Consciousness
— from —
Z o mb ies to A n g e ls
The Shadow and the Light of Knowing Who You Are
“If you get rid of the demons and the disturbing things, then the angels fly off, too.”
—Joni Mitchell
An Interview with Christian de Quincey, Ph.D.
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Q: What will people learn from Consciousness from Zombies to Angels?
A: Readers will join me on the greatest adventure of
all: an exploration of philosophy’s hardest
problem, science’s final frontier, and spirituality’s
deepest mystery. They will find seven simple
steps on the path to knowing who they truly are.
I'm a professor of Consciousness Studies at John
F. Kennedy University and Dean of Consciousness
Studies at the University of Philosophical
Research. I've been teaching and writing about
consciousness for decades. It's my life-long
passion. I wanted to create a comprehensive,
easy-to-understand “user’s guide” to to the mind—
exploring the full spectrum of consciousness from
philosophy through science to spirituality. This book
is based on presentations and handouts I created
over the years for my students to inform and inspire them about the nature and
possibilities of our most intimate reality—consciousness.
Q: How did you come up with the title?
A: Originally, I wanted to write a kind of Consciousness for Dummies book—like
Meditation for Dummies, Yoga for Dummies, Philosophy for Dummies, etc. But I wanted
to call it Consciousness for Zombies. You see, in philosophy, a “zombie” is a very
special kind of creature: It is just like a human in every way, except it has no mind or
consciousness whatsoever. But I realized that probably only philosophers would get the
pun. So I went to Plan B.
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The subtitle of the book is The Shadow and the Light of Knowing Who You Are. It
means that if we are really serious about exploring consciousness we must be willing to
work with our own shadow and light. Everyone has a “Shadow”—those negative
aspects of ourselves (our fears, guilt, shame, anger) that we have pushed down into our
unconscious from early childhood. But whatever we suppress remains in us and we
either project it onto others or it erupts in some kind of mind-body illness.
However, we not only suppress our “miserable” selves, we also suppress our
“magnificent” selves—those parts of us that are creative, powerful, compassionate, and
loving. To really know who we are, and to grow as healthy spiritual beings, we need to
embrace both our Shadow and our Light. As Joni Mitchell said: “If you get rid of the
demons and the disturbing things, then the angels fly off, too.”
We need to embrace our inner “zombies” as well as our inner “angels.” And so:
Consciousness from Zombies to Angels. It’s a “user’s guide” to the mind from “Z” to “A.”
To make the most effective use of this guide, we need to use our four gifts of knowing.
Q: What are the ‘Four Gifts of Knowing’?
A: Each of us has many different ways of knowing, with the potential to be a
philosopher, a scientist, a shaman, and a mystic. It all depends on where we focus
attention and what gifts we decide to cultivate.
The Scientist’s Gift is our senses—and a method for testing our assumptions and
beliefs through the power of rigorous observation; we use this gift to explore the world of
matter, including our bodies.
The Philosopher’s Gift is reason and language; we use this gift to explore the
realm of mind.
The Shaman’s Gift is feeling and alternative states of consciousness; we use this to
explore the domain of soul.
And the Mystic’s Gift is intuition and sacred silence; we use this to unite with the
essence of spirit.
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If we wish to truly understand consciousness, we need to cultivate and integrate all our
“gifts of knowing.” It’s not enough to just study the brain using the Scientist’s Gift
(though that is valuable, too). And using just the Philosopher’s Gift of reason, logic, and
language gives us only intellectual knowledge about the mind (also useful if we want to
talk or write about consciousness). However, it cannot bring us to the heart of
consciousness itself which is experience. For that, we need to also cultivate deep
awareness of feeling and intuition (the Shaman’s and Mystic’s Gifts).
We need these last two gifts to develop and evolve consciousness. No amount of
information about how the brain works or intellectual knowledge of the mind will ever
lead us to transformation. We need to be willing to be open to the full spectrum of
consciousness—including our shadow and light, our inner zombies and angels. And to
do so effectively, we need to engage in some form of psycho-spiritual practice.
It seems to me that the essence and aim of all spiritual practice is to help us cultivate
what I call “experience beyond belief.”
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Q: What do you mean by ‘experience beyond belief’?
A: These days, it’s quite common to hear people say, “you create your own reality” or
“reality is whatever you believe.” The idea is that we can create or change the world
simply by changing what we think or believe.
