The Hard Problem of Consciousness
Science and Non-duality
At the frontier of science and philosophy studies now is what’s called the hard problem of consciousness and how it relates to the brain, matter and the universe as we perceive it. This especially assumes great importance in light of advancement of AI and in particular the pursuit of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) or an intelligent agent that can learn any task that a human can. The conventional approach of materialism that has served science well thus far posits that matter alone is the fundamental essence of the universe and therefore puts forth a reductionist approach that somehow consciousness manifests magically through a combination of material processes. This approach is severely limiting and unable to coherently explain the emergence of consciousness in any meaningful way and hence the term "hard problem of consciousness".
A newer approach called panpsychism posits that consciousness is a fundamental attribute of all matter as opposed to being an emergent property. This creates its own problem of explaining how consciousness of individual particles in say the brain combine to form one unified conscious experience in what’s known as the combination problem. In any case, panpsychism is close to the ancient Sankhya view that consciousness and matter (purusha and prakriti) are the two eternal aspects of reality that interact with each other.
Meanwhile a supposedly radical view getting serious attention in the scientific community called cosmopsychism states that consciousness alone exists and matter is only an apparent phenomenon in consciousness. This is interestingly the exact same truth declared by the ancient system of Advaita or non-duality. What’s more, non-duality is not just a theory but experientially realized by many great sages and also available for any sincere seeker of Truth to arrive at through the direct process of self-inquiry.
Before inquiring into the nature of the self, if we look into the nature of the universe, we can see that the entire universe is made up of three essential aspects - matter, energy and intelligence (dravyam, kriya, jnanam in Sanskrit). This is what makes up our body, all other sentient and insentient beings and the entire universe. In our own body, we can see them clearly - matter is the physical body, energy is life force (prana) that makes all actions possible and intelligence is all the processes from the cellular level and up that make the body function. For instance, the protein synthesis in a single cell alone is such a complex process that requires so much computing power to understand and there are 40 trillion cells in each body. On a side note, this is why the intelligence of the intellect is a puny little thing compared to what even a single cell does! Similarly, the universe is also made up of the same three constituents: matter - all the elements starting with hydrogen, energy - it’s not a static universe by any means but highly dynamic with planets, sun, stars, galaxies all in motion, and intelligence - a perfect order that underlies all matter and energy from the subatomic to the galactic and beyond.
We can see that these three aspects - matter, energy and intelligence - are in increasing order of subtlety. So can the cause of all this be the least subtle of all, i.e., matter? In general, we see that the cause is always more subtle and intelligent than the effect. For instance, the potter is more intelligent than the pot, the painter is more intelligent than the painting and so on.
Similarly for matter, energy and intelligence to be the effect, is it more likely that something most subtle is always functioning and makes the apparent manifestation of these three aspects possible? What does our own experience tell us? We see that all the world with its matter, energy and intelligence is perceived through the senses by the mind which alone makes the recognition of the world possible. So the world does not exist for us when the mind does not (as in deep sleep, unconsciousness etc). And conversely when the mind alone functions as in dream, it manifests the entire world which seems as real as the waking world. What is the source of the mind then? Mind is nothing but a collection of thoughts. What is the nature of thoughts? Isn’t it consciousness that makes thoughts possible? Isn’t "I am" prior to "I think"? These are questions to meditate upon and realize our essential nature and therefore the universe too as consciousness that is free of any content.
This doesn’t seem obvious first as the manifest nature of the self and the universe is of course full of content. Various objects, activities, thoughts, feelings and all of it. And we take this content to be true and identify with it strongly, both inwardly as the 'me' and outwardly as the objective universe. This identification is at the root of all misery. Because this content is ever in flux and trying to hold on through memory to something that is inherently fleeting is the root of ignorance. But we do feel that regardless of all the fleeting movements of the manifest nature, there seems to be an underlying and abiding sense of a self or I and similarly an underlying universe. Self-inquiry then is to penetrate beyond the manifest nature of the self and the universe and ask what is the essential nature of the I and the universe. This helps us to see that the consciousness of pure existence pervades through all movements of the 'me’. Any objects, activities, thoughts, feelings are all present only within the field of awareness which alone illumines the seer, seen and seeing at all times. Without awareness, no content exists. Without any content, awareness does exist as in moments of total silence. So the essence of all content (which appears as the me and the universe) is seen as awareness alone that is itself free of any content. This awareness seems to playfully take infinite shapes and forms the content of all our experiences. If we see the essential nature of all content to be awareness which is free of any content and there is nothing other than awareness, then the content takes care of itself perfectly. This requires us to be alert to false identification with any content. This alertness can then change our way of living as opposed to simply propounding non-duality as a theory.
One important thing to note here is that the content of consciousness - matter, energy and intelligence - doesn’t need to be removed. In fact it cannot be removed as the very attempt to remove content adds more content! We just have to see that what pervades all content of thought, word and action is awareness. As Ramana Maharshi put it beautifully:
"The duality of subject and object and trinity of seer, sight, and seen can exist only if supported by the One. By turning inward in search of that One Reality, they fall away."
Awareness is ever present. We need to simply see that all objects gross and subtle are only a play of the same light of awareness and never separate from it. To see the essence of all content as awareness itself is to be engaged in content while being free of it.
On a final note, this very same truth can be realized through a heart full of devotion. Complete devotion to God as the Beloved who is seen in all the manifest forms leads to the same realization of this all pervading Oneness. Sri Ramakrishna puts it nicely:
"Those who say God is 'there' are in ignorance, those who feel God is 'here' are in perfect knowledge".
Both these approaches of Awareness and Surrender are brought out beautifully in a single verse by Krishna in the Gita:
yo māṁ paśhyati sarvatra sarvaṁ cha mayi paśhyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśhyāmi sa cha me na praṇaśhyati
For those who see Me everywhere and see all things in Me,
I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to Me.
The brilliance of Gita is that the 'Me' in this verse can be looked upon as Pure Awareness or Krishna the Beloved and either would lead to the same realization. This is why the non-dual realization of Truth has been arrived at by many mystics of different traditions without any need for philosophy.
