A viewer by the name of "Shabaduba" recently posted the following question on my video about "authentic individuality".
He/she writes:
"Can you explain why or in what sense is Thought eternal and universal? Is not a thought or a concept limited? I have a feeling that how Steiner talks about thought or thinking, is very similiar to what Non-dual (Advaita-vedanta) teaching says about Consciousness. Non-dual perspective would say here very similiar thing to compare what you have said. That is: "Usually, "I", Awareness am aware of objects. So I am aware of things, events, perceptions, feelings, thoughts, sensations etc. But when I become aware of awareness, that means Consciousness is conscious of itself, or Awareness is being aware of itself, thats something Universal and eternal."
This is a stumbling block that comes up all the time on my Steiner videos. My response runs something as follows:
If one declares that the concepts that thinking grasps are merely limited with no real reality to them, and that thinking itself is also limited in this way, then in this very assertion you are appealing to an intuition.
Ultimately, consciousness of consciousness is the fruit of intuitive thinking that represents this knowledge in the form of concepts. If these concepts were unable to grasp the reality of consciousness, then everything we are saying about consciousness is sheer gibberish, and there is no difference between Thought and Non-duality because to differentiate is to already employ conceptualisation, and THAT requires thinking.
To illustrate the point another way I can respond to the question with another question:
By what means do you compare a "limited concept" against "universal consciousness" if not by the grace of intuitive thinking?
In essence, as soon as you recognise that it is nothing but intuitive thinking behind all instances of awareness of awareness, you are forced to re-assess the standing of thought in the grand scheme of things.
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