Consciousness is the energy that empowers the ego, but it is, of course, trapped, conditioned.
There exist many people on this planet that we call "empty houses," meaning: there is no free consciousness left, but egos, vices, demons, inhabiting those physical bodies.
Such persons "have no soul," no conscience or remorse, and have their antakarana thread severed. They walk about the world and are vehicles of the terrible law of karma before they die.
In many cases, the consciousness of such "empty houses" is already in the submerged mineral kingdom undergoing devolution, in accordance with the mercy of the law...
For thirty years I sought God. But when I looked carefully I found that in reality God was the seeker and I the sought. -Bayazid al-Bastami