Ground of all being – part deux

 

 

 

1. A couple of words about the philosophy of consciousness:

Following on from the previous blog (https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2024/07/ground-of-all-being-exploring-deep.html), my research into the ‘ground of all being’ continued... I looked around for theories of mind and consciousness that are consistent with those meditation experiences as I think it might help advance the field if we do more to bring practice and experience together with theory. I ruled out models of materialism some years ago as being too limited for a whole range of phenomena. I’ve also written about some of the alternatives to materialism in previous blogs so I won’t repeat myself here. One option that I still like the look of though is the theory of cosmopsychism, about which Itay Shani 2015 (full citation below in Sources), writes in depth, including the following brief quote:

“... the first postulate of cosmopsychism is that the cosmos as a whole is the only ontological ultimate there is, and that it is conscious. In what follows I shall refer to this cosmic conscious entity as the absolute. Shani (2015)

If you enjoy philosophy it’s a good read. In terms of personal experience, or in fancier language ‘subjective phenomenology’, I can’t yet distinguish between the models that prioritise consciousness though. But if you want to get into the philosophical strengths and weaknesses of these and other models then I recommend Kastrup (2018) for an in-depth look at them.

2. A couple of words about practice and consciousness:

In ‘The Cosmic Game’ by Stanislav Grof (1998), Grof reports on inner experiences with apparent cosmological implications in the form of direct experiences of the absolute. Although Grof was using psychedelic substances and the methods of holotropic breath-work, and I only use varieties of meditation, I can see intriguing parallels between some of those experiences and mine.

Interestingly, Grof notes that his participants reported two types of experiences of the absolute, but for now I am just going to focus on the one that parallels the experiences I discuss here and in the previous blog. On that, Grof writes:

“It is the identification with Cosmic Emptiness and Nothingness described in the mystical literature as the Void.”
And
“When we encounter the Void, we feel that it is primordial consciousness of cosmic proportions and relevance. We become pure consciousness aware of absolute nothingness; however, at the same time, we have a strange sense of essential fullness. This cosmic vacuum is also a plenum, since nothing seems to be missing in it. While it does not contain anything in a concrete manifest form, it seems to comprise all of existence in a potential form. In this paradoxical way, we can transcend the usual dichotomy between emptiness and form, or existence and nonexistence. However, the possibility of such a resolution cannot be adequately conveyed in words; it has to be experienced to be understood.” (ibid, p.30)

Grof also includes an extract from an account of just such an experience by one of his participants, a philosopher of religion:

“At first this sensation took my breath away, both literally and figuratively, and I waited in suspension for movement to be restored. But movement was not restored. I was fully conscious, but absolutely suspended. And this suspension went on and on and on. I could not believe how long it lasted. As I soaked in this experience I realized that this was the Void out of which all form springs. This was the living Stillness out of which all movement flows. This contentless experience of concentrated consciousness that was pre-form and outside-form had to be what Eastern philosophers called sunyata.” From Grof (1998).

Apart from this participant’s ability to write about the details of the experience, this could be a description of ‘my’ experience, albeit evoked by a different means.

By the way, I am not advocating the use of psychoactive substances to explore the further reaches of consciousness. Meditation can take you to the same places. And with meditation you can just sit down and start, and if you don’t like the direction it’s going you can simply open your eyes and go and make yourself a nice cup of tea. Try that if you don’t like the way your psilocybin experience is going!

3. Someone else’s couple of words about physics that might be about consciousness...:

I know next to nothing about physics so I am not going to speculate on the ideas of physicists about cosmic creation, but I was struck by something written by the physicist Heinz Pagels:

“The view of the new physics suggests: ‘The vacuum is all of physics.’ Everything that ever existed or can exist is already there in the nothingness of space … that nothingness contains all being.” Pagels (1990) in Grof (1998).

This saying has at least a superficial similarity to the ‘ground of all being’ experience and so may be worth pursuing further by someone who does understand physics.

4. Finally, a couple of speculative words about ‘Śūnyatā’ and consciousness:

In Buddhism, the concept of Śūnyatā, often translated as ‘emptiness’ or ‘void,’ is a central idea that refers to the absence of intrinsic existence in all phenomena. This realisation of emptiness is central to the Mahayana path and is seen as a truth that transcends dualistic notions of existence and non-existence In fact, it is seen as a profound realisation that can lead to enlightenment.

The concept is seen, not as negation of existence, but rather as a recognition of the undifferentiated nature from which all apparent phenomena and dualities arise. One of Stan Grof’s participants (ibid), quoted above, equated his experience of the void with the Buddhist concept of sunyata.  I too wonder whether the experience of the ground of all being, as described in this and the previous blog (and not as used in Advaita Vedanta by the way, where it equates to Brahman), might be an experience of sūnyatā? I mention this for those of us who enjoy exploring ideas as well as experiences of deep states of being. Perhaps this will help open up a core concept of Buddhism that many people have difficulty understanding.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 25
There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.
It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things.
 

Also by Laozi from Verse 1
 

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
 

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Sources
 

Grof, S. (1998). The cosmic game: Explorations of the frontiers of human consciousness. Albany: SUNY Press
Kastrup, B. (2018). The universe in consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 25(5-6), 125-155.
Laozi & Mitchell, S. (2009). Tao te ching. London, Frances Lincoln Limited.
Shani, I. (2015). Cosmopsychism: A Holistic Approach to the Metaphysics of Experience. Philosophical Papers, 44(3), 389-437.
Velmans, L. (2021). Is the universe conscious? Reflexive Monism and the ground of being. In E. Kelly & P. Marshall (Eds.) (2021). Consciousness Unbound. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 175-228.

Key words
 

awakening, Brahman, Buddhism, consciousness, cosmopsychism, emptiness, God, ground of being, Holotropic, idealism, liberation, materialism, meditation, nothingness, nirvana, psychedelic, sunyata, void,
 

Image
 

Yin Yang symbol of Taoism
 

Link

https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2024/08/ground-of-all-being-part-deux.html