One theme that appears to be common to all religious systems and is seen in all the mythologies of the world is that of the Underworld or Hell, by whatever name it may have been called, with its opposite, Heaven, a place of felicity, bliss and reward. In contrast to this, some “enlightened intellectuals” of the present day scoff at such notions. They will tell you that these imaginary places are merely extensions of human fears and desires. We punish our children, they will tell you, and in like manner, our imaginary God will punish us. Similarly, we all have our unrealized hopes. It is only natural, they tell us, that in our notion of Heaven we see only a place of unlimited gratification of desires.
These “enlightened individuals” are right to a degree only; they shun the popular notions of Heaven and Hell, such ideas providing little that would satisfy anyone who thinks deeply. On the other hand, those who adhere to the orthodox view, while mistaken in their understanding, have nevertheless a faint memory of ancient knowledge of worlds other than our own. There seems to be a sort of racial memory of a time when knowledge of these things was more widespread. Such racial memory being extremely dim, and the general trend of human thought being in the direction of personal salvation and the fear of retribution, it is only natural that the current ideas of Heaven and Hell should have become what they are. Couple these human traits with ignorance of the Ancient Wisdom, and the result is what might be expected: certain ideas, false as they are, have become so deeply rooted in the though-life of the world that it is almost impossible to eradicate them.
Fortunately there have always appeared throughout the centuries a few courageous minds who have challenged ignorance and superstition. Although during their lifetimes they were often the centers of storms of controversy, they are remembered for their honesty and their daring. They have refused to be bound by the restrictions of orthodoxy, cherishing their spiritual freedom as their most priceless possession.
The Ancient Wisdom has never played the role of appeaser. It has never bent its teachings to please the multitudes, nor has it ever acknowledged the supremacy of ignorance. It is unaffected by the fact that its devotees are few in number, and to them it has always given generously. Truth may be a hard taskmaster, but the rewards of service are great indeed.
We are making a closer approach to the study of the planes of consciousness and to the teachings about the Glove Chains; and we are going to begin our study on familiar grounds by looking at the scientific viewpoint as to the possibility of life on other planets. At the time of this writing, two space vehicles have made the “fly-by” near Venus, and an instrumented package was landed upon its surface. Moreover, there was a “fly-by” near the planet Mars, and photographs were taken and transmitted electronically to Earth, revealing the astounding fact that the surface of Mars is cratered, much as is the surface of the Moon. One of the major objectives of these experiments was to determine the surface temperatures of Venus and Mars, with a view to establishing whether or not life, as we know it, is possible on these planets. The results corroborated what had been suspected from the rather incomplete evidence that we had had up to that time. It has been found that the surface temperature on Venus is generally somewhere between five and six hundred degrees. This is the temperature at which lead melts, so it is inconceivable that water could exist there unless in the form of vapor, and life as we know it could not possibly exist on this planet.
Now, the theosophical student has to face some facts. Prior to this time we have not found it to be too difficult to accept the teachings about the Rounds and Races; we have accepted without question the teaching that Venus is in its Seventh Round, and that Mercury is just commencing its Seventh. In the light of these recent scientific findings, where does the Theosophist stand?
There is no need for the theosophical student to feel that he must alter his teachings in order to make them fit into modern scientific ideas. Instead, he must make sure that he understands the teachings. He must welcome any and all true scientific investigation; and while he will sometimes find that the results of modern research will prove to be a challenge to him, if he has a love for Truth in his heart and mind he will welcome this challenge. First of all, he must admit that his occult knowledge has been rather scant, and then, in an attempt to answer the questions that will inevitably come up, he must dare to take a forward step in an understanding of his own teachings. Thus, rather than being shaken by modern scientific findings, he uses them to discover more of the inner meaning behind the truths that he cherishes.
Thus, it will be no surprise to him to learn that in all probability, were he able to travel by man-made space craft to all of the planets of the Solar system, he would find them to be apparently barren. Reserving a fuller explanation of our teachings for a later time, we are going to take a plunge into a modern concept and see if we can understand it fully; and then go on from that point. In this way, we shall be the better equipped to give a presentation of our teachings that will appeal to the thinking minds who would not be willing to set aside the latest findings resulting from present-day research.
