When we see another being, how do we see it?
Do we see it mostly as an object in the world?
Or as consciousness operating through and as that form?
WE SEE OTHERS AS WE KNOW OURSELVES
My guess is that it depends on how we viscerally experience ourselves.
If we viscerally take ourselves to fundamentally be this human self, we’ll tend to see others primarily as a form and an object in the world.
And if we viscerally find ourselves as the consciousness we more fundamentally are, we tend to recognize others as that too. We see them primarily as consciousness.
FINDING OURSELVES AS CONSCIOUSNESS
If we “have” consciousness, it means that to ourselves we ARE consciousness.
And if we are consciousness, then the world to us happens within and as the consciousness we are.
To us, the world happens within and as what we are. It happens within and as the oneness we are. It happens within and as the consciousness we are.
It’s inevitable from a logical view. And it’s inevitable in our own direct noticing when we explore our own first-person experience.
THE UNIVERSALITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS
And that’s likely how it is for any conscious being.
Just like me, they are likely consciousness to themselves, and their world happens within and as the consciousness they are. (Whether they consciously notice it or not.)
THE UNIVERSAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
When I explore what I am, I find certain characteristics.
I find I am fundamentally capacity for any and all experience. I am what can form itself into and as any experience – what a thought may call sight, sound, taste, smell, sensations, and mental representations, or emotions and states, or this human self, others, and the wider world.
As mentioned above, I find that the world to me happens within and as what I am.
I find that the consciousness I am is one, and the world to me happens within and as the oneness I am.
I find that the world, to me, is similar to a dream. Just like a night dream, it happens within and as the consciousness I am.
And I assume it’s like that for any other consciousness as well, based on reports and what makes the most sense.
EXPRESSED THROUGH AND AS A UNIQUE SELF
This consciousness I am is expressed through and as a self in the world.
In my case, it’s expressed through and as this particular human self.
The world and all beings to me happen within and as what I am. And at the same time, there is a special connection with this particular human self. The consciousness I am receives sensory information from this human self, and other people take the consciousness I am to be this human self.
I assume it’s like this for all other conscious beings.
To themselves, they are most fundamentally consciousness, whether they notice or not. And this consciousness has a special connection to that particular self in the world. The consciousness they are operates through and as that particular self.
And that self has unique characteristics. It has a unique body with a unique sensory and nervous system. It has a certain size and lifespan. It operates in a certain environment. It may look like a beetle, a butterfly, a swallow, an eel, a rat, a human being, or any other type of conscious being.
In the world, the way we appear is unique and different. And to ourselves, our fundamental nature may be the same.
TAKING OTHERS AS CONSCIOUSNESS
If we take ourselves and others as primarily an object, we literally objectify ourselves and others. We perceive and live as if we are all primarily objects.
If we viscerally find ourselves primarily as consciousness, we tend to perceive others as that as well.
How can I take that in more deeply? How can I allow it to work on me?
If the other is primarily consciousness (whether they notice or not), how would I treat him or her?
How would I treat non-human species?
Image: Created by me and Midjourney
INITIAL OUTLINE
- the universality of consciousness
- if we “have” consciousness
- then to ourselves we ARE consciousness
- and the world to us happens within and as the consciousness we are
- at the same time, connected with a particular self
- with an unique biology, history, environment etc.
- operates through and as that unique organism and self
- ….
- if we “have” consciousness
MANY ONENESSES
Exploring this, we may find there are many onenesses in the world.
Each being is a oneness to itself, and the world to that being happens within and as the oneness they are.