That seems to me to be a big mistake. Yes, indeed, consciousness does play a role in
shaping the physical world. But be careful. The truth is not so simple—or as simplistic—
as the popular cliché would have us believe. It is based on a confusion between “belief”
and “intention.” Beliefs are mental habits that block our creative power. Intentions,
however, are creative and have power to change lives. They are purposeful, focused
expressions of consciousness through choice.
Beliefs, on the other hand, are frozen fragments of consciousness, static snapshots of
reality. It works like this: first, at every moment, we are having an experience. Then, we
interpret our experience using thoughts (words and ideas). But every thought is an
abstraction, literally plucked from the ongoing stream of experience. Next, we solidify
our thoughts by turning them into beliefs. We assume that what we think is true (that’s a
definition of “belief”). But we don’t stop there. We often go a step further and turn our
beliefs into dogma by believing our beliefs. We insist that our beliefs equal reality (that’s
the definition of dogma).
The problem is we then act based on what we believe. But, as everyone knows, a belief
can be right or wrong. For example, some people believe that God exists, some people
don’t. Who’s right? They can’t all be right, because those beliefs cancel each other out.
And if beliefs really did create reality, then here’s what would happen: When people
believe in God, God would exist, and when people don’t believe, God would not exist.
So, God would be popping in and out of existence on the whims of what human beings
believed. What a strange Supreme Being that would be!
It’s important to remember that any belief can be right or wrong (it may more or less
accurately match reality or it may totally miss the mark).
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However, an experience can never be wrong. Every experience always is exactly what it
is. You can never have a “mistaken” experience. You can be mistaken only about your
interpretation (thought or belief) of your experience.
Therefore, since beliefs run the risk of being wrong, and experience is never wrong, it
makes far more sense to pay attention to your experience than to act on your beliefs.
I’m saying that the goal of every spiritual practice is to eliminate the “middle man” of
interpretation and belief, and to act directly from experience.
Here’s what typically happens:
experience —> interpretation —> belief —> dogma —> action
By contrast, when we cultivate “experience beyond belief” we become like martial
artists, great athletes, or creative artists who act in the moment based on what they
actually experience.
Have you ever noticed that consciousness or experience always happens right now. And,
have you noticed when reality happens? Like experience, reality also happens right now.
That’s very convenient. It means that our experience connects us directly with reality.
However, our thoughts and beliefs always distort reality in some way. They remove us
from the in-the-moment experience where we connect directly with what is. That’s
why I encourage us to cultivate experience beyond belief. And to learn to act directly
from experience:
experience —> action
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Q: Are you saying we should give up all our beliefs’?
A: Not at all. We can’t help having beliefs (it’s what our minds have evolved to do, and
they do that job very well). But we can choose whether or not to be attached to our
beliefs. We can choose whether or not we believe our beliefs to be true. I’m
encouraging us not to believe our beliefs. Rather, I suggest that we learn to notice them,
and then release them, let them go.
Wisdom resides in our moment-to-moment experience, not in our beliefs. As habits of
mind, beliefs are conditioned by the past. Experience, on the other hand, always occurs
in the present moment—now.
Of course, I don’t want you to believe what I’m saying, either. I do, however, want you to
listen with an open mind, and to allow yourself to feel and experience whatever comes
up for you as you respond to the meaning of my words. Pay attention to what you are
feeling—to the sensations rippling through your body. That’s the source of your wisdom.
Not your abstract thoughts.
As long as we have bodies, we will have ego-minds, and as long as we have ego-
minds we will have beliefs. We don’t have much, if any, choice about that. But we do
have a choice whether or not to believe our beliefs.
I often remind students of Plato’s final words. On his deathbed, the great philosopher
gathered his followers around him and told them that everything he had taught and
written was nothing more than a “likely story.”
That’s how we should hold our beliefs—lightly, as “likely stories.”
Q: You also talk about going beyond ‘physics envy.’ What do you mean?
A: Many people use “energy talk” to describe consciousness or spirit. They use words
such as “energy,” “vibrations,” “frequency,” “resonance,” “waves,” “fields,” “mechanism,”
and a current favorite, “nonlocal.” All of these words are borrowed from physics. They
describe what goes on in the physical world.
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But mind or consciousness is not part of the physical world. It is non-physical. In my
work, and particularly in Consciousness from Zombies to Angels, I encourage people to
“watch their language” when talking about consciousness. I point out that using “energy
talk” misses the most important point about consciousness—namely it is subjective.