To this end, let us imagine a rope stretched between two posts. We may imagine this rope to be 20 ft. long, for the sake of convenience, and let us suppose that a knot has been tied in the rope fairly close to one end. We can use this as an illustration of several important facts as determined by modern science.
Let us list these with a brief explanation of each:
We may now add three more interpretations to this rope analogy, which will explain why life is possible on this Earth.
Light: Let us suppose that the rope itself represents the entire radiation spectrum, which includes Cosmic rays, X-rays, Ultra-violet, Light, Heat, Microwaves, Radio-waves, and others less well known. The radiation spectrum is very extensive, and only a very small portion of it is visible to us as light. That small portion would be represented to us as the very small amount of rope taken up in the knot.
It is a very remarkable thing that it is just that small portion of the radiation spectrum, which we call light, that is particularly related to life. It is directly involved in the process of photosynthesis whereby plants use the solar energy in order to combine the simple elements, Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen within the leaves, and make the starches and sugars that are basic ingredients of the foods we eat. Nitrogen is added, mainly from the soil, and we then have the proteins. There are, of course, important minerals to be added; but it is these four important substances that form the basis not only of our foods, but of literally hundreds of other substances which we have learned to construct out of molecules built out of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen, ranging from fuels and textiles to medicines and even deadly poisons. The wonder of it is that the sunlight which is the power which runs the chlorophyll in the leaves is of itself generated within the sun by reason of the nuclear transformations whereby Carbon is successively changed into Oxygen, Nitrogen, and back to Carbon, because of combining with Hydrogen. Each such successive change is accompanied by the release of energy, hence the sunlight which maintains life on Earth. As stated before, the sunlight occupies a very small portion of the radiation spectrum.
Heat: In the vast ranges of heat, from the millions of degrees that are believed to maintain at the center of the sun and other stars, and which we can duplicate in our laboratories, to the intense cold of outer space, which, again, we can duplicate in our laboratories, there is only one extremely small range of temperatures which is favorable to the support of life. Man is a very frail creature and he must find the means to keep himself warm in winter and cool in summer. Even the extremes of temperature that he is likely to meet on earth occupy a minuscule portion of the full “heat spectrum,” in the greater part of which life as we know it could not survive. This very small portion of the heat spectrum we may again represent as the knot in the rope.
Position within the Solar System: If we are to imagine that the end of the rope nearest the knot is at the center of the sun, and that the length of the outer end represents the distance to our farthest known planet, Pluto, we may then estimate that the knot occupies a position representing the distance of the Earth from the Sun; and we should find that it is at that distance only wherein a planet could conceivably maintain an environment that is favorable to life. The chemical constituents of the atmosphere seem to be directly related to the nature of the nebula from which the Sun and the Planets were originally formed; and it would appear that the atmospheres of the other planets could not be otherwise than what they are. Only an atmosphere containing free oxygen such as that surrounding the Earth could conceivably support life, depending as it does upon those four basic elements referred to above, Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Nitrogen. These elements undoubtedly exist on the other planets but not in the same availability as they do on Earth. The primary requirement is that the Oxygen must be available in free form, as it is in our atmosphere, whereas on the other planets it exists in chemical combinations that would make it inaccessible to living beings breathing as we do.
It will be worth our while before proceeding further to take time to consider just what we mean when we speak of the various planes of consciousness. We probably understand but slightly the significance of the names of the cosmical planes when they are listed as Physical, Astral, Intellectual, Archetypal, and so on. So I would like to present a fact of everyday experience which will show how complex is even this physical plane, which can be subdivided into sub-planes. The picture thus gained will then be expanded to show how the same principle works on a larger scale to include the entire Earth as a living entity spanning several planes of consciousness.
