Dictionary.com defines consciousness as:
The state of being conscious; knowledge of one’s own existence, condition, sensations, mental operations, acts, etc.
And thus it goes, from dictionary to dictionary. I propose that this is a ‘classical’ definition of consciousness, much as Issac Newton’s mechanics is a ‘classical’ definition of mechanics, where matter and energy follow the laws of those mechanics against the backdrop of absolute space and time. In classical mechanics, space and time are the inviolable and ‘real’ entities within which all else evolves. Enter Relativity and Quantum Theory where space and time become one entity, space-time, with nothing ‘absolute’ about it. Space-time is as relative and mutable as are everything else we observe in the universe. There is no prime ‘where’ or ‘when’ in our universe upon which all other where’s and when’s depend and can be measured. We are, essentially, lost in space-time!
In TotIs, while looking to discover the source of the discrepancy between our experience of time, and the belief, among some important modern physicists, that time does not flow at all, that such a flow is an ‘illusion’, we discovered that our very experience of both space and time are created for us in the same way that ALL of our experiences of reality are. Space and time now join our senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and the myriad of vestibular and other bio-sensory experiences, which are the products of a bio-sensory process. This is what is missing from the ‘classical’ definition of consciousness. It is taken for granted that this state of consciousness occurs within a ‘reality’ where space and time are exactly as we experience them to be, when they are not.
Our experiences of space and time can no longer be seen as an absolute reality within which our senses inform the organism. Neither a sugar molecule, nor any other molecule, has a ‘taste’, it is our biology that interprets and creates that ‘taste’ which becomes our experience of that molecule. Our entire experience of reality, generated by our bio-sensory system, is manufactured from one process and delivers to us but one product, which I call antIs reality. Our experience of reality does not take place on the inviolable stage of space and time, rather, the ‘attributes’ we experience of space and time, like the ‘sweetness’ of sugar, are a manufactured product of our bio-sensory system itself.
This fact has profound implications for the nature of consciousness, not the least of which is that the ‘attributes’ of reality created for us by our bio-sensory system, have no impact on the actual nature of any attributes in totIs, or ‘ultimate’, reality. This opens a doorway that not only questions the validity of the existence of a ‘flow’ of time, but turns the tables on the questioners themselves. Not only does our biology create interpreted ‘experiences’ of reality, but now, the very structure within which those ‘experiences’ appears to take place, is a manufactured, and interpreted, ‘experience’ as well; it is inseparable from any of our other experiences of reality. The ‘sweetness’, the ‘hardness’, the ‘loudness’ and the ‘flow of time’, that are our reality, all manifest from the same source. This bio-sensory system creates for the organism a ‘separate’ reality, if you will, our antIs reality, for the benefit of the organism alone.
It is with the greatest difficulty that we struggle to accept the foregoing conclusion. The nature of the attributes of reality that our bio-sensory system creates for us, hard/soft, hot/cold, sweet/sour, etc, relate to ‘things’ that seem to actually have a material presence, but space and time, well, their very presence, or lack thereof, seems to be of a different class altogether. While we don’t actually ‘know’ what they are, regardless of devising ways to measure them, our experience of them remains robust, all pervasive, and yet, ethereal. But we can now see that such an experience is part and parcel of every other interpretation of the reality our biology supplies us with, and is not ‘actual’ or totIs reality itself. In effect, with this updated definition, we can now ask “what is the ‘taste’ of space-time, that singular attribute which our biology imbues to it to create this experience of flowing time? In this new, ‘modern’ definition of consciousness, as opposed to the ‘classical’ one, we have decoupled our experiences of space and time from any attributes those entities might have in the totIs universe. We are now able to question those experiences with a fair certainty that space and time will embody a very different nature in totIs reality, and will not exist with the attributes our biology interprets them as embodying. So what is this ‘taste’ of space-time embodied in our experience of it? Our experience of ‘space’ can not be separated from ‘time’, yet we don’t actually experience ‘time’ as such, we experience existing, that is, being in a ‘now’ moment through which time seems to flow. To exist, and a ‘now’ moment, go hand in glove. But we have seen, in TotIs, that such a ‘now’ moment is actually impossible to experience using the process of our bio-sensory system. This ‘now’ that we experience, as part of our reality, is part and parcel of the bio-sensory process itself, it is an interpretation and fabrication by our biology, just like ‘sweet’ or ‘red’. So let’s see what this means regarding our inquiry into the nature of consciousness.
