enric@enricgine.cat
This title, “Consciousness and Reflex”, is a term I use to explain a process that is somewhat difficult to describe; do not confuse it with yoga, although it bears a close resemblance to meditation. However, I shall try to explain it as best I can, as, as you will see, it can be very interesting. Perhaps you have already experienced this at some point in your life, but if not, give it a try: If you are alone and in silence, comfortable and calm, you can close your eyes and feel many sensations within your body. For example, your heart beats, your lungs breathe in and out again and again, without you doing anything; it all happens automatically. It is said to be “a reflex action”, your body does everything automatically, without your consent. And if you are patient and listen carefully, you’ll also be able to feel many other sensations you’d never have felt before, but you must be patient and have a bit of time; however, if you work hard at this—which I call Awareness & Reflex you’ll discover many things, such as what it really is: Awareness, which is what moves our body. If you’re focused and patient, you’ll be able to feel your whole body in this way and listen to it, and you can also do many more things if you concentrate hard enough on it; this is really a deep form of meditation, which I call Awareness, and that is only when you are deeply connected with your body. In these circumstances, you can do many things, such as speeding up your heart rate, getting rid of a headache, or warming up your hands if they are cold, for example, and many other things; you can do almost anything you want, this makes one think it is Yoga, and indeed it is; perceiving your body in this way is Yoga, but what it is really about is the communication between you and your body that is, the conversation you have with your body, which is Consciousness.
I’d like to give a few examples to explain what Consciousness is, and this is what makes the body do what Consciousness tells it to do. Raising your hand isn’t a reflex; it only happens when you want it to, just like closing your eyes, walking, and so on. What is happening? You can say or do whatever you want, but it will be your Consciousness and this is you that will do what you want; it will always be your Consciousness that makes you move as you wish.
And this leads to many other questions: Who is in charge? Who makes the heart beat? And how fast should it go? Well, the heart beating is a reflex, isn’t it? And the speed at which it beats is controlled by a lack of oxygen; if you run, your heart needs more oxygen, and so on. But this analysis has already been described in science. Let’s return to the question: who is in charge of the heart or the other parts of the body that behave as they do? Therein lies the essence of it all.
And here we enter the realm of quantum physics. What is an atom? Everyone knows what it is, don’t they? Well, more or less. An atom can be very small or very large; in quantum physics it is very large depends on how each person observes it. There are hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms, and so on, but these do not control our body; they are full of electrical vibrations. They exist, but they are not intelligent; they do as they’re told. In our body there are many other interesting things, such as molecules, and these are more complicated, because within them there are more atoms, and there may be a combination that forms a molecule of DNA, and this is very interesting, because it behaves in an intelligent way, and plays a very important role in the functioning of our body and our planet, but it is we who are in control of our body. Why are we people and completely different from one another? Who decides that? And to whom? When there is a lack of oxygen in your body, who tells it that there is a lack of oxygen, and how does it make the heart beat faster?
I’ll give an example: what happens when you see a brick falling towards your head and you have time to see it—first as a reflex, though it isn’t really a reflex, because it’s your consciousness? You’ll duck, because you have no more time than that to avoid the fatal outcome, and then your body and muscles will tense up. What happens in your head? In your consciousness? In your body? Who gives the orders, and all in less than a millisecond? What happens is that a mechanism is put on high alert to protect you; in your head, or rather, your consciousness sends a warning signal to different parts of your body, such as, sending a signal to the kidneys so that they can prepare to send protection to every cell in the body which number in the billions and it must happen instantly, in a fraction of a millisecond; the kidneys receive this signal and release a precise amount of adrenaline neither too strong nor too weak, but exactly the amount commanded by the consciousness, which the consciousness has assessed according to the gravity of the situation. In addition to this, it carries out many more operations, and in tenths of a second, such as protecting yourself by putting your hands over your head against the impact you would suffer if you didn’t; if you were holding a more forceful object in your hands, there would be more options as to which tool would be best to protect you, because your hands aren’t very forceful either, and your consciousness also has to choose between your hands or your head, but it always makes the best choice, without a doubt, without any error; apart from all this, there are millions of operations that the consciousness commands in just a millisecond, such as the acceleration of the heart at what speed the heart in your body should beat, which is under great strain due to the adrenaline. The whole body receives an alert containing information that must be acted upon, and which must be sent to every cell in your body to combat the aggression, in addition to all this, there is a connection—a chemical one too—regarding how all the molecules must communicate and send, receive or share all the information with every atom and molecule throughout the body, and there are billions of them; and this is done under the orders of the Consciousness, which is what governs our body. Our body is very, very self-centred; it protects us and wants the best for itself, without a doubt.
I have spoken a great deal about Consciousness, yet what is Consciousness? What is this? Because perhaps it is not exactly this; however, it is not Consciousness that carries out all the operations, but it is Consciousness that opens a command centre which is what keeps us alive.
Consciousness decides how your body behaves, from the moment you are born until your death. Now, we will soon see a difference between Consciousness and Reflex. What is one and what is the other?
If you have to get up from the chair and you say: “Get up from the chair”, you won’t do it just because you say so, but when you want to do it, and only then will you get up, when you want to do it, when your Consciousness commands it, and this is what makes you get up; it is your Consciousness at the exact moment you want it, if you want to walk, you will walk not when you say so, but only when your Consciousness commands it, and it will absolutely be the Consciousness that takes the first step, but be careful, for now comes the most interesting part: after the Consciousness’s command to take the first step, the Consciousness withdraws, takes a step back, and remains in the background, because the Autopilot, or call it Reflex, kicks in, and it is this that will keep you walking to your destination, without the Consciousness being aware of taking each step; this will be the case provided there are no obstacles to prevent it; if there were, the Consciousness would take control again.
As we can see, our body and the Universe are one and the same, since we are within it and in balance with it, and it is of such ingenious, intelligent, fantastic and indescribable complexity that it makes it very difficult for us humans to understand how the entire Universe works how atoms, protons and neutrons, which are always in motion, collide with one another, causing destruction and death— for when some die, others are born, and others double, quadruple, and so on, until the desired objective is formed, and such is life and how we live, and to attempt to understand the composition of life and death and of living beings and of everything around us is a very difficult task; I do not believe we will ever be able to know it, because life and death are a mystery; cells die and reproduce every second it is the basis of life, just like people, animals, plants in short, everything. Therein lies everything in the balance of our Universe, because that is how everything works; we are created in the image and likeness of what surrounds us, the Universe; we have two very important characteristics: one is Consciousness, and the other is what we call Reflexes, which is the Autopilot; they are very similar, but they serve different purposes; yet it is Consciousness that is in control, and within it lies the reflex, which obeys the commands of Consciousness
Enric Giné i Orengo