Modern Science has given us the clue in it s inquiry into the various forms of energy working in and through this physical universe. We should be careful to note as we present these several forms of energy that at least from the scientific standpoint of investigation, all of these energies have to do with the physical universe alone and are not to be confused with the more subtle levels of consciousness. In this respect, they might be said to be the sub-sub-planes of one aspect of this physical plane.
Let us now enumerate some forms of energy:
Other forms of energy may occur to the mind of the student. Be that as it may, there is one thing that is immediately apparent to us. Gravitation, although surely a form of energy, stands apart from the others in several important respects. Whereas all other forms of energy become manifest as a result of things happening, Gravitation appears to exist simply because things are. For instance, sound is produced by vibrations set up in the air as the result of vocal cords in action, or a moving cone in a loudspeaker, or, again, air may be set in motion in an organ pipe. Heat may be caused by friction, or by resistance to an electrical current flowing in a wire. X-rays are generated by a flow of electrically charged particles hitting a target in a specially constructed vacuum tube. All of these examples involve things in action.
To all appearances, Gravitation as attraction is exerted between two massive objects whether they are moving or not. The attraction is there just because the two attracting bodies exist; and any motion they may have relative to one another is going to be governed by that attraction. The attraction is still there even were the objects not free to move at all.
Furthermore, in almost all of the other forms of energy, when something is performing work, energy is expended. It may be changed into heat, or motion, or into any other form of energy, according to the apparatus being used. Thus, the energy in a clock spring is changed into mechanical motion, and the wheels move. The spring expends its energy, and in the course of time it becomes unwound and the clock will stop. A weight-driven clock does indeed convert the energy of gravitation into the mechanical motion of the wheels, but the expenditure of the energy does not reduce the strength of the gravitational field in which the weight is moving. Or again, the planets revolve around the sun due primarily to the sun's gravitational energy, but the energy apparently is never used up; and if we were to suppose that the mass of the sun was to remain indefinitely constant, the planets would continue to revolve around it forever.
In these remarks, I have been careful to use the word “apparently” because, according to the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom, gravitation is as yet very imperfectly understood. In fact, it is only one half understood, for the teaching is that the force of repulsion is as real as the force of attraction.
In this regard, let us consider some other forms of energy. We all know the simple rule which states that like poles repel while unlike poles attract. If we take two small bar magnets, we can demonstrate this very easily. Hold the North Pole of one of the magnets near the South Pole of the other and there is immediate attraction. Conversely, hold either the North Pole of one to the North Pole of the other, or the South Pole of one to the South Pole of the other, and the force of repulsion is immediately felt.
Scientists speak of the magnetic field surrounding certain metals and alloys. In some important respects this is quite similar to the gravitational field. The chief difference is that the magnetic field is bi-polar, whereas the gravitational field, as far as our experience tells us, has but one pole or sign. Also it may be noted that the strength of the magnetic field surrounding a magnet is much greater than that of the gravitational field, and that the strength of the field drops off much more rapidly than does the gravitational field, and we say that the gradient is much steeper.
Again, only certain substances are affected by a magnetic field, whereas there is no known substance that is not affected by the gravitational field.
Consider also the electrostatic field, which may be demonstrated by rubbing a comb briskly with a silk scarf. For a short time it will be electrically charged and will attract small bits of paper or in fact any very light object. Experiments with pith balls demonstrate the bi-polarity of the electrostatic field. It is interesting to note that objects do not have to be magnetic in order to be affected by the electrostatic field.
If we consider the concept of the curvature of space as being a phenomenon of space, and that space is strongly curved in the vicinity of a massive body like the earth, we then see that the so-called force of attraction is the tendency of a body to move toward the source of the curvature. Thus, the two bodies are attracted to one another with an energy proportional to their masses, or, should we say, with an energy that is proportional to the curvature that they set up. The physical motion of the objects toward one another might be interpreted as Nature's attempt to straighten out or undo the curvature of space that exists between them.1
Going back to the phenomenon of magnetic attraction and repulsion: When unlike poles approach one another, the space between them might be thought of as becoming curved, although in a somewhat different manner from the gravitational curvature; and the result is attraction with the resultant motion of the magnets toward one another. Here again we might think that this motion is Nature's effort to straighten out this curvature. If this line of reasoning is correct, we might say, somewhat in the manner in which we speak when we say that Nature abhors a vacuum, Nature abhors a curvature in space and is forever trying to straighten it out, while at the same time maintaining the curvature in the vicinity of any massive body, and a different quality of curvature in the vicinity of a magnet, and yet another quality of curvature in the vicinity of an electrostatically charged body.