Everything in physics, and all the terms borrowed from physics, refer to objects, to
things in the objective world.
Consciousness is not an object, it is not objective. It is the subject of experience. It is
awareness and choice. It cannot be detected by physical senses or instruments, and
cannot be measured. Therefore, it makes no sense to use the language of physics to
describe what cannot be physically measured.
Nevertheless, people tend to cling to “energy talk”—because, paradoxically, they think it
makes what they say sound more “scientific” or more “grounded.” Actually, the opposite
is true. The language of physics is the language of abstractions. If we want to be truly
“grounded” then we should ground what we say in what we actually experience—and
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use “mind talk” instead of “energy talk.” We should not confuse the experiencer
(consciousness) with what is experienced (energy).
Frequently, when I make this point, someone says: “But if we give up energy talk then
we would have to invent a new language.” This surprises me. I point out that, in fact, we
already have a very rich vocabulary for talking about consciousness—words such as
“intention,” “attention,” “purpose,” “meaning,” “perceiving,” “observing,” “remembering,”
“wanting,” “anticipating,” “believing,” “doubting,” “affirming,” “denying,” “imagining,”
“judging,” “understanding,” “feeling,” “experience,” “choice” . . . and on and on. None of
these words can be reduced to “energy talk” or be explained by physics.
Consciousness has its own very appropriate language. I’m suggesting that if we want to
push beyond the final frontier, then we will make much better progress if we “watch our
language” and use “mind talk” instead of “energy talk.”
Q: Your book has four parts. Can you summarize the key points?
A: In Part 1, we begin with the Philosopher’s Gift to explore: What is consciousness?
I focus on the three core problems in philosophy of mind: (1) Mind-body connection:
How are mind and body related—does
the brain produce mind, or does
consciousness create the brain; do they
exist in parallel universes or does
consciousness “go all the way down”?
(2) Other minds: How can we tell if
anyone else has consciousness—or
even if rocks can feel anything?
(3) Free will: Do we really have choice,
or is everything determined by God, by
genes, or by physics?
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In Part 2, we then shift to the Scientist’s Gift to explore: How the brain works and how
consciousness is related to quantum physics.
We enter the curious wonderland of the quantum to see how its strange inhabitants may
give us insights into the origins and nature of consciousness. If you ever wondered what
a quantum is, what “nonlocality” really means, or why quantum physics might be
relevant to consciousness, you will find easy-to-grasp keys to this fascinating domain.
I also show why recent advances in neuroscience and brain imaging that claim to
“photograph God” are highly misleading. Yes, it is useful to know what goes on in the
brain when someone is having a mystical experience, but no scientific instruments can
probe or capture what goes on in an experience. Information about the brain is not the
same as information about consciousness. Brain is not mind, and brain science is not
consciousness science.
For that, we need a very different kind of science, with a very different approach.
Instead of standard Plate-Glass science, which separates subject from object, we need
a new “Looking-Glass” science, where there is no separation. In true consciousness
science, the mind is exploring itself.
And once we turn the beam of inquiry back on itself—when awareness is focused on
itself—we must be open to whatever bubbles up in consciousness. We must be willing
to engage with our Shadow, with all the fears, and shame, and anger hiding out in our
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unconscious mind. In short, a consciousness scientist must be willing to undergo
psycho-spiritual transformation.
Only when we open up to our inner “zombies” and “angels,” can we move forward on
the path to enlightenment.
Then, in Part 3, we focus on the Shaman’s Gift and Mystic’s Gift and explore: Why
consciousness is important. We learn how our minds fall into different patterns, or
grooves of thought, and how to shift out of the habits that keep us stuck.
We learn how to recognize “strange
attractors” that pull our minds this
way and that. We learn how the ego
is formed, how it grows into our
personality, and becomes embodied.
We also learn how to transcend
these restrictions through creative
acts of choice and letting go to
realize our full potential.
Besides learning to recognize our
patterns, the Mystic’s Gift takes us
into the realm of scared silence, rooted in experience beyond belief. It helps us to
accept all of who we are—our ego, our personality, our shadow, our light, our zombies
and angels. We discover what it means to “Know Thyself” by following the seven steps
to knowing who you really are.
