{{Theosophy
''Study in Consciousness'' is a book by
Annie Besant
Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist.
Regarded as a champion of human f ...
that was written in ca. 1904.
Besant intended this book to be a contribution to the science of
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
.
She writes that the seed of consciousness is the tri-atomic Atma- Buddhi- Manas, the Jivatma.
The Super-consciousness includes the whole of the
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
visions
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
, inspirations, etc. To bring the super-consciousness into manifestation on the
physical plane
In esoteric cosmology, a plane is conceived as a subtle state, level, or region of reality, each plane corresponding to some type, kind, or category of being.
The concept may be found in religious and esoteric teachings—''e.g.'' Vedanta (Ad ...
, Besant proposes (in the early stages) to render the brain and sense-organs unresponsive to physical impacts and to induce
Trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
. This can be done by using the methods of Yogis. But she also says that there is a difference between the super-physical conditions of consciousness in the hypnotised subject and in the Yogi.
See also
*
Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
The Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) is a non-profit organization for professional membership that aims to encourage research on consciousness in cognitive science, neuroscience, philosophy, and other relevant discip ...