English Explanatory Dictionary

higher consciousness

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. a supposed mode of cognition beyond human self-awareness
  2. the notion of historical progress in the evolution of the human mind
  3. a concept of mystical transcendence of human consciousness, especially in Hinduism-inspired New Age philosophy, Yoga and psychedelic drugs subculture

Word forms

higher consciousness higher consciousnesses

Etymology

In 19th century philosophy, used by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (died 1831, höheres Bewußtsein), Petr Yakovlevich Chaadayev (died 1856, высшее сознание; literally, "highest consciousness"). The New Age sense appears in ca. 1970 in the publications of Sri Aurobindo and others (The psychology of the unfoldment of higher consciousness (title), Swami Omkarananda, Divine Light Zentrum, 1970).

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