Infinity and consciousness - why is reality the way it is?

[CBDinfused]

So I have been contemplating the idea of infinity lately. This is the idea that the universe had no beginning and will have no end, that everything that exists has always existed ad infinitum, and the reason why I experience my current life narrative under the illusion of "time" as I do is because of "ego consciousness". e.g. it is a biological narrative constructed where the rules are those determined by the laws of physics. Attaining enlightenment is to see past this illusion, my attachment to myself, my attachment to time, my attachment to reality and my bodily sensations to see the "nothingness" of existence. To simply "be" in its purest form.  

Assuming that I have understood this correctly at this stage, my understanding on why reality is the way it is, is similar to the idea of the "10 dimensions theory" presented in string theory, that reality is comprised of every conceivable possibility in every single configuration, and that consciousness is omnipresent in all of this, and the only reason why you are not experiencing everything ad infinitum is because of being "Lost" in the idea that you are separate from everything. 

You can think of it as per this video where they explain the 10 dimensions (or 11 dimensions, I don't really care, you get the point).  The point is that every single dimension is omnipresent and time is an illusion of the ego. 

Is there anyone else out there that conceptualizes reality like this? And if so, what are your theories on what happens when you die? That when the current ego consciousness you currently are experiencing will kind of "start over" or that you will move onto the next "possible material experience" e.g. another human, animal, or any other material possibility in the infinite cosmic mind?

Also, is there anyone who has an idea why consciousness "needed to exist in the first place"? I understand that there is "something rather than nothing" because nothing is inherently instable, and that even according to quantum physics, if there is an empty vacuum of space, sub atomic particles will emerge from nowhere because there is nothing preventing them from not emerging - a metaphor I use for how I "emerged from nowhere" when I was born. The material world makes sense in this fashion, but why is awareness the apriori truth as well? I hope I am being clear. 

TL:DR Why did consciousness or awareness always exist? What happens when my current experience of reality ends?  

[allislove]

Reality does not need conceptualization/theories. In order to conceptualization to take place there should be reality in which it happens first. Consciousness does not exist, it is existence itself. Reality does not have beginning and end as you rightly put. To notice what reality is let go every conceptualization, investigate the direct experience "who is showing all of this", find that who.

[Tim R]

15 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

who has an idea why consciousness "needed to exist in the first place"?

It doesn't "need" to exist, there's nothing which could in any way "compel" it to exist. It is existence.

15 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

I understand that there is "something rather than nothing" because nothing is inherently unstable

There isn't "something rather than nothing". Something is nothing, literally.

"Nothing" is the most stable state you could imagine. Which is why reality is nothing.

15 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

Why did consciousness or awareness always exist?

This question still assumes that there's a past in which consciousness did exist. Which is not the case. 

"Infinity" doesn't mean "to go on for ever" it means "beyond time", i.e. "outside of"/"not bound by" time (and everything else). 

15 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

What happens when my current experience of reality ends?  

Nothing. There's no "your experience". There's no you to experience any "other", which you call "reality". There's just experiencing, which itself is nothing. Death = Birth.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Tim R

[CBDinfused]

While I appreciate the replies (thank you), I don't think I was clear it what I was asking. I am not necessarily asking for advise on how to become enlightened, and I understand that there is no "need" for a theory. I get it. Clear your mind from all presuppositions and poof you are nothing and everything and there is no "you".

 

But still, it is not like once you become enlightened you simply dissolve into nothingness and disappear. You still have to deal with the platitudes of daily life afterwards. And it is "ok" to have a conversation after all of this. Buddha did. Jesus did. Frank Yang still does. They still have "theories" of the universe and existence, and they don't just wave away all questions with the "shh, clear your mind, nothing exists". 

[Mason Riggle]

"Before enlightenment, carry water, chop wood. After enlightenment, carry water, chop wood." - Zen Proverb. 

[Nahm]

1 hour ago, CBDinfused said:

time is an illusion of the ego

And so are all the other thoughts. 

[Mason Riggle]

1 hour ago, CBDinfused said:

time is an illusion of the ego. 

