NOTHINGNESS IN RELATION TO REALITY
An active consciousness can only be aware of nothingness as a reality when, at the same time, it becomes aware of other objects. Consciousness causes its object to stand out in consciousness against the background of nothingness. Consciousness separates its object from nothingness. Thus, the object becomes real to consciousness, and nothingness becomes objective in relation to the object. In this way, the idea of nothingness becomes real. The idea of nothingness is a simple true idea.
Absolute nothingness can never be an idea and, therefore, never a reality. Consciousness-in-itself in the presence of absolute nothingness would have no impressions on it and thus would be equal to absolute nothingness. Consciousness of an object is also consciousness of space, if only the space that separates the self from that object. Thus the idea of nothingness is always something more than absolute nothingness. The idea of nothingness is useful to consciousness, but absolute nothingness is always useless and destructive of reality.
Any potentialities that might exist in absolute nothingness are swallowed by, rendered impotent by, and, therefore, remain equal to absolute nothingness. Only when potential consciousness focuses on potential objectivity is absolute nothingness overcome by duality and reality comes into existence. Potential consciousness that focuses on an object becomes real, and the potential object thus focused on also becomes real. Consciousness without an object is unreal, and an object without consciousness is also unreal. Therefore, there are three modes of existence: nonexistence or absolute nothingness, potential existence or unreality, and real existence or duality. Duality is the only reality.
Real nothingness is a separator of, and a background for, the objects of consciousness. In this way, consciousness causes nothingness to be more than absolute nothingness. Real nothingness is useful to consciousness. The most that can be said or thought about absolute nothingness is absolutely nothing.
Some assert that objects in a consciousless universe are simply what they are without resort to a consciousness that determines their reality. Such is not the case. All objects, including space, can not determine themselves to be anything because there can be no differences or separations among them. There is absolutely nothing that determines them to be anything. This nothingness can not be space because space is the idea of nothing that consciousness uses to separate objects. Since no consciousness is present to absolute nothingness, it can only be absolutely nothing. Thus, in a consciousless universe; objects, space and even the passage of time are determined by absolutely nothing. In a consciousless universe, everything bleeds together into a chaotic jumble that is equal to absolute nothingness.
If one tries to imagine a consciousless universe, one must first separate its objects from each other and from space. One must also imagine it to be passing through time, unless one imagines it to be static. Thus one must cause a consciousless universe to become a conscious one before anything can be determined about it. Absolute nothingness must be overcome by duality for reality to exist. Thus duality proves to be absolutely indispensable to the reality of any universe whether inside or outside of one’s mind.
Consider the Schrodinger cat experiment again. There are five possible determinations from this experiment. (1) If Schrodinger opens the box and determines the cat to be alive, then the consciousness of both Schrodinger and the cat have determined this. (2) If Schrodinger opens the box and determines the cat to be dead, then only Schrodinger’s consciousness makes this determination. (3) If Schrodinger does not open the box and the cat remains alive, then the cat’s consciousness determines itself to be alive. (4) If Schrodinger does not open the box and the cat is dead, then absolutely no determination can be made about the deadness of the cat.
The fifth possibility is that as long as Schrodinger does not open the box, then the cat exists in what is called a quantum state in which it is neither dead nor alive. However, this is not true as long as the cat is alive because in such a case it determines itself to be alive. As soon as the cat is dead it determines nothing about its deadness and it can not be determined to be dead unless Schrodinger opens the box. The existence of the cat was previously determined before it was put in the box. However, as long as the lid remains closed, its aliveness or deadness remains undetermined as far as Schrodinger is concerned. Suppose Schrodinger’s consciousness, and all other consciousnesses except the cat’s, should suddenly disappear from the universe. In that case, as long as the cat remained alive it would be the sole determiner of its own aliveness and the reality of the universe. As soon as the cat dies, then even its existence or nonexistence would become undetermined. The cat would become equal to absolute nothingness.
For precisely this last reason, life could never arise in a consciousless universe. Absolute nothingness would be the all-powerful non-determiner of everything. All possible chemical chain reactions that might lead to the accidental creation of life would be nullified at every step by absolute nothingness. Even the possibility of the existence of time, space, matter, and energy would always be equal to absolute nothingness.
This conclusion can not be proven. It is an intuitive truth. The reason for this is that absolute nothingness is not, nor can it ever be, an idea in duality. The idea of nothingness must always be substituted for absolute nothingness. Wherever absolute nothingness holds power, it renders everything equal to it, including any possibility of duality.
