It is interesting to note the way in which we cognize things and come up with feelings and emotion with respect to various items in the world. Understanding these from a wider field of Consciousness leads to confidence and peace.
When our awareness expands, there is the freedom to observe and understand what lies beyond the limited sphere of the conventional mind. There is the expansive consciousness that may be called the Universal Consciousness. When it functions through the brain (which is the physical organism), it issues out the mind as a stifled outlet of the Consciousness. The sequence in the wider field of awareness seems to be as follows:

Universal Consciousness -> Brain -> Mind

This indicates that the perception by the mind is always influenced by the brain as a repository of memories and as an interpreting medium relying on the accumulated knowledge. The brain also carries the genetic conditioning apart from the conditioning caused by circumstances in which the human being finds himself or herself. This results in the mind’s cognition and interpretation to be a matter of conditioned output and so it leads to improper understanding of what there really is. One of the inevitable outcomes of this warped awareness is the arising of the ego that is essentially a product of thought.

Thus, if we reverse the above process, we begin to get a glimpse of the unspoiled Consciousness. It is evidenced by the following two ravishing experiences that human beings have gone through over the years:
1. OBE (Out of Body Experience)
2. NDE (Near Death Experience)
They have also demonstrated the significant fact that Consciousness can function without the brain being involved. This is the thumping fact on which the esoterically inclined lay the foundation of their exploration into natural spirituality.

Once we examine the above aspects of Consciousness, brain and mind, we look at life with deeper insight. That lays the right basement for peaceful living. In the absence of this, the mind functions within a limited sphere causing a lot of harm to oneself and others. (For example, thought whirling within that sphere intensifies the anger towards somebody.) Moving into the wider Consciousness expands our perspectives and brings about a calming effect on our responses - on our nerves too! We become eager to understand what lies beyond the conventional outlook of the mind. It induces a touch of natural spirituality to our daily lives. Any spirituality through an exclusivist religious system can only be a matter of conditioned response and the associated narrow-mindedness. It cannot bring in earnest self-awareness and the open-minded exploration into the unknown. Exposing ourselves to the messages of NDE and OBE can help us move into the region beyond the conditioned cocoon of the mind and strike a new trail untouched by the propaganda of vested interests.

Once we are eager to understand this matter of expanding Consciousness, we discover an enveloping hollow space surrounding the mind. We sense the difference between functioning from there and functioning from the conventional mind. The immediate effect is seen in the love that expresses itself in our relationship with the near and dear ones. Then, like the ripple from the impact of a stone thrown in a pond, the unconditional love spreads to others in ever-widening circles. We sense firsthand the beauty of inner silence.

The understanding of the vaster Consciousness is non-verbal, unlike the matters of the mind which are verbal. The verbal accumulation, a necessity in the field of science and practical issues, becomes a burden in the field of spirituality. Unfortunately, the general religious approaches too are based heavily on the verbal approach. That is how they cannot clear up the muck but only add to the burden. In contrast, the natural spirituality relies on Direct Awareness and the associated non-verbal sensing. This does not lead to any accumulation. Consequently, it augments mental freedom and the sensing of Divinity beyond man-made beliefs and disbelief.

The website http://spirituality.yolasite.com would be of interest to you.

Author's Bio: 

Gopalakrishnan TC was born in Madras (now Chennai), India, in 1941. He received his doctoral degree in Coastal Engineering from the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA in 1978; served on the research and teaching faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, the North Carolina State University and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait. Aside from his professional involvements, he was interested in the philosophic issues of life for the last forty years or so. This led him to the messages of Ramana Maharishi, Lao Tzu, J Krishnamurthy, UG Krishnamurthy, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Eckhart Tolle, Marcus Aurelius and similar Masters. His book entitled “In Quest of the Deeper Self” is the outcome of his reflections on those and his wish to share the outcome with others.
Gopalakrishnan is a member of the International Association for Near Death Studies, Durham, NC, USA. He presented a paper at the 2011 conference of the Association on the theme "The Spiritual Content of Near Death Experiences". Functions as a freelance counselor for mental relaxation. Lives in Kodaikanal, a hill town in south India, with his family. Now he and his wife are both retired and currently involved in developing a fruit farm at a village 20 km from their residence.
Website: http://spirituality.yolasite.com Blog: http://nde-thedeeperself.blogspot.com email: gkrish2005@yahoo.co.in, gopal.tc@gmail.com