“The biggest ego trip is getting rid of your ego, and of course the joke of it all is that your ego does not exist.”

― Alan Watts

[CBDinfused]

I don't mean this as an insult but I wonder if it is possible on this forum to not have a thread with idioms and axioms about enlightenment. That is not the dialogue I wish to have here. As I said above, I get it, everything is an illusion, everything is one nothing is everything yada yada. The only truth is Brahman. That is fine. 

If someone asked you what your favorite food is, would you answer "Food is an illusion" or "food doesn't exist?" No. So, back to my original inquiry. You are allowed to theorize existence, in the same way that you can discuss political issues. Frank Yang, a proclaimed enlighten being, happily discussions questions on infinity, existence etc.

With that, "suffering" is still REAL. Pain is still REAL. It is a REAL experience that is part of the everything which is existence. If you can imagine it, it exists. 

[Mason Riggle]

@CBDinfused are you looking for a 'conceptual model' of existence? 

There are plenty to choose from.. but remember, the map is not the territory.   No matter how good your map is, it will never be completely accurate representation of the territory, because to be completely accurate, is to be the territory. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Mason Riggle

[Tim R]

@CBDinfused What are you asking then?

[CBDinfused]

18 minutes ago, Tim R said:

@CBDinfused What are you asking then?

Well, I do not necessarily agree with this "solipsism" way of thinking, I look (through my unenlightened lense) at the world, and see other people, other experiences of the world, and am wondering why it is the way that it is? Leo has said himself that we (you) and I are also Hitler, or the Cow on the way to the slaughterhouse and so even though I am right now experiencing my life through my lense, I must contemplate that I will also experience the Hitler timeline as well (and make all of his judgements and decisions, seeing the world through his eyes). I am wondering why I am right now I am experiencing it through MY lense, and what happens when I die? Because I get the impression some people believe that the ego will then die and I will have a huge DMT trip and merge with the selfless infinity, while others believe that the "I" will simply go to another form doing an eternal dance through all forms of experience. 

 

Sorry, it seems like a lot of people here are doing some categorical loops from "absolute, infinite wholeness" or "Nothingness" to relative humanistic terms like "the earth, commonality" "peace on earth" "Love thy neighbor" etc. It is hard to follow. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by CBDinfused

[Tim R]

@CBDinfused

45 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

and am wondering why it is the way that it is?

That which is, is the way it is. And therefore can't be any other way.

A = A  ; Reality = Reality ; Being = Being ; That which is = That which is

This "principle" is actually extremely simple. Which is why it is so difficult to understand it. You think that reality could be any other way than it is now. But it can't, because the moment it is something else, it is the way it is.  Existence is Truth. Because it is what it is, no matter what it is. So whatever existence can become, it always is. 

Notice, that your question assumes that reality is some-way, i.e. some-how.

It isn't. Reality is actually no-way and no-how. Because then you could pin it down. Have you noticed that you can't? Reality can't be captured in any concept, it always escapes. This is called "Shunyata" in Sanskrit. "Void". No-thing. No some-thing.

No some-how. That is what Lao-Tse means by saying "the Dao (the way/the how) which can be uttered is not the eternal Dao". 

Basically what you have to do, is drop the desire for any explanation for why reality = reality. Because the question is actually meaningless. Which is why the answer is tautological and from a logical point of view completely meaningless too. 

45 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

I am wondering why I am right now I am experiencing it through MY lens, and what happens when I die?

The answer lies in the experience itself. You won't find it on this forum. I can't give it to you and neither can Leo. Nobody can. You must find out for yourself. Again, you experience what you experience because A =A. The answer to your question is not a philosophical answer, it's a no-thought answer. It's insight into the nature of being, which won't come from discursive thought.  What is the answer to a meaningless question? Well that's the whole game with Zen Koans. No-answer.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Tim R

[SoonHei]

@CBDinfused you do not really want to know the answer to this question... why reality is the way it is.

you really want to be cleared of all doubts, all questions.

an answer to your question of WHY will simply push away the doubt/questions/mind for a brief instance until it comes back to ask WHY of the answer given to the previous question. and this will go on. it is in the nature of the mind. now, this too is exhausted after a while but that "while" can be as long as an hour or 10 lifetimes.

it is best to see that ultimately we cannot answer WHY

things are as they are

why does water boil at 100 degrees Celsius - not why the boiling occurs, but why at 100 degrees, why not at 105 

and why is the grass green, why not red?

things are as they are because they could not have been otherwise

because there's an intelligence behind everything and it is fair to say it assigns how things will be. like an author writing a book, you ask him/her why it was written a certain way, because he/she wanted it to be so and so it was.

