An exploration into consciousness typical begins with the simple question: What is consciousness? However, this question is not as simple as it seems. In fact, the more you think about it, the more complex it becomes. What exactly is consciousness? Where does it come from? Despite centuries of thought and research, we still don’t have a clear answer.
The concept of consciousness is often presented as a “mystery.” Most mainstream theories about consciousness come from materialism – the idea that matter makes up everything, including consciousness (Grof, 2019; Barušs & Mossbridge, 2017). Other theories come from neuroscience, which claims that consciousness is a product of brain activity. While these might explain everyday experiences, they fall short when we consider anomalous phenomena, or the unusual aspects of consciousness.
Experiences like remote viewing, out-of-body experiences, lucid dreaming, and hallucinations do not neatly fit into the materialist or neuroscientific frameworks. These “anomalous phenomena” push the boundaries of what we think of as ordinary consciousness. In fact, they support the survival hypothesis, which claims that consciousness continues after death (Barušs & Mossbridge, 2017). Even though many people have reported these kinds of anomalous experiences, they’re often dismissed as peculiar, strange, or unlikely. But the fact that so many people have them suggests that there is more to consciousness than our current theories explain, requiring a new framework.
Consciousness and the Illusion of Time and Space
In our ordinary, waking state of consciousness, we as humans feel bound by time and space. We experience life as moving through time – from past to present to future – in a steady, linear progression. We remember the past and anticipate or fantasize about the future while existing only in the present moment. Our sense of reality feels tied to both time and space in this way.
But when we step outside of ordinary consciousness, we experience a transcendence of time and space. In altered or nonordinary states of consciousness, people describe feeling untethered from time and space, reporting experiences of timelessness where past, present, and future are all equally accessible (Barušs & Mossbridge, 2017; Grof, 2019). Similarly, they often describe a sense of being both “everywhere and nowhere” at the same time (Richards, 2016). For example, in out-of-body experiences, consciousness operates outside of the physical body, capable of accessing any spatial position in the world (Grof, 2019). Perhaps, then, time and space are illusions of ordinary states of consciousness, and we are not bound by these dimensions after all. If we can step outside of time and space in nonordinary states of consciousness, does that mean time and space are just constructs of the mind? Are they only part of our ordinary experience – not an inherent truth about reality?
Expanding Our Understanding of Consciousness
Consciousness is difficult to define, as it is so vast and complex. Traditional theories claim that it’s tied to brain activity (Grof, 2019; Barušs & Mossbridge, 2017; Richards, 2016), which would limit our experiences of consciousness to ordinary states bound by time, space, and the body.
But if that were true, how do we explain the propound and often life-changing insights that come from nonordinary states? Grof (2019) suggests that in ordinary states, “we use only a small fraction of our perceptual and experiential potential and are not aware of the full extent of our being” (p. 4). When we enter altered states, we may be glimpsing a deeper, more expansive reality that extends beyond the physical body and even beyond death (Barušs & Mossbridge, 2017). If consciousness isn’t limited to the brain, maybe it’s not limited by time and space either. These anomalous experiences could be pointing us toward a bigger picture – one where consciousness is timeless, boundless, and ultimately interconnected.
As you reelect on these ideas, I invite you to explore your own experiences with time, space, and consciousness through this week’s prompt: Think about a time when you experienced a shift in your sense of time or space – maybe a moment when time seemed to slow down, speed up, or even disappear altogether. What did it feel like? Did it change your sense of reality or give you any new insights?
Now imagine that time and space are just constructs of the mind. If you weren’t bound by them, how might your understanding of yourself and the world change? What would it mean for your sense of connection to others and the universe?
References
Barušs, I. & Mossbridge, J. (2017). Transcendent mind: Rethinking the science of consciousness. American Psychological Association.
Grof, S. (2019). The way of the psychonaut: Encyclopedia for inner journeys (Volume One). MAPS.
Richards, W.A. (2016). Sacred knowledge: Psychedelics and religious experiences. Columbia University Press
Threads of Consciousness 
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