Vinaire's Blog

Reference: Universe and Awareness

If you are alone out in interstellar space, you shall be hard put to decide if you are totally still or moving at the speed of light. Your awareness shall arise only with relative motion.

In this thought experiment, awareness cannot be separated from relative motion. We may, therefore, postulate that relative motion is the outward form of awareness.

POSTULATE: Relative motion is the outward form of awareness.

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The relative motion can be very simple, such as, a ripple in water. This is simple awareness. Or, relative motion can be very complex, such as, the motion inside a watch. This is complex awareness. Thus, complexity of awareness is related to complexity of motion.

Awareness may be assessed objectively in terms of motion present.

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When one is completely free of thoughts, there is still the perception of the present. So there is some motion. But when one is in deep sleep, in which hours pass by in a blink of an eye, there is no perception. There is no motion either. Thus, any perception, including the perception of space and time, relates to motion.

All perception, including the perception of space and time, relates to motion.

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According to Buddha (India, c. 563 BCE or c. 480 BCE), the Absolute Truth is that there is nothing absolute in the world, that everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent, and that there is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul, or Ātman within or without.

In other words, the principle of the unity of Universe is awareness in the form of relative motion. Absolute stillness would be non-awareness.

This is a universe of awareness and motion. There is no absolute stillness in it.

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Awareness represents the spiritual aspect of this universe, whereas motion represents the material aspect of this universe. The material aspect is the visible form of this universe. The spiritual aspect is the inherent nature of this universe.

The material aspect of this universe is its visible form . The spiritual aspect of this universe is its inherent nature.

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According to Heraclitus (Greece, c. 535 – c. 475 BCE) there is only perpetual change and eternal ‘Becoming.’ This condition is created from a dynamic and cyclic interplay of opposites. These opposites are dichotomies that may be represented as the two directions in which a continuum may extend. This continuum may be expressed as a scale with infinite gradient of values. This makes each value to be relative and none that is absolute.

All values in this universe are relative (determined by other values). There is no absolute value.

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The Eleatic school first identified a Divine Principle with the unity of the universe. This basic principle may be stated as “awareness – motion”. Parmenides (Greece, c. 515 – c. 460 BCE), however, identified this principle with a unique and invariable Being that stood above all gods and men. This Being was later seen as an intelligent and personal God who stands above the world and directs it.

Anything that stands above the universe shall remain behind the “curtain” of non-awareness from which the Universe emerges into awareness. We may only speculate what is behind this “curtain” of non-awareness. The Being of Parmenides, therefore, has to be a human-centric speculation. This speculation leads to the separation of spirit and matter, which contradicts the principle of “awareness that has the outward form of motion.”

The idea that an absolute Being stands above this universe comes from a human-centric speculation.

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Awareness develops into self and motion develops into body. The two are one and same. Body is the outward form of self. Self is the inherent nature of the body. If there is a universal Self, then its body is the Universe. Awareness and motion, or Self and body, are not really separate.

A universal Self shall have the Universe as its outward form. There is no absolute Being separate from the Universe.

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The self of a stone shall be its inherent nature. We are not saying that the self of a stone is similar to the human self. Human self is characterized by the inherent nature of humans. We cannot use human self as the criterion to define the self of other things.

Awareness shall be the inherent nature of visible forms. It shall be determined by the motion within that form, the most fundamental motion shall be that at atomic level. We have been using a “human-centric” view of awareness as the criterion to declare material objects to be unaware. That is a very narrow view.

In humans, awareness is much more complex because of the complexity of motion in the human form. It is expressed as the subjectivity of the human mind. In material objects, awareness is much simpler because of much simpler motion in their form. It is expressed as the physical, electrical and chemical properties.

In Vedas, the word “dharma” is used to describe the inherent nature of things. This is same as the concept of awareness described here.

Awareness is truly represented by the inherent nature of things. Thus all things are aware in their own way.

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Next: Motion and Space-Time

Please see Course on Subject Clearing

KHTK Postulate M-16: Cause is the first part, and effect is the last part of association (in time) among forms.

We cut a tree; it falls. We strike a match; it lights up. Thus, we have a phenomenon that seems to be a direct consequence of another phenomenon. This makes us believe that all phenomena are caused. We, thus, assume that a form must be a consequence of another form. This belief leads to an infinite series of causes, where each cause has a form. To resolve the inconsistency of an infinite series of causes, we assume a First Cause that is not itself caused.

