On the Possibility of Pure Consciousness

Throughout history and across cultures, many people have reported experiences of 'pure' consciousness—awareness without content or intention. Major spiritual traditions are built around these experiences and the goal of achieving them. However, many Western philosophical and scientific traditions deny not only that such experiences occur, but also that they are possible, often defining consciousness in ways that rule out a pure state by definition. This essay argues that neither logical nor phenomenological considerations exclude the existence of pure consciousness.

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Abstract

Abstract Throughout recorded history and across major cultural and religious barriers many persons have claimed to have, had experiences of “pure” consciousness, that is, of a consciousness free of content and intention. Major spiritual traditions are built in significant ways around the existence of these experiences and the desirability of achieving them. Yet many philosophical and scientific traditions, especially in the West, deny not only their existence, but also their possibility. Consciousness often is conceived in ways that rule out the possibility of a pure state on a priori grounds. My purpose in this essay is to show that there are no logical or, to a lesser extent, phenomenological considerations that rule out the existence of pure consciousness.