mystical — it’s who you are right now, reading these words. The same awareness that breathes life into the universe breathes through you. When you begin to live consciously — choosing your thoughts, shaping your imagination, and resting in the quiet knowing of your oneness with God — life starts to move differently. Circumstances bend, people show up, doors open. Not by chance, but by consciousness becoming form.
So ask yourself: What am I aware of being today? Because that awareness is already building your tomorrow.
Written by Sean Samuel, a creator and thinker exploring the power of consciousness, imagination, and spiritual awareness in everyday life. Through his projects — AdzVillage, AdzBoard, and his writings — Sean helps others see that the mind isn’t just a tool for survival, but a gateway to creation. His message is simple: everything begins within.