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KHTK Postulate M-17: Forms precede cause and effect. There is no “First Cause.”

“First Cause” is a part of a series of assumptions as described above. The idea of cause has to do with the association and the type of relationship among forms. Cause is not some form itself. A cause is created only when an “association in time” is set up among existing forms. The forms themselves may simply appear or disappear depending on perception.

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KHTK Postulate M-18: That which underlies forms cannot be a form. If God underlies forms then God cannot be a form.

God is associated with properties such as holiness, justice, sovereignty, omnipotence, omniscience, benevolence, omnipresence, and immortality. If these properties can be visualized then they are forms even when they are abstractions. None of these forms can be God. In fact any description of God would be a form. So, no description of God can be God.

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KHTK Postulate M-19: What underlies forms is ultimately unknowable.

The processes of perceiving and knowing underlie the forms. Beyond these processes we may postulate primordial inertia-less field and activity-less energy. One may postulate something different. But it always ends up with postulates to make all forms consistent.

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KHTK Postulate M-20: God is ultimately unknowable, though it may be speculated upon.

If God is viewed as the ultimate reality underlying all forms, then God is beyond all desires, activities and expectations because these are forms. Like the asymptote that never reaches its limiting value God cannot be known with absolute certainty, though we may speculate upon God.

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Please see Course on Subject Clearing

KHTK Postulate M-6: Physics is the study of form. Metaphysics is the study of the underlying essence, or spirit.

Awareness consists of perception/knowledge interchange. It is conscious of itself as light.

The domain of Physics consists of the forms of perception starting with light. The ultimate in form is the body that serves as the vehicle for perception.

The domain of Metaphysics consists of the essence of knowledge starting with consciousness. The ultimate in essence (spirit) is the self that serves as the vehicle for knowledge.

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KHTK Postulate M-7: Increase in disturbance levels make finite forms emerge out of primordial light.

Awareness comes about because of the desire to know. As this desire gets stronger the disturbance levels increase, and the perception/knowledge conversions occur at a greater frequency. The wave-length shrinks and becomes finite and periodic. Thus forms come about that have boundaries. There appears a sense of finite against an indescribable background.

As forms emerge from the primordial light, awareness acquires the distinction of who, what, where and when. This awareness is distributed among these forms. Thus, comes about knowledge of forms as beliefs.

All these forms and beliefs emerge from primordial light, so they are all connected and cross indexed in a consistent and coherent manner within the same consciousness.

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KHTK Postulate M-8: Dimensions then emerge to describe the finite characteristics of these forms.

Space and Time are the primary dimensions that emerge with the finite forms. They provide the characteristics of extension and duration, against a background that has neither of these characteristics. More complex characteristics, such as, density and temperature, come about as disturbance levels increase.

It is to be understood that the primordial background is indescribable. It has neither extension nor duration because there is neither space nor time at that level. It would be an error to visualize primordial light as having infinite extension.

Furthermore, the disturbance levels may be identified as a dimension that is basic to even space and time. We may describe it as the dimension of abstraction that becomes increasingly concrete with growing disturbance.

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KHTK Postulate M-9: Basic level of knowledge consists of the direct perception of forms.

As disturbance levels increase, the primary forms interact with each other to generate more complex forms. Thus come about an infinite variety and diversity of forms. The forms of houses, trees, roads, business, people, etc., come together through extension in space to generate a complex city. Similarly, the forms of musical notes may come together through sequencing in time to generate a beautiful melody.

Essentially, knowledge is anything that is perceived. Direct perception provides the basic level of knowledge. More complex levels are generated through association among what is perceived, and projection from what is known.

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KHTK Postulate M-10: As knowledge is associated and projected, direct perception condenses into experience, information, hypothesis, theory, principles, and axioms.

As knowledge is generated with increasing disturbance levels, it is cross-indexed through association and projection. Common elements are perceived and recognized as such. Thus organization and simplification of perception comes about in the form of experience, information, hypothesis, theory, principles, and axioms. Consistency and coherency is the key to the organization and simplification of overall knowledge.

There is overall self-awareness, but the individual forms are also self-aware. The self-awareness of individual forms add up to the self-awareness of more complex forms.

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Next: 

KHTK Postulates for Metaphysics – Part 3

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