Pure Awareness Being Aware of Itself - Rudolph Tanzi

Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, and Vice-Chair of Neurology and Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Tanzi co-discovered all three familial early-onset
Alzheimer's disease genes and several other neurological disease genes including that responsible for Wilson’s disease. As leader of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, Dr. Tanzi has identified many other genes for the common late-onset form of AD. Dr. Tanzi serves on dozens of editorial and scientific advisory boards, and as Chair of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund Research Consortium. He has received numerous awards, including the two highest awards for Alzheimer's disease research: The Metropolitan Life Award and The Potamkin Prize.

[jamesthomas]

Strange then that people who have "near death experiences" and who have no measurable brain activity can have experiences more real than real.

[kippapao]

unfortunately most modern spiritual leaders do not tell the whole truth: that this world is pure illusion created by thoughts arising in awareness itself and that all that is real is awareness itself, not the thoughts, and anything else that arises in ithe Ramani Maharshi tells the truth. SO does Thich Nhat Hahn who points to the truth. Read the Upanishads. All there is concsiousness. consciousness is all there is. I learned this by experience and then to understand what had happened, I read and finally funderstood the ultimate

[ALulzyApprentice]

These are my thought exactly. I have always put forth the concept of a self referential feedback loop. 

[johnnywlittle]

I’ve heard Rupert speak on this and it sounds like an updated version of the material world model vs a consciousness world model.
At least he acknowledges pure awareness though, so that’s a step up.

[Joethebro]

Great video explaining how the brain works with the universe.

[adineo]

Brain is an appearance in consciousness. He is saying you have to experience pure awareness. That's contradiction of terms. Pure awareness by itself is not an experience. Pure awareness is prior to any experience. He is wrong. Pure awareness experiences itself by itself.

[wattshumphrey]

What he is describing is the conceptual explanation "after the fact" -- for that you need a cognitive self.

He assertion that you need this cognitive self to be in the state of "pure awareness" is not an established fact as he presents it.

More basically - what is that state of "pure awareness"? If you have transcended concept and have only awareness aware of itself, what is the "watching" in this state?

[kcoldkchill]

How does he know cannot experience his brain, he only experiences consciousness.
Pure speculation

[cshortridge]

Lol. Yes I have worked with Alzheimer`s/dementia patients for many years. They are in no way "happy". Of course during moments of clarity that many of them have they can be happy or sad or angry. But when the cognizance is gone emotions are gone. Having been watching a particular "zombie" show with my husband last week, I stated to him that the final stage of Alzheimer`s is much like that. Without so much rotting flesh & they really don`t even have the desire to eat ANYthing! But happy? Not so

[jamesgreenldn]

What about sentient beings that don't have brains like jellyfish? Are they not aware..

[tylersegura]

If consciousness is that, "self excited circuit" often referred to in segments like this, does that really mean the only self excited circuit is the animal brain? There are many systems in this universe that convey and process information on a much more grander scale than a single brain can. We must be careful not to confuse animal consciousness with consciousness at large.

[kabasakalis]

I like Dr. Rudolph Tanzi  explanation, however, the notion of "Pure Awareness Being Aware of Itself" does not make sense.If Pure Awareness is meant to be the ultimate non dual reality, the idea of being aware of anything at all, even of  itself, loses it's meaning.It's like teeth trying to bite themselves-it's not possible.Notice that this is not my own theory, this is Buddhism 101.Ultimate Reality, the Dharmakaya, is totally uninvolved, it's the One Undivisible Reality where the notion of being aware of anything at all colapses.In this  Ultimate Reality, consciouness appears as one of the twelve links of dependent origination which makes that seeming dual split of subject/object, which is just an illusion.