The purpose of this post is just to describe an experience I had on an evening in March 2021. I am not really making any official claims. But this experience was so intense I figured I should share it. I “know” what happened to me is real the same way I “know” that a tree I’m looking at is real. I just don’t know what kind of sensory perception caused it.
So maybe this is all garbage, but the fact that what I experienced seemed to be every bit as ‘real’ as all the mundane material we all agree on everyday, is itself interesting.
- I went on autopilot. But unlike normal autopilot I was fully conscious and aware of my body acting. It was going through all its motions with absolutely zero input from ‘me’. Watching it was like watching an animal.
- I closed my eyes. And allowed myself to associate myself as purely the awareness. And then I let go. I experienced what seems best described as ‘nothingness’ or ’emptiness’ for a few seconds.
- From there, ‘my’ consciousness receded into something that seems best described as the single universal consciousness or just the single consciousness. At this point I experienced that there is only one consciousness in all the universe. We normally think of humans as having consciousness. But I experienced that that isn’t a correct view. Humans are unconscious, but the universal consciousness uses our body as an aperture through which to experience itself. When I came back, I threw up (dry-heaved) in surprise.
- I experienced that all the universe was one. Everything was one entity. When I walked through my apartment. I viewed the walls and furniture as if they WERE me. The same way I view my own hand. Because, well, I guess they are.
Takeaways:
- When I am looking at a tree, another way of describing what is happening is that the universe is using me to observe itself.
- Humans are animals. They are amazing and intelligent animals. But they are animals. They could do most of the things they do now without consciousness.
- This experience seems to be granting me a little more empathy for other organisms because I experienced that all organisms are connected and share the same consciousness or at least are of the same entity.
- I also now believe in the fragility and animal-nature of the human body. This is great knowledge for my self-care practices. I already have more empathy for my body.
There are reasonable ‘scientific’ explanations for this world view, that are as at least as good as the current world view in philosophical materialism.
My assessment is almost certainly wrong. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this general explanation of consciousness is closer to the truth than a lot of the answers materialism and rationality have come up with for the same questions.