Extending this line of reasoning to the phenomenon of repulsion, we would then say that when two like poles are brought together, the tendency would be toward an increased curvature in the vicinity of the magnets, and Nature reacts by moving the objects away from one another. We might then summarize this idea by stating that motion is Nature's effort to restore a state of balance in space. This state can never be achieved, however, for if it could, the universe would then have run down and all energies neutralized.
One more point of difference between Gravitation and the other forms of energy listed above is that while all forms of energy may be used, all except gravity can be controlled. An astounding amount of technology has been developed through our ability to control all of the forms of energy that are available to us, with one notable exception: Gravitation. We can use it, to be sure, but we have absolutely no control over it. We can neither strengthen nor weaken a gravitational field; much less can we change its polarity. We have no way of demonstrating gravitational repulsion in our laboratories, although it is apparent all around us in the phenomenon of the expanding universe — or should we say the expansion of space?
Now all of this is going to lead into our study of the planes of consciousness because we are now to consider one very important matter. We spoke of the curvature of magnetism as being of a different quality from the curvature of gravitation, and that of the electrostatic field as being of a different quality still. The picture becomes full of meaning when we consider that the operations of these fields are entirely independent of one another. Scientific instruments depending upon the energy of a magnetic field will work equally well within the strong gravitational field of the Earth, or in an orbiting satellite where the instrument is in a weightless condition. Again, pith balls behave equally well in an electrostatic field, whether that field is set up in the vicinity of a magnet or not. It makes no difference.
This fact is really the crux of our inquiry and points to the fact that within our own physical plane there are sub-planes in which the action and reaction are peculiar to that sub-plane and apparently independent of action in any other sub-plane. Whereas any of our experiments can be removed from a magnetic or a static field, it is impossible to remove them from a gravitational field; for even when weightless in an orbiting satellite, they are weightless only in respect to the Earth's gravitation and are still under the influence of the Sun's gravitational field, which you might call the field of the Solar system as a whole, if you like.
This might lead one to wonder if there are other fields of force as yet to be discovered. Is it possible that there is a field surrounding a beam of light, for instance, that as yet we do not have the means to detect? And if such a field were discovered, would it have properties all it's own, quite independent of the magnetic or the static field before mentioned? Who can tell what breakthroughs are in store for us in the future!
It is time for us to consider now, that just as in our own physical world we have independently functional fields of force, so in the universe as a whole there may be independently functioning fields of force on a vastly larger scale. This concept is quite in line with the Theosophical teachings; and it is hoped that this introduction will serve to place the teachings on a basis that is more readily acceptable by thoughtful minds. For too many these teachings appear to be rather speculative; if we can show that the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom are based upon observation of Nature's laws, it is to be hoped that many minds will be attracted to them, finding in them just the explanations for which they have been searching.
We must not be timid about extending our inquiries beyond the strictly scientific aspects of the study. There is a tendency in modern thinking to give first place to science. We shall fall short of our goal if we limit ourselves, however, to one line of inquiry. We must approach the study of the planes of consciousness by considering for a moment how the laws of attraction and repulsion work in our own lives.
What has gone before has been an explanation of these laws as they operate automatically. That is, their behavior can be exactly predicted, given a known set of circumstances. But some of our most important teachings deal primarily with living beings of many kinds; and one discovers immediately that the behavior of living beings I not predictable except perhaps in the most general terms. Nevertheless we observe the phenomenon of attraction and repulsion as being very basic indeed in our lies. People are attracted to one another for many reasons. For instance, there is physical attraction, more widely felt, perhaps, than any other kind. Then there is attraction that one brilliant mind may have for another. Again, there is attraction based upon more spiritual qualities, and so on.
