"In the beginning was Consciousness, and Consciousness was with God, and Consciousness was God."
The first verse of the Gospel of St John, with the Greek λόγος (logos or 'word') interpreted thus makes perfect sense.
Before a word can be uttered or written, it must first arise within the consciousness. It must flow from a source; before the word, there must be a mind.
You know that feeling when you have an idea, a concept, in your head, and you're scouring the Thesaurus for synonyms, but none quite match that idea? There isn't quite the right logos available to put into one word that which you feel, so you need to construct a phrase to express the thought more precisely. Or maybe there is a word, only in a different language to the one in which you are currently writing. But the sense, the meaning, it's there – clearly – in your consciousness. Out of your consciousness pops a thought, and that thought is put into word.
Consciousness as the fount of the logos. It existed in the beginning. No consciousness, no word. No Universe, no creation – nothing rather than something. But there is a something rather than a nothing – proof of that's all around us! Something materialised out of nothing, and it was consciousness that made it happen, that gave it form.
Consciousness, infinite and eternal, existing before the Big Bang; the reason for the Big Bang. Indeed, I see consciousness as the fundamental property of the Universe, without which there is neither space nor time nor matter. If you are seeking a cosmic prime-mover, here it is – consciousness as the purpose of existence.
This, then, is the notion of panpsychism, of a Universe permeated by consciousness. But, as my brother once asked me, does this take the form of discrete units of consciousness (particles thereof), or a rather the 'sea' within which all matter is bathed?
As my personal spiritual quest unfolds, my thinking now tends towards understanding the Universe as a sea of consciousness, bathing all matter across space and time. Another metaphor is consciousness as radio; waves requiring receivers to turn into sound. Some of those receivers are more advanced than others (compare a high-end hi-fi with a cat's whisker crystal set). Spiritual evolution makes for more sensitive receivers, I would posit.
I reject the reductionist-materialist view that consciousness is merely an epiphenomenon of biological evolution, something experienced only within the brains of higher-order biological entities, scattered around on planets capable of supporting life.
I have long held that both religion and science are wrong in negating each others' claim to understand reality. Cosmic reality is both spiritual and physical in nature – and by 'spiritual', I mean 'underpinned by consciousness'. This is a notion to which I shall return many times over the next 45 days. The role of intuition and the concept of non-local consciousness, and the survival of consciousness after biological death will be discussed here in coming days and weeks.
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