Even if a duality were to think of itself as being stripped of all objects except itself, then it would still have two real objects; that is, the idea of nothingness and the self that is separate from it. Thus the idea of nothingness in outer duality is space which separates all objects including the physical self. In inner duality, the idea of nothingness separates all ideas and feelings, including the idea of the psychological self, though not spatially, thus duality can in no way think of absolute nothingness, because it must, at least, substitute the idea of nothingness and the self.
Even though duality can not think about, or observe, absolute nothingness, nevertheless, duality can use the idea of nothingness to obtain an indirect idea of absolute nothingness. The bottom of a black hole in space beyond the event horizon is probably an example of the idea of nothingness concealing absolute nothingness. Whatever might exist there, including light rays, becomes equal to absolute nothingness, but one sees only the idea of nothingness.
Now, an intuitive insight could aver that any consciousless universe would, of necessity, possess the same conditions as those that exist at the bottom of the black hole. Whatever exists would be equal to its nonexistence. Whatever happens would be equal to its not happening. Even light rays would be equal to nothingness. Time itself would be equal to absolute nothingness. All effects which a consciousless universe might exert, such as a gravitational pull, could only be felt outside of itself into an observable universe. However, a consciousless universe would probably be more like a singularity than a black hole.
Consider again the dead cat in Schrodinger’s box. If Schrodinger never opens the box, then the cat exists in a kind of black hole, leaving out all other effects such as time and the smell of decayed flesh. It exists in a kind of self-contained universe in which nothing is determined.
Now some may argue that the deadness of the cat can somehow determine itself. This is the same as saying that everything in a consciousless universe can actually, in some way, determine its own reality. This is the same as saying that a consciousless universe is just a real as one that contains duality. If this is the case, then duality would seem to be superfluous to our universe, if Schrodinger opens the box and determines the cat to be dead, this constitutes a double determination. If he does not open the box, then the cat is already determined to be dead in relation to its universe.
If a consciousless universe can self-determine itself in some way, the duality (which seems to be a means of self-revelation) proves to be unnecessary. If a consciousless universe can determine itself to be real, then it also determines any duality which might arise in it to be real. However, the strange question is this: Why would a consciousless universe ever evolve duality (which seems to be a self-revelation) when such duality is not needed because such a universe would already be real because of self-determination?
One may argue that a consciousless universe evolves duality as a self-revelation merely from blind accident. But complete blindness is complete deadness and complete deadness determines nothing. It is precisely because a consciousless universe is blind that causes everything that may exist within it to be equal to absolute nothingness.
Consider another example. Imagine a universe which contains only one spherical object which remains the same size. Such a object can in no way be determined to be either moving or standing still. These two potentialities are equal to each other. Thus, what can be determined about the motion or non-motion of such an object? Absolutely nothing.
Now suppose this universe becomes a consciousless universe. Remember, this universe can neither be seen with an eye nor imagined in a mind. If it can, it becomes a conscious universe; that is, an object in an inner or outer duality. In this consciousless universe, what can be determine about the very existence or nonexistence of this spherical object? Absolutely nothing. The existence or nonexistence of a spherical object in a consciousless universe is as indeterminable as is its motion or non-motion in a conscious universe.
The existence or nonexistence of a spherical object in a consciousless universe defines two equal potentialities. The motion or non-motion of a single spherical object in a conscious universe can not be determined because there can be no relation to other objects. Similarly, no determinations of the existence or nonexistence of objects in a consciousless universe can be made because there are no relations whatsoever. In a consciousless universe, all potentialities are equal, and this equality also causes them to be equal to absolute nothingness. This does not mean that equality itself is the same as nothing. This simply means that if, for instance, all numbers were equal, there could be no such thing as mathematics.
One may argue that consciousness can still evolve in a consciousless universe because all potentialities would nevertheless act the same as if they were revealed to a mind. In other words, potentialities possess a separate reality of their own. The answer to this argument is: So what? Such a reality, even if it does exist, could never affect consciousness in any way, much less evolve it. Why? Because such a reality can have no relationship to a mind. The motion or non-motion of a single spherical object in a conscious universe remains undetermined because the object has no motion or non-motion relationship to consciousness. In other words, that which is completely unknown has no effect whatsoever on consciousness. A consciousless universe can never affect consciousness because it always remains a completely unknown universe.
At best, a consciousless universe can be imagined to be a boiling caldron of chaos. It is difficult to imagine how life could evolve in such a universe.
The conclusions are these:
The idea of nothingness hides potential reality.
The idea of nothingness can substitute for absolute nothingness.
Consciousness of objects, including the idea of nothingness, causes the universe of space and time to acquire real existence.
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