We experience repulsion in the avoidance of situations that are harmful to us. Sometimes we are repelled by individuals without really knowing why. And yet a strange paradox is that hatred is not necessarily a form of repulsion. Many people, who hate, return again and again to the objects of their hatred for the sake of continuing the fight.
These last observations have a strong bearing upon our future studies, because we must necessarily carry them beyond a consideration of physical laws and phenomena. We must delve into the mysteries of consciousness in its widest diversity and understand that each level of consciousness must have its appropriate vehicle and seek its most appropriate environment. And since consciousness knows no limitations, the environments themselves must be endless in type.
This thought is at the heart of the teachings about the planes of consciousness. And we are directly concerned with them: for when this present life is over, what next? Even if we were to adopt the orthodox idea of a heaven to which we shall go, we must necessarily see that this idea depicts another plane of consciousness. If we were to adopt the idea of the angels and the archangels, then we would have to recognize them to be entities of a different type from ourselves, with a different degree of consciousness than our own.
Is it not strange that some minds which find it difficult to accept the teachings of Theosophy concerning the many planes of consciousness and the different kinds of entities inhabiting them, accept without a murmur the Christian belief in the angels living in their own bright abode? It shows that basically the idea is not unacceptable. It does point up the need for us to explain clearly just what the teachings are, and to show that the concepts of the Ancient Wisdom do appeal to our finest sensibilities. And therein lies their most practical value. They call forth just those qualities of the mind and heart that are most needed today in order for us to lead sane and well-balanced lives.
Now, it would appear that I have gone to great lengths to prove that life is impossible on other planets. I have done this for a reason. If our teachings are to be taken seriously, we must be thoroughly conversant with modern thinking, and must meet intelligent minds on their terms, before we can establish our own. Once we show that we understand them, we stand a better chance of making ourselves understood.
So we are ready now to approach this problem from a theosophical standpoint. Let us being by asking a few pertinent questions. Why is it that in the three lines of reasoning using the stretched rope as an illustration, the knots in all cases coincided with one another? Had this been a matter of chance, would not the odds against this convenient arrangement have been insuperable? Does not the fact that there exists such a planet as our Earth make it at least possible if not probable that there could be planets elsewhere in our galaxy which could provide an environment suitable to life at least approximating life as we know it? Actually, this idea is held by many of the foremost scientists of the present time. It is estimated that in all probability there are millions of such planets existing within our galaxy, but that although the number may appear to be large, it really represents a very small fraction of the number of planets that must be counted by the hundreds of billions.
Let us ask some further questions: Why was the knot tied just where it was? Could it not have been tied elsewhere on the rope? If it had been, could it have been used as effectively as an illustration of the probability of life elsewhere in the universe? If a knot could have been tied elsewhere, could there then not be many knots on the rope?
If it took a little effort and perhaps some daring on our part to follow through on the scientific lines of reasoning, let us now use an equal amount of daring and depart from what amounts to an orthodoxy in the scientific viewpoint in its explanations, as far as it knows how to give them, as to the origin life on the Earth, and the part that may has played on the stage of life.
Let us first then imagine as many knots tied in the rope as we have planets in the Solar System. We have seen how the knot relating to the Earth applies in our illustration. What about the others? We might easily be persuaded that if any such knot representing Venus, let us say, is to be taken as indicating life on that planet, then it must follow that the other factors conducive to a favorable environment must converge as they do on Earth. Since there is nothing that appears to our eyes that would support this, we must search for such a converging of factors that would be outside the range of our vision — not in terms of distance, to be sure, but outside our range of vision in the sense that radio waves are outside the range of our hearing. Our ears are sensitive to sound waves transmitted by the air. Radio waves are transmitted independently of the air. Since we must consider factors in relation to Venus or any other planet that are outside the range of our senses, then we must concede that the Venus that we see is not the real planet at all. It merely stands for the planet that we as theosophical students refer to when we speak of its being in the seventh Round, for instance. The planet that is meant by this expression, of course, finds itself in conditions entirely suited to its needs so that it can provide for its inhabitants exactly the environment that they require. Similarly, the Mars that we see is the visible representative of the real planet that we do not see, but which is referred to when we learn that it is in its obscuration period between the third and fourth Rounds. It is much like saying that the physical body of any one of us is not the real person. It is but the representative, or the vehicle, of those invisible factors which to go to make up the individual.
