“Looking for consciousness in the world is a bit like studying a movie, looking for the source of its light. Nowhere would we find it. The light is not in the movie. The movie is made of light.”

The Reality of Consciousness by Peter Russell http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/RealityConsc.pdf

Similarly, one cannot find “the self” because what we are is not a thing “out there” to be found.  We are what we are looking for.  Also, there is nobody doing the looking for again there is only “the seeing, the hearing, the sensing, etc.” and nobody doing it. Many call this unity consciousness.  I call it being lived by Earth or Gaia. All we can detect is the consciousness of Gaia.  Cosmic consciousness is too far removed and may be set aside as pure speculation and most probably unknowable.  Gaia consciousness can be known and realised because it is we; there is no other.