That being said – what determined WHY they are arranged and interact that way? Luck of the draw? This is where I see the life essence coming in, but that is just my feeling.

I can’t imagine that individual sub-atomic particles are “self aware” on their own. That would be quite incredible! Rather I see awareness and sentience as emerging from the interactions of billions of particles. I see life as something which emerged from the way in which chemicals (and thus sub-atomic particles) interact with each other. It’s all based-on complex patterns of interaction. IMO.

You’re darn right these ideas can’t be tested scientifically. There are some results in physics and the other sciences that allow for educated speculation, however.

I suppose I always felt like the Buddhist Oneness was always more of a “Body and Mind” thing as opposed to universal consciousness, but maybe I’m wrong. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation always threw me off because it seemed like my separate soul was to be reincarnated into something else in the next life, which is different from to a common life essence being expressed through every living thing ever. Again – could just be my misinterpretation.

Oneness does seem to lend itself to more of a benefit to society! Cool idea. Empathy would really spread with a philosophy like this. You’re right that there might not even really be an life essence, and that we are just self-aware particles interacting. What’s strange with that idea (I find) is that the universe would have had to perfectly arrange itself so that life is possible. All the constants in physics and the distribution of matter were just so and self-aware particle lumps came to be. With a life essence (or something “alive” outside of physical form), there is a force driving for a universe that can host life, which I’m more comfortable with. But hey, that’s my choice. Maybe I’ll feel differently a year from now.

Oneness with the ecosystem is something I think a lot about too. Seeing ourselves as separate from our natural environment is ignorant considering we were born from it. We have to get back into balance, and see the health of our planet as a reflection of our own.

Thanks again for the comment! Come back anytime.

The idea of a shared consciousness and oneness has been around for thousands of years. Buddhism and Taoism are prime examples.

Such ideas regarding the nature of life are presently not testable by science. So we cannot really assess their validity. So how can we choose a perspective? My thought on this has always been that we should choose a philosophical outlook that provides the maximum benefit to society in general. Now “benefit” is difficult to assess and your choice of indicators for assessing “benefit” will clearly be biased based on your personal point of view. However, at least it is a tractable problem.

Religions like Christianity developed a set of rules to follow, with severe consequences for breaking these rules, and a perceived reward for following them. You are an individual entity and appropriate interaction towards other beings is governed by this set of rules. Of course, we have the golden rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Other philosophies are not so rule-based, and see all life as a single entity; oneness. As you described in your post, your interaction with “others” is in fact an interaction with yourself. With this philosophy, the golden rule is a given!

Personally, I think the philosophy of oneness is much more powerful for providing “benefit” to humanity. And extending the concept of oneness to all living things could offer immense benefit, particularly at this time where our natural ecosystem is at risk.

BTW I don’t really think there needs to be an external source of freewill imparting “life” properties to sentient beings. Could sentience not emerge naturally through the complex interaction of billions of particles?

The evolution of shared consciousness…The way I see it, the more that conscious beings learn about what we are and what our place in the universe is, the more empathy we can have towards others. Over time, humans have learned to accept each other more and more (some more than others, but its progress). If we did encounter aliens, you’d think we’d eventually come to accept them as sentient and conscious beings as well, and they us. As far as where it’s going…My prediction is as good as yours Maybe we’ll realize it’s all a dream, and wake up!

Any thoughts yourself?