Finally, in Part 4, we shift to “Consciousness in Dialogue.” One of the greatest
satisfactions of being an author, teacher, and public speaker is the feedback I get from
people who have read my books, attended a talk, heard me on the radio, seen me on
TV, visited my website, or taken one of my classes. I get a lot of emails, and, thankfully,
I’m often challenged to defend or clarify something I’ve written or said. It keeps me on
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my toes. Sometimes a real gem of a question whizzes through cyberspace and gets me
thinking deeper and more carefully about an idea I’ve put out there.
I’ve collected these “gems” over the years, and have created an archive of
“MindBytes”—a series of questions and answers organized under headings such as
“God,” “Energy,” “Cosmos,” “Evolution,” “Miracles,” “Quantum,” “Time,” “Beliefs,” and, of
course, “Consciousness.” These are “learning nuggets” that highlight important
questions, and I include examples at the end of each chapter. Part 4 of the book is
composed of longer dialogues on topics such as “experience beyond belief,”
“consciousness, energy, and evolution,” “are rocks conscious?” and “is consciousness
the same as spirit?”
Q: What are the seven steps to knowing who we really are?
Watch Your Language
Pay attention to the words you use when talking about consciousness.
Be precise. Get beyond “physics envy.” Use “mind talk” not “energy talk.”
Identify the Problem
What do you want to know about consciousness?
1. Mind-body problem: How are body and mind related?
2. Problem of other minds: How do you know whether anyone else has
consciousness, or what’s going on in others’ minds?
3. Problem of free-will: Do your really have a choice or is everything determined by
physics or by god?
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Learn How to Look
How do you explore consciousness? Learn the difference between our Four Gifts of
Knowing—Scientist’s Gift of senses; Philosopher’s gift of reason; Shaman’s gift of
feeling; and Mystic’s Gift of intuition and sacred silence. Learn why understanding
the brain is not the same as knowing your mind.
Recognize Your Patterns
How do you organize your thoughts and beliefs? An attractor is a tendency of a
system to fall into a recurring pattern. We all have unconscious habits of mind and
patterns of behavior that drive us. What attractors or patterns drive you?
Consciousness is a complex system that shapes itself around four major types of
“attractors”— point (ego), cycle (personality), torus (new possibilities), and strange
(creative self-expression).
* Point attractor—kicks in when you are fixated or obsessed with something. When
used to focus attention, it can be positive. It is the way of the ego.
* Cycle attractor—jumping from one fixation or addiction to another, oscillating
between competing desires. When the cycle attractor kicks in, we move back and
forth between attraction and aversion, between positive and negative. It is the
way of personality.
* Torus attractor—a way out of the repetitiveness of ego and personality habits.
Instead of cycling back and forth between pleasure and pain, we “break the spell”
and spiral into new possibilities. It is the way of embodied imagination.
* Strange attractor—combines order and chaos, creativity and stability. Opens us
up to choice and creativity. It is the way of self-expression.
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Transformation is a whole-system shift that involves all attractors—the ego point, the
personality cycle, the embodied torus, and the strange Self.
Know Thyself
The keystone of every spiritual philosophy—from Socrates to Buddha—is the
question: Who are you—really? Are you your ego, your personality, your body, or
your soul? Do your have a core self? Are you an avocado or an artichoke? Can you
get beyond your ego? What happens if you let go of your cherished beliefs?
Embrace Your Shadow
Only by accepting and integrating all of who you are, can you truly know who you
are and step on the path to transformation.
From early childhood, we have all suppressed fear, shame, guilt, and anger. We
have stuffed “negative” experiences down, out of consciousness. But these demons
never went away. They live in us, in our bodies and minds, as our “shadow” self—
our “inner zombies.”
We have done the same with our “light,” too. Along with our miserable selves, we
have blocked off our magnificent selves. We often fear our greatness and are
ashamed of our power. We suppress our “inner angels,” too.
Transformation happens only when we acknowledge and embrace our full humanity
—our Zombie shadow and Angel light.
Practice Transformation
Transformation is not a one-time event. It is a lifelong process that requires
cultivating consciousness at every moment, in every circumstance. It’s a never-
ending dance between ego and spirit, between Shadow and Self, between Zombie
and Angel.
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All seven steps to knowing who you are can be summed up in a single phrase:
experience beyond belief. And this last step itself involves its own seven steps—
reflecting the fractal nature of transformation.
Q: What are the seven steps to transformation?
Step 1: Accept that beliefs are natural.
We all have beliefs. There’s no getting away from that. It’s a simple fact of life. It’s
natural to have beliefs—it’s what our minds are for. They evolved to give us maps or
shortcuts that help us navigate through life. Just don’t mistake your beliefs for reality.
