On rages the great debate: Is the universe itself conscious or is it a manifestation within consciousness?
It’s far easier to make a case that the universe is alive because so much in the universe is alive, and the universe appears to be the birthplace of that aliveness. Universe as Mom is easy enough to postulate as we look out and observe or even look inward and feel. From the vantage point of separation, or twoness, we can quite easily see that the universe is full of alive critters and may, therefore, be conscious.
It’s more difficult to make the ironclad case—in fact, it’s impossible—that the universe is a manifestation within consciousness, because you cannot see that. You can contemplate it and hypothesize. You may feel something onenessy, but that could just as easily be a feeling of universal oneness. The fact is, in order to see if the universe is a manifestation of consciousness, of formless awareness, you must be that formless awareness. And the fact is, such consciousness cannot be gotten to factually. Nor through contemplation. Nor through feeling. Such consciousness is the case when you are not.
None of this is to say that we can’t answer the great debate of whether the universe is consciousness or conscious. We can. The answer is, “Yes.” But that answer is only valid for one who has self-identified as No-Thing. Even so, if they are not living it, it’s no longer true for them. It is a fact for them, which they cannot unknow, but Truth is living, not enshrined. Not captured in the brain cells or the DNA. Truth is ironclad in its own terms, but not in the realm of thought. And ours is a realm of thought where permanence—the real—is an illusion.
It’s funny, when you think about the notion that we create our own reality—yeah. Of course we do. Reality is thought. Reality is illusion. We create more illusion. The real is already there, not waiting for us to conjure or manipulate it. The real is there when the manipulator is not. The real is immutable, not ever-changing. The real is Love, not desire. The real is Truth, not fact.
When you and the universe cease all activity, the real is One. One being. One being Being. One Being being Two.
When No-Thing is the case, nothing is up for debate.