Today, consciousness and how it works is still unknown.
And to understand something that is unknown, we have to start from something we already have knowledge of.
This is a fundamental principle of all science.
So how does science go about trying to explain consciousness?
Well, they start from matter, something science can study, to explain psychological phenomena.
But is matter really something we already have knowledge of and understands?
It is true that matter is visible and therefore possible to study, so the starting point is not necessarily wrong.
But the question is whether we really know what matter is?
Matter is not a substance. Matter is a seemingly incomprehensible PHENOMENON.
By studying matter, physicists have established that what we call "matter" is in fact light that rotates in an enormous speed, what is called quanta.
And these particles of light, such as electrons, has a life span a great deal shorter than a second before being replaced by a new one.
How this is done, what makes the electrons maintain their spin, what causes gravity, and so on, is something scientists still do not understand.
Thus, matter can not yet give a comprehensible answer when it comes to consciousness,
since we can not explain something unknown, such as consciousness, with something else that is also unknown, such as "matter" or quanta.
So how do I explain the phenomena of life and psychological phenomena in Timeless Education?
I proceed, of course, from the same basic principle, namely, first seeking something that can be known.
But since we still don't know what matter is, I do not use matter as the basis.
If anything, I use quanta and circular movement patterns as a basis, which can be observed in matter,
but I am also aware that the term "quanta" is still just a definition of something unknown.
So, apart from quanta and the velocity of particles, what more do we know?
We know that a world in which we live exists, and that our consciousness in ourselves exist.
Both are facts, both are reality, even if they can not be proven or disproven.
So, with this starting point, I use philosophical principles in order to reach conclusions concerning these unknown but observable phenomena.
The most important philosophical principles I have summed up in the formula A-Ω-X-Ω: Connection, contrast, cycles, and analogy.
The first principle tells us that whatever consciousness and matter are, they must be CONNECTED.
There must be an analogy between our minds and the phenomenon of matter, even though they represent a CONTRAST.
Many scientists and philosophers of course understands this, and it is in fact a classic example.
It was often used as an argument against religions that were talking about an immortal soul separate from the body.
If the body and soul are not intimately connected the soul would not have an anchor in the body and remain there throughout life.
We have also in all ages seen evidence that the body is affected by the psychological state in terms of health, that the psyche is affected by bodily pain or injury, and so on.
From this conclusion is derived also the modern philosophical argument that the mind can not exist without the body.
And because they stick to the principle of connection, it is a pretty good argument, but the problem is that they do not apply this principle to everything.
Just because mind and matter are connected, does not mean that one must be the cause of the other.
We also know that many things can be relatively separate, even though they are connected.
So if the body can exist without consciousness, in the form of a corpse, why then should not the mind be able to be a kind of separate energy body at a higher plane of velocity?
Something connects them at birth, and then separates them again at what we call the end of life.
We are only in agreement that mind and matter are two different degrees or stages of the same thing, but we have more principles we need to apply in order to reach the right conclusions.
The body is also not a thing. The body is a process or exchange of energy like everything else.
The body consists of cells, organisms and various substances that are all replaced at regular intervals throughout a person's life without the mind being replaced with it.
At the same time it is clear that the mind is changed and is "replaced" based on new experiences, but that these do not affect the organic replacement in the body.
The atoms in the bodies of living creatures are replaced several times within the span of one second.
Within the span of a single breath the molecules in the body have also been replaced by new ones and we then possess as an entirely new molecular body.
After every night, living beings also possess an entirely new cellular body.
Yet, when we wake up in the new body we have the same shape, memories, character, constitution and health as the old one.
In this way, the body "dies" continuously and is continually being reborn.
Nevertheless the individuality remains the same, because the parts that die are recreated as they were before.
Only a very small change occurs that allows us to see that the body after tens of thousands of repetitions produces the difference between youth and old age.
Consciousness is merely a non-observable continuation of this continuity that also can be divided into degrees just as the body can be divided into cells, molecules and atoms.
CONTRAST and CYCLES are needed in order to explain the phenomenon of movement that we can observe with quanta and celestial bodies,
and with the help of the principle of consistency - ANALOGY - this natural law must also apply to the phenomenon of consciousness.
If consciousness is indeed matter, then also consciousness must be quanta in a very high velocity.
And since consciousness is invisible to scientific instruments, the velocity or force behind consciousness must be even higher than the velocity of matter.
If the mind is of a higher velocity than even atoms; the most robust continuous replacement in the human body that are not the cause of aging
then the "body" or shape of mind must be more robust and durable than anything in the visible human body.
At the same time, a movement arise between consciousness and matter themselves, since also these represent a CONTRAST.
Mind and matter both attract and repel each other in a continuous cycle.
That is the reason why the universe MUST be polarized into mind and matter, otherwise movement, and thus life, would stop and never have arisen to begin with.
Through the use of ANALOGY again, the principle of consistency,
we may also speculate that dark energy is analogous with the mind and visible quanta is analogous with bodies; while the intermediate state, the movement of cycles, is analogous with life - the biological life force.
Mind and matter are in many ways passive phenomenon, while life is expressive - like motion.
The mind observes life, both interior and exterior, while the body is that which is mobilized by life.
We can thus conclude through the principle of consistency that the mind is life that is passive and observing at the one end,
while matter is life that is passive and allows itself to be moved at the other end, and life is at its strongest and most active in the middle.
Mind and matter are analogical in their passivity, but opposite in their polarization, like "+" and "-" in electromagnetism.
The observing mind is attracted by its antipode in matter and the effect is a movement: life force.
Dark quanta (+) is attracted by observable quanta (-) and the effect is a movement: the form and cycles of the universe.
From this perspective, we may say that both mind and matter are quanta, and we would not be wrong.
We could say that both mind and matter is "matter" in different speed, or that both mind and matter is "mind" in different speed, and we would also not be wrong.
What is important is not definitions, what is important is philosophical principles and experiences.
A-Ω-X-Ω, recurrence, and our experience of being conscious beings provide us with the answers we need,
everything else is delusions and deceptive definitions.
As long as process of existence is eternal, matter and consciousness should also be eternal.
