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CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES by K. Ramakrishna Rao. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2002. Pp. vii + 367 $65.00 (illustrated case binding). ISBN 0-7864-1382-4
This remarkable volume is notable because of: (a) the breadth and depth of its coverage of topics related to consciousness, both from Western and Eastern perspectives, (b) its serious, scholarly character, and (c) its generally clear, straightforward writing about some complex, abstract, and difficult topics. It is subdivided into "Part I-Western Tradition" (Chapters 1-7) and "Part II-Eastern Tradition" (Chapters 8-12).
In Chapter 1, "What It is Like to Be Conscious," the multiple connotations or meanings of the term consciousness, both commonplace and scholarly, are described. The author makes particular note of the subjectivity of consciousness, the factor that makes it intrinsically inaccessible to other individuals - at least, in any direct sense - and makes it difficult to study and measure.
Several varieties of awareness are catalogued and briefly discussed in this chapter: awareness of awareness, self-awareness, dreaming as an altered state, daydreaming and hypnagogic imagery, pathological awareness, unconsciousness, implicit awareness (response to information not in conscious focus or inaccessible to consciousness), special natural (e.g., nondreaming sleep) and induced (e.g., meditation or biofeedback) states, anomalous awareness (ESP), and what is termed awareness-as-such or pure consciousness (e.g., a blissful state that lacks awareness of objects, situations, or even self as an object). Also discussed are: criteria for inferring consciousness; the functional significance of consciousness; special charts or diagrams to organize Rao's concepts regarding awareness or conscious experience; and, finally, "The Four P's of Awareness" (pp. 28-29). The latter are: (a) primary awareness, which is everyday consciousness and involves specific content of which one is subjectively aware; (b) paradoxical awareness, which is the implicit awareness noted earlier;
(c) pathological awareness, which involves maladaptive processing (e.g., schizophrenic hallucinations); and (d) paranormal awareness, which is construed to include ESP and pure consciousness.
Rao asserts that "In states of paranormal awareness, the relationship between the knower and the known is one of identity" (D. 29). Given that he does not confine this statement to pure consciousness, he seemingly presumes that it applies to ESP. Inadequately supported conclusions or generalizations on fundamental conceptual issues such as this are rare in this volume, and this...