By
Promod Puri
What is the difference between you, me and a spoon, a table, a stone, or any object or a thing? Both are physical matters. But we have consciousness others don’t. Or maybe they have it which we don’t sense. Anyway, that is what distinguishes you and me, and the “non-consciousness” objects.
How is this distinction through consciousness created which directs the nature of physical matter to make it a mindful entity?
There are two theories.
However, before we approach these concepts let us define or get a practical understanding of consciousness.
According to Wikipedia consciousness is an “inward awareness of
an external object, state, or fact,” and these could include
perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. The key words are “inward
awareness” suggesting it is already present. The dictionary explanation
says, “full activity of the mind and senses.” In that activity, the
knowledge gained through external or inherent factors stimulate the
development of a conscious mind. Consciousness is both a biological and
psychological phenomenon which correlate with each other.
Now back to the theories:
The first one is called dualism where consciousness is an import from
an unknown source which plugs into the physical matter to make it
conscious. That suggests consciousness is separate and independent from
the physical matter. But together they make a dual entity.
In dualism, the independent nature of consciousness is unseen. And
its source is unknown unless the divinity factor is contemplated giving
soul to the object such as humans or animals. The moment the object is
unplugged consciousness disappears or might be expired.
In the second theory, consciousness is already a built-in occurrence
in the constituents of a matter. That means every single particle, even
the tiniest one, has an inherent awareness caused by consciousness. But
the residing of consciousness in them is a very basic or simple
structure. The latter is so elementary that it can’t be imagined as
consciousness.
It is only when these particles come together thru some complex
process, which may include neurochemistry, that together they constitute
the realized consciousness such as human instinct.
Consciousness is thus created out of dormant or “non-conscious”
materials present in physical matter. The materials are the small
fragments of an object or its composing molecules along with their
atomic and sub-atomic particles. This theory is called materialism;
meaning created out of materials.
However, believing all things have conscious quality, the term
materialism has been replaced and is widely known and accepted as
panpsychism. It is derived from two Greek words “pan” meaning “all,” and
psyche means soul or mind. Nonetheless, to meet human conclusion
panpsychism involves the construction of consciousness to the level when
it can be humanly realized.
At what stage the aggregation of “conscious” materials, from a human
perspective, is ready to be called or felt like a conscious object? As
humans are limited in their perception, consciousness can develop and
complete its process to form its own system which under human
observation is not noticed. In that respect, consciousness may already
be dwelling in a spoon, a table, a stone, etc.
Or the particles may never combine to create the conscious system.
Still, these are plugged forever in their own individual conscious
orders. If that is acceptable, then the panpsychism does merge with the
dualistic concept as there exists duality of consciousness and matter.
The dualism theory is secured because it has the support of the
widely believed existence of some divine utility responsible for
supplying the power of consciousness. On the other hand, panpsychism
offers some rational assumption based on metaphysics in its
understanding.
In panpsychism, the particles are already “divined” as part of the
whole with the concept that the entire universe is one whole conscious
body. And the whole is represented by individual physical parts like
mountains, rocks, trees, humans, animals and other seen or unseen
matters down to the atomic and subatomic levels.
The universe in its continuum is a conscious body of conscious parts,
no matter how tiny or big they are. When the whole is conscious, its
parts are conscious too, just like a human body. When it is alive, every
organ of it is live as well. There are minds in the universal mind.
The ideological value of panpsychism lies with the conception
everything existing in the universe has consciousness. It can be
inherent or created internally or by an external source. And all the
constituents of the universe are fundamentally connected with each other
as being contained in one big whole.
The connectivity concept gets ardent support from the Upanishadic wisdom in Hinduism. The unique mantra of
Om purnam adah
talks about the totality of the universe and the togetherness of its
composing constituents. The trees, the mountains, the people, the birds,
the stars, howsoever far away they may appear, but they are all
associated.
In this connectivity, the two theories of consciousness do meet in their divine orders.
(Promod Puri is a journalist, writer of human interest, politics and religious topics, and author of Hinduism Beyond Rituals, Customs And Traditions).