We first need to clarify that ‘consciousness’ is not an attribute of reality, per se. Consciousness is indelibly coupled with observers. To be conscious, to have an experience, to observe, are, in effect, the same thing. Knowledge of one’s own existence, condition, sensations, etc is the activity of observers, and such observations are the hallmark of biological entities, unless and until rocks and/or stars can tell us differently. But what is the source of this consciousness? Knowing, now, that our experience of space-time, along with every other experience, is not the nature of actual, totIs, reality, we find the conscious observer to be hiding in plain sight. The observer and what is observed originate from the same source. The conscious observers existence is tied to the biologically fabricated ‘now’ moment which itself is responsible for creating the attributes of the entire antIs universe we experience and observe around us. The antIs universe is a function of the biologically created ‘now’ moment, while the conscious observer is a function of this ‘now’ moment in relation to antIs reality itself. In essence, this ‘now’ moment creates a conscious observer who experiences their own antIs reality as if it were a movie, one ‘now’ frame at a time.
It is too simplistic to say that consciousness is a product of our biology, notwithstanding that we see no evidence of any other manifestations of consciousness other than in biological entities. What is important is that the source of that consciousness has profound ramifications for those entities. When I say “I am” what is intrinsically implied is “I am NOW”, for our experience of life is that ‘I was before’ and ‘I will be later’. The very locus of consciousness is in the biologically created ‘now’ moment. Because we believe our experiences of reality, generated by this now moment, to be equivalent to totIs reality, we also believe that this ‘now’ moment exists for all matter and energy in the universe, when it does not. Our consciousness exists in a universe and a reality of its own making. We, literally, can not experience totIs reality because we must exist as a part of a created ‘now’ moment, which, in a totIs universe, for all intents and purposes, is meaningless. This is both the source and the persistence of the illusion of reality Einstein spoke of. Does this mean that consciousness, and thus, we ourselves, don’t exist? TotIs reality is the ONLY complete set of everything, and as such, we are a part of that set. But at the same time, our consciousness limits us to a minuscule, and illusory, fraction of the reality that is totIs reality. In order to exist, as conscious observers, the entire universe must exhibit a quality wherein time flows through a ‘now’ moment and space is measured between various and sundry consecutive nows. When the ‘now’ disappears, so to does consciousness. As to where it goes? It doesn’t go anywhere, for there’s nowhere to go, totIs alone, IS, in absolute terms, no was or will be.
Our experiences of space and time can no longer be seen as an absolute reality within which our senses inform the organism. Neither a sugar molecule, nor any other molecule, has a ‘taste’, it is our biology that interprets and creates that ‘taste’ which becomes our experience of that molecule. Our entire experience of reality, generated by our bio-sensory system, is manufactured from one process and delivers to us but one product, which I call antIs reality. Our experience of reality does not take place on the inviolable stage of space and time, rather, the ‘attributes’ we experience of space and time, like the ‘sweetness’ of sugar, are a manufactured product of our bio-sensory system itself.
This fact has profound implications for the nature of consciousness, not the least of which is that the ‘attributes’ of reality created for us by our bio-sensory system, have no impact on the actual nature of any attributes in totIs, or ‘ultimate’, reality. This opens a doorway that not only questions the validity of the existence of a ‘flow’ of time, but turns the tables on the questioners themselves. Not only does our biology create interpreted ‘experiences’ of reality, but now, the very structure within which those ‘experiences’ appears to take place, is a manufactured, and interpreted, ‘experience’ as well; it is inseparable from any of our other experiences of reality. The ‘sweetness’, the ‘hardness’, the ‘loudness’ and the ‘flow of time’, that are our reality, all manifest from the same source. This bio-sensory system creates for the organism a ‘separate’ reality, if you will, our antIs reality, for the benefit of the organism alone.
