I used to think that consciousness and thinking were kind of synonymous, because I never really thought about it. But lately...
I am conscious of a heavy or light atmosphere. I am aware of my surroundings. I feel joy, etc. These are not thinking, although I might think about them. Nor are they necessarily the result of input from the physical senses. - Oh yes, and sometimes I am conscious of my thinking!
Many assume consciousness is brain-based, and dependent upon input from the physical senses. This flies in the face of reports of active consciousness when the brain being monitored was registering no activity whatsoever (personal experience of top neuroscientist from Harvard); when the patient comes back from a coma reporting total awareness the whole time, and in the case of Anita Moorjani, awareness of things outside the room, even miles away...
I think it is safe to say that consciousness is beyond physics, don't you?
In the Bible, the Revelator described "a new heaven and new earth" that was spiritual, completely free from the sorrows of mankind. He was still walking "amongst the living." Mrs. Eddy concludes: "The heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the unillumined human mind, the vision is material. This shows unmistakably that what the human mind terms matter and spirit indicates states and stages of consciousness." (S&H)
Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." We could imagine that heart, as used here, could actually refer to consciousness. We might ask ourselves: "What state or stage of consciousness am I? Can I improve my consciousness?" Of course! That is why we are here. That is what this website is for. That is why you are reading this post.
But let us take away that, yes, thinking is important - holding thought to the "good, the enduring and the true," but so is sensing (learning to rely on spiritual sense instead of simply physical sense), and guarding what we are taking into consciousness - talking and texting incessantly on the mobile phone, constantly plugged into the IPod, and perhaps most deadly of all, watching TV for hours - how can we feel the presence of God when our consciousness is so cluttered up!!
Our consciousness is precious. In fact, it is all we have. Nobody else is responsible for it. Each one of us is fully qualified to improve it, not with money, not with education, etc. but with what God has already bestowed upon us, Love, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient.