Western philosophies of consciousness. Major contributions. Brentano -- Husserl -- Sartre -- Lonergan -- Complementary contributions. From intentionality to consciousness : Searle -- Degrees of consciousness : Crosby -- Further clarifications : Helminiak -- Affective side : Morelli -- Accounts of mystical consciousness. Forman on pure consciousness events -- Realm of transcendence according to Lonergan -- Moore on the "how" of consciousness -- Price on bare consciousness -- Granfield on the mystical difference -- Three classics. Plotinus : consciousness beyond consciousness. Grand worldview -- Intellect's share in the good -- Ordinary consciousness -- What happens beyond consciousness? -- No blackout and yet no self-consciousness -- Ecstasy, or enstasy? -- Eckhart : when consciousness becomes divine consciousness. Emptiness of the human intellect -- No awareness -- Nothingness -- Detached love without a why -- Is the soul equated with God? -- Soul's breakthrough to the Godhead -- Schleiermacher : consciousness as feeling. Feeling -- Prereflective and reflective consciousness -- Absolute dependence -- Three kinds of consciousness -- Dialogue with Zen philosophy. Western views of the self. Arguing against the self -- Arguing for the self -- Transcending the self -- Japanese views of the self. Suzuki -- Nishitani -- Western view of nothingness. Plotinus and Eckhart -- Hedger -- Nishitani as interpreter of Plotinus, Eckhart, and Heidegger -- Japanese views of nothingness. Nishitani's approach to nihilism -- Nishitani's characterization of "absolute nothingness" --Hisamatsu's characterization of "oriental nothingness."