The map is not the territory. You don’t drive your car onto the map and you don’t eat
the menu. Yes, beliefs are natural, nevertheless they disconnect us from reality.
Step 2: Realize that every belief is a habit of mind.
Thoughts and beliefs are abstractions—literally “snapshots” of reality taken from the
ongoing flow of experience as it happens moment by moment. They are frozen
fragments of consciousness, mechanical habits that keep you stuck in the past.
Mesmerized by your beliefs, real life flows past unnoticed. Here’s how it works: You
have an experience. Then you interpret it. Turn it into a belief. Then into dogma.
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Beliefs, then, are nothing but mental habits, stepping stones to dogmatism and
fundamentalism.
Step 3: Recognize the origin of beliefs.
Every belief is composed of thoughts, and every thought begins as a feeling. Think
about it: Long before you could think or speak, as an infant your life was flushed with
feelings. Feelings come first. They are grounded in your body and connect you with reality.
Step 4: Focus on feelings in the body.
Feelings are literally the sensations you experience in your body. Learn to pay
attention to them. Take time out to sit quietly and just notice what’s going on, without
trying to change anything. Simply feel your sensations—in your chest, around your
eyes, in your legs, your back, your belly . . . Remember: Every thought begins as a
feeling, and feelings connect us with the world. They are messages from nature.
Learn what it means to feel your thinking—and not just think your thoughts.
Step 5: Stop believing your beliefs.
“But,” you say, “if I don’t have any beliefs, I’ll have nothing.” Far from it. In fact, letting
go of beliefs opens you up to what is really happening in your experience—right
now! And experience is the royal road to reality. Have you noticed: Experience and
reality always happen together, right now. Also, notice I didn’t say “stop having
beliefs.” That would contradict Step 1. As long as you have a mind, you can’t help
having beliefs. It’s what the mind does naturally, and you have little choice about
that. But you do have a choice whether or not you believe your beliefs. You do not
have to believe that your beliefs are true. Instead, you can learn to hold beliefs as
“likely stories,” as Plato once said. So, take courage, let go of your beliefs, don’t hold
onto them, and see what happens. I promise: You won’t disappear, you won’t die.
Step 6: Cultivate being the Witness.
As you practice sitting quietly, feeling the sensations in your body, noticing thoughts
as they come and go, arising from your feelings, you will come to a new realization
about who you are. You are not your mind. You are not your thoughts or beliefs. In
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fact, you are not even your feelings. In this evolving state of consciousness, you will
begin to experience a new sense of freedom. You may begin to notice something
quite profound: someone, or some other part of you, is observing everything that is
going on. The question is: Who? That’s the sixty-four-billion dollar spiritual jackpot.
It’s the essence of spiritual practice. Who, then, is observing the flow of thoughts
through your mind? Well, that’s who you are! You are the Witness that unifies self and
world. And the way to get to this realization is by practicing experience beyond belief.
Step 7: Spend more time in ‘sacred silence.’
In the end, the core wisdom of all spiritual traditions is some form of “Let go and let
God.” Learn to just be—by yourself or in community. Be comfortable beyond
thoughts, words, judgments, or beliefs. You don’t need to sit still and quiet to practice
this, but it helps. It takes some discipline to tame the mind, to wean it off its diet of
beliefs, to break the habits of thoughts, desires, and fears that inevitably distract us
and distort reality. After a while, though, when you pay more attention to the Witness,
you come to realize that the deepest source of wisdom is not what you think or
believe. Rather wisdom lies in that space of “sacred silence” beyond all words and
ideas, where what is shines forth. Those who open up to it, often call it the Source.
Christian de Quincey, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy and Consciousness Studies at John F.
Kennedy University; Dean of Consciousness Studies at the University of Philosophical
Research; and Director of the Center for Interspecies Research. He is also
founder of The Wisdom Academy, offering private mentorships in
consciousness; and cofounder of The Visionary Edge, committed to
transforming global consciousness by transforming mass media. Dr. de
Quincey is author of the award-winning book Radical Nature:
Rediscovering the Soul of Matter and Radical Knowing: Understanding
Consciousness through Relationship. His latest books are Consciousness
from Zombies to Angels and Deep Spirit. Samples of his writings on
c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d c o s m o l o g y a r e a v a i l a b l e a t w w w. d e e p s p i r i t . c o m a n d
www.TheWisdomAcademy.org
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