It is with the greatest difficulty that we struggle to accept the foregoing conclusion. The nature of the attributes of reality that our bio-sensory system creates for us, hard/soft, hot/cold, sweet/sour, etc, relate to ‘things’ that seem to actually have a material presence, but space and time, well, their very presence, or lack thereof, seems to be of a different class altogether. While we don’t actually ‘know’ what they are, regardless of devising ways to measure them, our experience of them remains robust, all pervasive, and yet, ethereal. But we can now see that such an experience is part and parcel of every other interpretation of the reality our biology supplies us with, and is not ‘actual’ or totIs reality itself. In effect, with this updated definition, we can now ask “what is the ‘taste’ of space-time, that singular attribute which our biology imbues to it to create this experience of flowing time? In this new, ‘modern’ definition of consciousness, as opposed to the ‘classical’ one, we have decoupled our experiences of space and time from any attributes those entities might have in the totIs universe. We are now able to question those experiences with a fair certainty that space and time will embody a very different nature in totIs reality, and will not exist with the attributes our biology interprets them as embodying. So what is this ‘taste’ of space-time embodied in our experience of it? Our experience of ‘space’ can not be separated from ‘time’, yet we don’t actually experience ‘time’ as such, we experience existing, that is, being in a ‘now’ moment through which time seems to flow. To exist, and a ‘now’ moment, go hand in glove. But we have seen, in TotIs, that such a ‘now’ moment is actually impossible to experience using the process of our bio-sensory system. This ‘now’ that we experience, as part of our reality, is part and parcel of the bio-sensory process itself, it is an interpretation and fabrication by our biology, just like ‘sweet’ or ‘red’. So let’s see what this means regarding our inquiry into the nature of consciousness.
We first need to clarify that ‘consciousness’ is not an attribute of reality, per se. Consciousness is indelibly coupled with observers. To be conscious, to have an experience, to observe, are, in effect, the same thing. Knowledge of one’s own existence, condition, sensations, etc is the activity of observers, and such observations are the hallmark of biological entities, unless and until rocks and/or stars can tell us differently. But what is the source of this consciousness? Knowing, now, that our experience of space-time, along with every other experience, is not the nature of actual, totIs, reality, we find the conscious observer to be hiding in plain sight. The observer and what is observed originate from the same source. The conscious observers existence is tied to the biologically fabricated ‘now’ moment which itself is responsible for creating the attributes of the entire antIs universe we experience and observe around us. The antIs universe is a function of the biologically created ‘now’ moment, while the conscious observer is a function of this ‘now’ moment in relation to antIs reality itself. In essence, this ‘now’ moment creates a conscious observer who experiences their own antIs reality as if it were a movie, one ‘now’ frame at a time.
It is too simplistic to say that consciousness is a product of our biology, notwithstanding that we see no evidence of any other manifestations of consciousness other than in biological entities. What is important is that the source of that consciousness has profound ramifications for those entities. When I say “I am” what is intrinsically implied is “I am NOW”, for our experience of life is that ‘I was before’ and ‘I will be later’. The very locus of consciousness is in the biologically created ‘now’ moment. Because we believe our experiences of reality, generated by this now moment, to be equivalent to totIs reality, we also believe that this ‘now’ moment exists for all matter and energy in the universe, when it does not. Our consciousness exists in a universe and a reality of its own making. We, literally, can not experience totIs reality because we must exist as a part of a created ‘now’ moment, which, in a totIs universe, for all intents and purposes, is meaningless. This is both the source and the persistence of the illusion of reality Einstein spoke of. Does this mean that consciousness, and thus, we ourselves, don’t exist? TotIs reality is the ONLY complete set of everything, and as such, we are a part of that set. But at the same time, our consciousness limits us to a minuscule, and illusory, fraction of the reality that is totIs reality. In order to exist, as conscious observers, the entire universe must exhibit a quality wherein time flows through a ‘now’ moment and space is measured between various and sundry consecutive nows. When the ‘now’ disappears, so to does consciousness. As to where it goes? It doesn’t go anywhere, for there’s nowhere to go, totIs alone, IS, in absolute terms, no was or will be. 