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, CBDinfused said:

Is there anyone else out there that conceptualizes reality like this? And if so, what are your theories on what happens when you die?

Death doesn't happen. It is imaginary.

2 hours ago, CBDinfused said:

Also, is there anyone who has an idea why consciousness "needed to exist in the first place"? I understand that there is "something rather than nothing" because nothing is inherently instable, and that even according to quantum physics, if there is an empty vacuum of space, sub atomic particles will emerge from nowhere because there is nothing preventing them from not emerging - a metaphor I use for how I "emerged from nowhere" when I was born. The material world makes sense in this fashion, but why is awareness the apriori truth as well? I hope I am being clear. 

This is not correct and not radical enough.

You didn't emerge out of nothing. Reality IS Nothing all the time. It is Nothing right now. It has always been Nothing. It will always be Nothing.

Nothing is everything you see. You ARE inside of Nothing. You ARE Nothing.

2 hours ago, CBDinfused said:

TL:DR Why did consciousness or awareness always exist? What happens when my current experience of reality ends?  

It always existed because it is Nothing and it has nowhere else to go.

[Inliytened1]

45 minutes ago, CBDinfused said:

 I am wondering why I am right now I am experiencing it through MY lense,

You are experiencing "you" precisely so that you could experience "you"!!!! You as God are the Infinite dreamer.  Don't get wrapped up in imagining you will be hitler - hitler is just content in this dream.  

[CBDinfused]

7 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

You are experiencing "you" precisely so that you could experience "you"!!!! You as God are the Infinite dreamer.  Don't get wrapped up in imagining you will be hitler - hitler is just content in this dream.  

Thank you for the reply. The reason why I ask this is I feel like this forum is comprised of two types of people: (1) the Solipsists who believe that everything is just in their head, and everything else is fake and (2) the ones who kind of see everything as an intricate whole. 

I ask as what would you do if you saw someone being mugged on the street, do you walk past and think "this is all just a dream" or do you be brave, engage the situation, deal with the mugger with compassion and try to find a favorable outcome for all, considering your intervention would have a lasting impact on the world?  

[Inliytened1]

@CBDinfused discovering its a dream metaphysically and that its one literally - actually gives you more compassion not less.   But in some cases trying to show compassion to a devil is foolhardy.  If someone has a gun to someone i don't think walking up to them and telling them its all Love is going to help.   

[CBDinfused]

22 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

@CBDinfused discovering its a dream metaphysically and that its one literally - actually gives you more compassion not less.   But in some cases trying to show compassion to a devil is foolhardy.  If someone has a gun to someone i don't think walking up to them and telling them its all Love is going to help.   

Why not? Are you afraid (of dying or pain)? Do you put more importance on your physical body than selflessly embodying the spirit of love? If there is a chance that your intervention can help another person?

Edited April 6, 2021 by CBDinfused

[Meditationdude]

@CBDinfused I’ve been doing consciousness work for over 5 years straight and I still don’t truly understand reality. I also don’t understand how so many people on this forum do and I don’t. 

[Inliytened1]

8 hours ago, CBDinfused said:

Why not? Are you afraid? Do you put more importance on your physical body than embodying a spirit of love? If there is a chance that your intervention can help another person?

I'm not saying I would not try to intervene if i felt i could make a difference with the individual- in the moment i hope that i would if the situation looked like there was a possibility..but If i told you i would have no fear whatsoever that would be a lie.  My ego still has a strong survival need.  When i am immersed in the dream it is very real just as is during a night time dream.   Of course in a moment like that there is no time for fear - just adrenaline... My point was that at the same time recklessness is not going to be wise either.