Human Development
States of understanding
Description:
Understanding or comprehension is the end for which awareness, cognition and the entire structure and activity of consciousness exists. One may postulate conditions in which proportions could be developed between understanding and related conscious states. Among those in states of everyday waking consciousness, for example, different degrees of understanding of the same phenomena exist. Therefore higher states of consciousness, or heightened sense perception, or heightened perception (cognition or apprehension) by other faculties, including the alleged super-sensory, would exhibit variance in levels of correlated understanding as well. This suggests the explanation for ignorant yogis, saints and mystics (and some charismatic public figures) whose understanding has not benefitted from "higher" or altered states of consciousness, yet who have gained the power to influence others. The key mental activity that correlates consciousness and comprehension with degrees of proportion is Apollonian reason (ratio). An altered state of consciousness without reason may be Dionysian, aimless frenzy.Understanding, however, is only partly a product of a particular state of consciousness and a process of reason. At its deepest level it may also be influenced by the dispositions of the personality and the will, that is, the intentions to which the individual life-force has been focused. Wisdom, the state of fullest understanding, may also be influenced by the degree of empathy attained with the wholes of which the personality is part: the true self; the selves of others; and the universe of life, "nature", consciousness and purpose of which mankind is a member.