What are Consciousness-Based Studies (CBS):

Consciousness-based studies are an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that focus on understanding consciousness — the subjective experience of awareness, perception, and inner life — as a central or foundational element in the study of reality, human experience, and existence.

Core Features of Consciousness-Based Studies:

Consciousness as Primary:
These studies often begin from the premise that consciousness is not just a byproduct of the brain, but may be a fundamental aspect of the universe — sometimes even more foundational than matter or energy.

Interdisciplinary Approach:
The field draws from:

• Psychology & neuroscience
• Philosophy (especially phenomenology and idealism)
• Parapsychology
• Quantum physics (in speculative interpretations)
• Spiritual and mystical traditions
• Eastern philosophies (e.g., Vedanta, Buddhism)

Subjective Experience:
It values first-person accounts and inner experience just as much as objective, third-person measurement. Meditation, introspection, and altered states of consciousness are often included as valid methods of inquiry.

Expanded Human Potential:
Consciousness-based studies often explore how consciousness can be expanded, refined, or transformed — through practices like:

• Meditation
• Lucid dreaming
• Psychedelic experiences
• Remote viewing
• Energy healing
• Intuition and psi phenomena

Applications and Implications:

• Healing and wellness (mind-body connection, consciousness-based medicine)
• Education (e.g., the Maharishi’s Consciousness-Based Education)
• Philosophical questions about mind, identity, and reality
• Ethical and ecological worldviews based on interconnectedness

Notable Contributors and Movements:

• David Chalmers — philosophy of mind and the “hard problem” of consciousness
• Ken Wilber — integral theory combining science and spirituality
• Rupert Sheldrake — morphic resonance and extended mind theories
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — founded consciousness-based education (TM movement)
• Stanislav Grof — transpersonal psychology
• Dean Radin — parapsychology and psi research

Shervan K Shahhian