This article spins out of a discussion in comments on Is Brahman God, an article from November 2014.

All experiences and the world arise from consciousness interacting with itself. For a materialist that sees consciousness as a byproduct of the physical brain, this may seem delusional and ridiculous. And yet if we undertake an experiential study of consciousness itself, we soon experience consciousness by itself. This is known as samadhi or turiya. It gradually becomes clear that consciousness is not a byproduct but is the source of experience. The mind and brain are vehicles for that process, supporting and functioning on different levels of becoming.

From this perspective, we can say consciousness is the source. In the early stages of enlightenment, we experience consciousness as boundless and eternal. It has no prior origin.

As we go deeper into consciousness, we also discover consciousness underlies the world around us as well. The world is as if a screen on which experiences unfold. As Refined Unity unfolds, the process of experience itself becomes recognized. The full dynamics of consciousness are clear. There is an observer, the process of observation, and object of observation. The wholeness or samhita is the entirety of our shared world of experience.Brahman

When consciousness, through this vehicle, goes on to know itself globally and at every point, it knows itself fully. Then it can stop looking in on itself and look beyond itself. Turning beyond self-referral consciousness, pure Brahman is discovered.

For Brahman, nothing is named and no sense of self manifests as a being. It is prior to consciousness, existence, and all experiences. And yet Brahman knowns Brahman as it is alert to itself.

Beyond consciousness is prior to time. There is no temporal “beginning” to consciousness. It remains infinite and eternal and yet uncreated.

From Brahman, we can step back and see the totality of the self-interacting dynamics of consciousness. And then we come to see the three subtle “qualities” that give rise to consciousness in the first place.

The first quality is alertness. Alertness by itself is simply alert. It is not alert to anything because it is prior to consciousness and prior to any thing or object. But it is awake.

Then there is a quality of liveliness. This stirs alertness to become conscious. And then it stirs it further into flow. Flowing within itself, it is consciousness. Consciousness curves back on itself and becomes self-aware. This begins the dynamics of self-aware consciousness noted above – all of us experiencers and the objects of our world.

There is also a still more subtle quality of intelligence that gives that flow of consciousness a direction. Liveliness doesn’t just agitate alertness, it stirs it awake with intent. It becomes self-aware. It recognizes itself and expresses qualities from its inherent intelligence.

Once self-awareness arises, consciousness becomes aware that it is. The cosmic I-sense or Self or Atman arises. The sense of existence or being arises with self recognition. As Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said in the infamous SCI lesson 8 “Existence becomes conscious, then intelligence becomes intelligent.” In self-awareness is self-knowing.

In the dynamics of consciousness, we can say the quality of alertness expresses as the observer or Shiva quality of consciousness.