Posts
Andre A Pais:
Geovani Geo existence is the nature or characteristic of
existing phenomena. Without phenomena that exists, where is existence to be
found? That's like believing we can find the shape of a body without the
body... 😊
__
A question arises, though. Can consciousness ever be
without experience? We know experience cannot arise without consciousness, for
experience requires a sensitive field capable of registering it. But is the
opposite also true – that is, is a consciousness empty of any type of
experience possible? The answer is no. Consciousness too cannot exist without
experience, for if it did, it would be conscious of no thing. A consciousness
that is not conscious of anythingis not conscious at all.Something that is not
conscious at all is therefore unsuitable to be posited as consciousness at all.
Awareness and experience are, indeed, synonymous – which
can have some remarkable consequences. Experience without awareness is simply
not possible. However, one could try to picture awareness without experience –
like in some kind of pure or formless state.
Yet, an awareness devoid of experience is an awareness
that is not aware of anything. What gives it, then, its aware nature if it is,
in fact, unaware? Awareness is programmed to constantly know; if for an instant
it wouldn't be aware of anything, it would become unconscious and therefore
non-existent. Every particle or phenomenon is programmed to know, to seek its
environment and interact. This constant movement of knowingness is the pulse of
existence, a natural movement forward, the spontaneous pacing of creation, the
very flow of time. This is what experience is at its most fundamental level –
pure spontaneity or responsiveness .
What this means is that there is experience happening at
every level of existence. Of course, not all types of experience are complex
and self-aware like those of a human mind or even animals. But consciousness
cannot ever be without content or information, otherwise it would drop into a
state of nothingness, out of which nothing could arise again. Besides, we would
find the absurd situation of something – manifest consciousness – turning into
nothing – contentless consciousness. So experience is the name we give to the
natural movement of existence – the primordial and inevitable interaction of
emptiness and consciousness.
Awareness and experience are, therefore, never dividable.
What this means is that, even in the most subtle and “inert” states of
consciousness – what is usually called matter –, some type of experience is
taking place. Awareness never dissolves into nothingness or oblivion, because
experience, which is what constitutes it and gives it its “shape and color”, is
never absent either. There is always knowingness going on.
