ON DEATH AND CONSCIOUSNESS

What does a corpse know? The only possible answer is that a corpse knows absolutely nothing. A corpse knows absolutely nothing because a corpse has absolutely no consciousness. A corpse cannot even know that it knows absolutely nothing.

Only the conscious can know that a corpse knows absolutely nothing. Yet, just like a corpse, the conscious cannot experience absolute nothingness. But since the idea of absolute nothingness can be objectified by consciousness, this proves that the idea does not come from an experience of absolute nothingness. Then what can this idea be? The simple answer is that it is just that. It is an idea of nothingness to consciousness, but it is absolute nothingness to a corpse.

But this means that there can be no actuality to absolute nothingness. It is not real. Only as an idea of nothing to consciousness can it be real. This idea has proven to be real to consciousness by its usefulness to consciousness. The idea of nothing is most useful to consciousness in that it separates reality from unreality. Unreality never appears to consciousness. It always vanishes into absolute nothingness. Consciousness uses the idea of nothing in order to be aware of this fact. Only consciousness possesses the capability of separating a reality which appears to it from an unreality which never appears.

The fact that unreality never appears to consciousness proves that all that does appear to consciousness must be real. Unreality disappears from consciousness by the use of another form of the idea of nothing called falsity. Falsity always indicates the idea of nothing, which in turn, indicates the disappearance of unreality into absolute nothingness. This can be shown by a simple mathematical demonstration. Consciousness knows that 1+1=2 is a true and useful combination. Consciousness also knows that 1+1=3 is a false and useless combination that means nothing even though ones and threes and addition and equality are in themselves true and useful ideas. Yet, the unreality of this false combination does not appear. These two simple demonstrations apply to all human endeavors no matter how complicated they may be. When humans get a system right, it always proves to be true and useful and real. But when humans get a system wrong, it proves to be false and useless, which indicates a vanishing unreality even though every element in the false system always in-itself proves useful and real.

The fact that a corpse must decay into the unconscious elements of an unconscious universe proves that a consciousless universe always equals absolute nothingness. There can be nothing useful and real within it. Nothingness itself cannot be real within absolute nothingness. A corpse knows absolutely nothing, and a dead universe knows absolutely nothing, and so there can be no reality in a consciousless universe. Since only consciousness can cause reality to exist, then life and consciousness could never evolve in a consciousless universe.

Thus, an Eternal and Infinite Consciousness must exist that causes life and reality to appear in our universe. God creates the true and useful systems called life and reality. Decadence in God's universe indicates the presence of false combinations called sin, which in turn, result in the unreality called death. Corpses appear to consciousness, but the unreality of death never does. Nevertheless, since God can never lose any real element of His creations, then the consciousness of corpses must either appear to Him in His presence or as forever separated from His presence.