#8 Does consciousness has a beginning?
Does consciousness have a beginning and an end? And are plants conscious? Both question lead us to the fundamental one: Is the universe a conscious universe?
This is the second issue in our series about consciousness. So far, we have described that consciousness exists, but we haven’t asked how it comes into existence. Let’s dive into this today. The answer can tell us whether there is an individual consciousness at all and, if so, whether it is alone and independent or if there is really something like a universal intelligence, as I simply stated last time.
What exactly was in the beginning?
Three theologians, one Catholic, one Protestant, and one Jewish, are discussing the beginning of life. The Catholic priest is straightforward: “Life starts with conception,” he declares. His Protestant colleague isn’t clear at all. Vaguely, he asks: “Maybe after 20 weeks?” And the rabbi? “Life begins when the children have left the house.”
Understanding the beginning and end of our life seems important, and the question of when life begins nourishes ongoing discussion. Interestingly, we simply state that there is a beginning and an end; we don’t question this idea. And we don’t ask: How does life start?
This is the same with consciousness. We think that consciousness, like everything, has a beginning and an end, and in most cases, we see it directly linked to life: consciousness starts when life starts, and it ends when someone is dying. But we don’t ask the more interesting question: how does consciousness come into existence?
Plants and bees
Let’s follow another question that might help us answer our first one: do plants have consciousness?
Your answer depends on your perspective or, more precisely, on your consciousness. There are roughly two schools of thought. The first one looks at the apparatus of our consciousness and says that consciousness is only possible for those with a mind and a brain. So, it exists to various degrees only among mammals.
The second school looks for the function of consciousness and the expression of this function: acquiring, processing, storing, and acting on information from the environment. In this understanding, consciousness is about making informed decisions. From this perspective, we can say yes, plants do have consciousness. We can find all those aspects of cognition in a plant’s life.
The first school is human-centric. Deriving its model from the way humans are built, it can tell a lot about how our mind works and how our consciousness operates. But it fails to answer the question of how consciousness comes into existence.
The second school can provide an answer. It simply states that there is no beginning and no end, neither in life nor in consciousness. If all living beings have a form of consciousness, everything is always a transformation from one form of consciousness into another one. Eggs and sperm are already alive; they are conscious. By fusing together, they are not dying. Instead, they transform into something new, and out of this beginning, a whole life with its complex mind, brain and consciousness can evolve.
Eastern spiritual practices have long given this answer. Whether you follow Buddhist teachings, Zen, or yoga, they all teach that there’s a fundamental awareness, a boundless consciousness that isn’t touched by the ongoing ups and downs of our emotions, and doesn’t have a beginning or an end. They all make important distinctions between various forms of consciousness. At a minimum, there are two: the small and the big, the ego and the self. Buddhism teaches you that the small ego has to break to lose its grip upon one’s life so that the big self, the endless consciousness, can shine through. That’s one aspect of a spiritual practice. It’s not about getting rid of the small ego; it helps us make decisions, get from A to B, and live our ordinary lives. It’s about limiting it to this role instead of fostering and nourishing it as we do in the Western world.
What changes if we are not alone?
In 1979, James Lovelock gave a new perspective on the Earth as a whole. He observed that the stability of the climate during the last thousand years can’t be explained by known physical patterns and rules. He then concluded that the Earth is a complex, self-governed system, which he named Gaia1.
It seems to be an academic discussion whether plants, ants, atoms, or the Earth as a whole have consciousness. But it isn’t. In a certain way, our survival as humans depends on our perspective on whether we are the only conscious beings in the world.
If we adhere to this human-centric point of view, we will continue on the road to destruction as we have for thousands of years, simply because it is the underlying principle of our destructive way of life.
However, recognizing that every living being is conscious means that there is a greater intelligence at work, which we as humans share with all living beings. The universe is a conscious universe2. Suddenly, there are other ways to solve our situation as humans, different ways to understand the function and the power of our consciousness. We no longer live in a crisis if we are part of a conscious universe. It’s a gate for humans to pass through and evolve, in order to develop along with all living beings and the whole conscious universe. It only asks us to leave our human-centric view behind and be one among other living beings, equal in value and importance.
Next week, we’ll look on how consciousness evolves over the span of a life. For now enjoy being part of something unknown.
Thank you for your precious being.
Warmly,
Gabriel
Lovelock, J. (2016) Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth.
Theise, N. (2023) Notes on Complexity: Life, Consciousness, and Meaning in a Self-Organizing Universe.
Chopra, D. & Kafatos, M.C. (2018) You are the universe: discovering your cosmic self and why it matters. London.