In the realm where science meets spiritual inquiry, few explorers navigate the territories of consciousness with the depth and breadth of Matthew Pelam. Drawing from his extensive travels through the Americas and immersion in diverse cultural traditions, Pelam offers a compelling synthesis of ancient shamanic wisdom and contemporary understanding of the mind. His recently published works, "The Thinning Veil" and "I Am Consciousness Incarnate," represent the culmination of years dedicated to investigating the nature of awareness beyond conventional boundaries.

Consciousness, that elusive yet fundamental aspect of human experience, remains one of the greatest scientific and philosophical mysteries of our time. While we experience it as a continuous, personal stream of awareness that shifts seamlessly between thoughts, sensations, and perceptions, its relationship to the physical brain defies simple explanation. Pelam's exploration delves into this fascinating intersection between neuroscience and spiritual tradition, examining how our conscious experience relates to the subconscious depths that shape our perception, creativity, and understanding of reality itself. Through this journey, we gain insight into not just how consciousness works, but how we might access deeper levels of awareness that typically remain beyond our everyday perception.

Key Takeaways

Consciousness is defined as our awareness of thoughts, memories, sensations, and environment that continuously shifts while maintaining coherence.
The subconscious mind operates below conscious awareness, managing vital functions and storing information that can be accessed when needed.
Human consciousness possesses five key characteristics identified by William James, including personal connection, constant change, and selective focus on objects of interest.

Exploring the Nature of Mind

Contemporary Perspectives by Matthew Pelam

Matthew Pelam, author and shamanic explorer, has been actively researching consciousness through various cultural lenses. His extensive travels through the Americas have informed his unique perspective on consciousness and its various manifestations. Recently, he published two books nearly simultaneously: "The Thinning Veil" and "I Am Consciousness Incarnate," with the former being released first.

Understanding Consciousness

Consciousness fundamentally relates to awareness—specifically our individual awareness of thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, and environments. It represents a subjective experience unique to each person, constantly shifting from one focus to another. Despite these rapid transitions between thoughts, consciousness maintains a remarkable continuity, creating a smooth, effortless flow of experience.

The nature of consciousness includes several key characteristics:

Personal connection - Every thought tends to be part of a personal consciousness
Constant change - Within each personal consciousness, thought is always changing
Continuity - Within each personal consciousness, thought flows sensibly
Object orientation - Consciousness appears to deal with objects independent of itself
Selective attention - It focuses on specific parts of objects to the exclusion of others

Mind-Brain Relationship

The relationship between consciousness and the physical brain remains one of science's most compelling questions. Rather than being solely brain-based or entirely separate, consciousness likely exists in a complex relationship with our neurological systems. Our perceptions filter through both sensory inputs and internal processing.

The brain itself presents challenges to localization theories. As a complex, interconnected network, consciousness doesn't reside in any single region. Instead, it operates through integrated systems that work together to create our subjective experience.

Depths of the Subconscious

The subconscious mind operates below ordinary awareness yet remains readily accessible. Unlike deeply repressed unconscious material, subconscious content can be quickly brought into conscious awareness when needed. This includes procedural knowledge like mathematical skills that can be accessed on demand.

The subconscious serves several vital functions:

Automatic processing - Handles bodily functions like breathing and heartbeat
Information filtering - Prevents overwhelming conscious awareness
Memory storage - Holds information until needed
Creative processing - Works on problems behind the scenes

Shadow work represents an important aspect of engaging with less accessible parts of ourselves. This involves exploring aspects of our psyche that we consider unacceptable—both positive and negative elements that remain hidden from conscious awareness.

Accessing Deeper Awareness

Various techniques can help engage the subconscious mind more effectively. Creative professionals, particularly writers, often develop specific approaches to tap into this resource. These methods typically involve:

Seeding ideas - Introducing concepts to the subconscious
Incubation period - Allowing time for processing
Receptive awareness - Being open to insights during activities like showering
Dream work - Paying attention to dream content
Trust building - Developing confidence in subconscious processes

Intuition represents a natural bridge between conscious and subconscious awareness. Some individuals naturally access this connection more readily than others, though intuitive strengths often vary by domain or subject area.

Theoretical Perspectives

The understanding of consciousness has evolved through various theoretical frameworks, offering distinct views on its nature, function, and characteristics. These perspectives provide valuable insights into how awareness operates both internally and externally, influencing our perception of self and reality.

William James' Framework of Consciousness

William James, a pioneering psychologist, identified five fundamental characteristics that define human consciousness. First, consciousness is inherently personal - each thought belongs to an individual's unique awareness. Second, consciousness constantly changes, never remaining static for extended periods. Third, despite these changes, consciousness maintains a sensible continuity, creating a coherent flow of experience rather than disconnected fragments.

The fourth characteristic James identified is that consciousness always engages with objects that exist independently of itself - we perceive things as separate from our awareness of them. Finally, consciousness selectively focuses on certain aspects of objects while excluding others, demonstrating its inherent selective nature.

These characteristics illuminate how our awareness functions as a stream rather than discrete units of thought. James' framework remains influential in understanding how consciousness creates a continuous yet ever-changing personal experience that selectively engages with reality.

Natural Intuition and Inner Awareness

Consciousness fundamentally relates to our awareness of thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, and surroundings. It represents our subjective experience of reality, unique to each individual. This awareness constantly shifts between different focal points—from external conversations to internal thoughts about past events or future plans—yet maintains a remarkable continuity despite these rapid transitions.

The relationship between consciousness and the brain remains complex. The experience of consciousness involves both sensory perceptions and internal processing. While numerous theories attempt to locate consciousness within specific brain regions, its mercurial nature makes it difficult to pinpoint precisely, as it functions through interconnected neural networks rather than a single location.

Beneath conscious awareness lies the subconscious mind, which holds information not currently in focus but readily accessible when needed. This includes skills like mathematical abilities that can be summoned on demand. The subconscious serves vital functions by:

Managing automatic bodily processes (breathing, heartbeat, temperature)
Storing memories and knowledge for later retrieval
Processing information in the background

Writers and creative professionals often learn to collaborate with their subconscious, feeding it information and allowing it time to deliver insights at unexpected moments—during showers or dreams.

The unconscious mind contains deeper material, including repressed experiences or aspects of self considered unacceptable. Traumatic events may be blocked from conscious awareness as a protective mechanism. Shadow work involves exploring these hidden elements of self, both positive and negative.

Psychologist William James identified five key characteristics of human consciousness:

Every thought connects to personal consciousness
Thoughts constantly change within personal consciousness
Thought maintains sensible continuity
Consciousness deals with objects independent of itself
It selectively focuses on certain parts of objects while excluding others

Intuition represents a natural bridge between conscious and subconscious processing. Some individuals demonstrate stronger intuitive abilities than others, often in specific domains where they possess greater knowledge or experience. This natural intuitive capacity varies significantly between people and across different areas of life.

The Thinning Veil: Exploring Consciousness with Shamanic Expert