Consciousness Is All There Is:a Mathematical Approach With Applications

Consciousness Is All There Is:a Mathematical Approach With Applications

Tony Nader, MD (Neuroscientist & a leader of the Transcendentalist Meditation Movement)

Abstract.This paper begins with the postulate that consciousness is all there is, reversing the customary paradigm of modern science that matter is all there is. After a discussion of this postulate, we propose placing it in a mathematical framework by introducing fundamental axioms that are motivated by the experience and dynamics of consciousness. We test the reasonableness of these axioms in two ways: by deriving consequences from the axioms and comparing these consequences to our experience of the world, and by verifying that heretofore unsolved problems can be resolved with this new paradigm. In particular, this approach provides a framework for a solution to the new problem of consciousness: How does the physical universe emerge from consciousness?In later papers we develop this axiomatic framework more fully with further details of the undefined concepts and descriptions of the axioms.

The moon is made of molecules, which are made of atoms, which are made ofelementary particles, which are made of excitations of fields, which themselves are expressions of more fundamental fields, ultimately pointing to a single unified field.All that we see is indeed waves of fundamental fields of energy. Elementary particles are non-local and given by probabilities, only collapsing to appear as specific objects under certain conditions.It is not the purpose of this article to analyze these phenomena in detail but to highlight the relative nature of matter and how it can be appreciated from a different perspective.In all this uncertainty, one thing we can be sure of: we are conscious individuals.Without awareness we can neither perceive, nor apprehend, nor see, assess, and draw conclusions, nor think, nor dream. The postulate of this article is that consciousness is all there is, that the ultimate field at the basis of all that we describe as matte ris, in fact, a field of pure consciousness. This postulate is not new. Its most ancient proponents were the teachers of the Vedic tradition of knowledge in India,particularly Vedanta. It has been brought to light and expounded in modern times by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Maharishi has been the source, inspiration, and guide for the thoughts expressed in this article. He taught his techniques of research in consciousness and founded Consciousness-Based education, most prominently available at Maharishi University of Management, the publisher of this Journal.The postulate that consciousness is all there is also appears in various philosophical and religious theories and beliefs throughout history, continuing to the present day.(See, for example, Pearson [10].)If consciousness were all there is, it would be correct to reverse the “hard problem” of consciousness and suggest that it is not how matter creates consciousness that should be studied but rather, given our fundamental postulate, how matter exists at all. How does matter make its appearance in the field of consciousness?