This is part three of a six-part series between Nathan Davila, author & narrator for Cloud Grounding Publications, and me. Nathan is writing letters 1, 3, and 5, and I am responsible for letters 2, 4, and 6. Links to the letters will be updated as we go: Letter 1, Letter 2, Letter 3, Letter 4, Letter 5, and Letter 6.
Dear Nathan,
Thank you for your detailed and enthusiastic case for us and our reality being connected to a universal consciousness.
I feel like consciousness means something more than “Awareness of yourself and the world around you; The awareness is subjective and unique to you.”
Does a dog have consciousness? Does AI? Is consciousness distinguishable from sentience?
I may be biased, but I think my dog has an awareness of himself and the world around him. I’m pretty sure he thinks the world revolves around him. Is the difference between me and Loki (my dog) only a matter of degree, or is it one of category? That is, in terms of sentience, are Loki and I on the same spectrum, or would we be located on different scales?
I don’t think that AI has sentience or consciousness. I do think Loki possesses consciousness, but I’m not sure about sentience. I’m not convinced that AI will ever get to either consciousness or sentience. Why not?
Consciousness seems to be tied to biology. Animals and plants all seem to have some form of rudimentary consciousness.
When comes to what it means to tap into a universal consciousness, my views are best summed up this way:
There is some kind of universal consciousness that connects all living things on this planet. I do not know if that connection is also to a god, higher power, or creative force.
I’m skeptical of the usefulness of any “higher” mental state that can only be accessed through medicinal or pharmaceutical means or only through monk-like discipline to meditation.
I’m skeptical of anything smacking of manifestation or the law of attraction.
That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in a higher mental state, I just don’t think something so hard to access is useful or helpful to the mass of humanity.
The holiest experiences I’ve ever had, times when I lost my sense of myself and was carried away into something that felt like an electric ocean, are almost all connected to the flow state I often enter while writing or drawing.
However, I’ve also found myself in this state when hiking in the wilderness, walking along the ocean, and doing dishes.
Anyone can tap into something greater, and perhaps that something is a universal consciousness, by focusing the mind in a way that puts you in a flow state. No psychotropics required.
While I believe that all of nature, including all of us humans, are somehow connected to something greater or higher than us, I don’t believe in the ability to tap into the energy of the universe to make things magically happen.
Perhaps (likely), my ego is too big to experience this.
As proof of my egotism, here is a poem that describes how I feel about manifesting.
It seems too convenient. If you suffer some misfortune, your vibes were off. If you are not able to manifest something, it’s your fault for not doing it right. We know you didn’t do it right because it didn’t work.
The human mind is an incredible thing. A thing we can’t yet begin to comprehend. Likewise, the human spirit (whatever that is) is almost supernaturally powerful. If you align your thoughts in a healthy way, I have no doubt that you can work what looks like miracles.
To me, hard work is the evidence of the “manifestation” mindset. I have experienced great results many times in my life after I did everything in my power to make something happen, and have had those results be seemingly completely unconnected to any of the work I did.
Is that me attracting stuff through universal consciousness? Perhaps, but it seems awfully inefficient if that’s how it works.
I think what happens is that when we train our minds to focus on a result we want, we are more likely to perceive opportunities that we were previously blind to.
The best use of universal consciousness, whatever it is, is for us to build greater community with each other—not wish our way into a nicer car.
We should be the ones that show up with food when our neighbors are hungry, with tools when their roof is ravaged by a storm, and an embrace and a shoulder to cry on when they experience an unspeakable loss.
Instead of trying to manifest health for ourselves or wealth for our families, if we were truly aware of the world around us and the people in that world, we would be better off working to make sure everyone had a modest, comfortable home, opportunity to do meaningful, well-paid work, healthcare, and a sense of community.
Things like mutual aid, truly knowing our neighbors, and regular acts of service are the best evidence of a connection to a universal consciousness—not attracting stuff and opportunities to ourselves.
Am I too curmudgeonly? What am I missing out on?
Cheers,
Jason
“However, I’ve also found myself in this state when hiking in the wilderness, walking along the ocean, and doing dishes.” You had me at doing dishes. I like where you’re coming from with this so far :)