A thought on consciousness, karma and the universe
Is there a causal relation between consciousness and the composition of material structures resulting in complexity? And if so is the direction of cause and effect unilateral or reciprocal?
Causality is in Theosophy (as well as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and pre-Columbian Native American, ancient Greek and ancient European religions) expressed as karma (using different terms of course) – an absolute, consciousness-connected and universal tendency or working or natural law. Karma is complex, and connects everything with everything (to use a common expression, because no ‘thing’ in the universe ever has an existence on its own behalf) because it plays in all phases of consciousness up to and beyond the divine. Every action (including mental and emotional inner action) of every living being (soul) involves consciousness, life and substance and leads to its proper and just1 result. It is due to karma that eternal change and diversity exist in the universe, and it applies to the tiniest microbe, to forces in Nature as well to highest divinity in the visible and visible cycles of existence.
This implies that from a religio-philosophical point of view a system like quantum physics, as far as fake concepts like ‘absolute chance’ and ‘absolute unpredictability’ are presupposed, has no real value in this respect. It is rather an absurdity; because when the link between cause and effect would be interrupted or collapsed, ‘good’ can turn into ‘bad’ and nothing can be predicted. Such a system, at least in some interpretations would lead (and has led already) to regarding the universe as a completely chaotic and lawless mixture of matter. Any system that tries to explain the existence of consciousness, life as an emergent product of physical matter as seen by quantum physics will fail, and can, from a Theosophical point of view immediately be thrown in the garbage bin. Karma, connecting all layers of the universe, seems to be the only explanation for order and logical causality in the universe, and for the existence of the intuitive fact of justice.
From: Consciousness, Mind and Brain, recently posted on this website.
- The term ‘just’ is of course not a term of occidental physics, but it becomes a valid and most crucial concept if we regard the universe as One including consciousness [↩]