What, then, would the real Venus, or the real Mars, be like? Are there any teachings in Theosophy, which give an adequate picture of the real nature of the planets? Indeed there are, and it is the purpose of this portion of the book to prepare the student for an explanation of these teachings and to share, as far as it is possible to do so, the relationship that the planets bear to the Solar System as a whole.
We must begin by considering whether or not it is possible for entities to exist in conditions other than those with which we are familiar. For instance, does an entity require a physical body at all times? This is probably the most important question we could ask at this point, for on its answer will depend all other aspects of this study. If we entertain the purely materialistic viewpoint that there is nothing that survives death, there is then no point in continuing the study. If we do accept the idea that there is something, which survives the process of physical death, then our question has been answered. Of course it is possible to live in a condition in which the physical body is not needed. But some sort of vehicle will certainly be needed, and we must consider that man is a very complex entity indeed, and that even during physical embodiment he is clothed with many sheaths, as it were, many vehicles of varying materiality—or ethereality, depending on how one wishes to view them. Thus, the physical body really stands as the visible representative of the man himself, in much the same way that we considered the planets that we see in the sky as the visible representatives of the real planets. The analogy is a good one.
When a man says “my body,” he implies that he is something other than the body, and that he inhabits it and uses it. When he speaks of “my mind,” he does so in the same manner, meaning that the mind is a more refined instrument in and through which he manifests. When he says “my spirit,” again he refers to something that is still more subtle, and which is a still more refined instrument or vehicle through which he is manifesting. Thus the man is really seen to be a complex of many vehicles, and that he is not only their sum total but also something else which transcends them all.
It will perhaps facilitate the understanding of this principle as applied to a world if we remember the matter of the various fields of force that we have studied. We spoke of the gravitational field, the magnetic field, and the electrostatic field, each one with its own properties, and each of them acting independently of the others. We would not be far amiss if we were to consider that a planet consists of a number of fields of force, each one with its own laws, and each one apparently independent of the others. This independence is not absolute, for the individuality of the planet must be reckoned with. It is much like the seeming independence of action in the factors that go to make up a human being. Yet they are all related to one another by the fact that the individual works through them all; they are held together under the way of his own vitality and are not disassociated until the moment of death, when the real man is liberated.
And so we come to a very interesting concept of the Ancient Wisdom. The death of an individual does not imply the death of the world in which he lived, as it continues to provide an environment for the hosts of entities still left behind. And just as the physical aspect of the Earth provided him with the environment he needed during his sojourn here, so other “fields of force” will provide the environments he needs during his journey through the higher parts of the planet itself.
We are plunging into a rather startling teaching, startling that is, to one not trained to think along these lines. In the first place the theosophical student regards the Earth, as he does all of the planets, and indeed the Solar System as a whole, as living entities. The thought that man represents the highest stage of evolution that is possible is untenable to the theosophically trained mind. Upon reflection we see that if there are higher stages of life than that enjoyed by man, they must appear in such manner as will be suitable not only for themselves, but so as to fit in with the cosmic scheme. For nothing exists unto itself alone. Everything, be it an atom or a star, contributes something to the whole. The Theosophist sees the stars themselves as shining “bodies” of energy that enshrine the lofty cosmic consciousness that we can best refer to as the Gods. To a lesser degree the planets are also cosmic intelligences, although subservient to their greater divinity, the sun. And just as we are composed of atoms, all of them working together to maintain and sustain the bodies that we inhabit, so it is that all of us are atoms in the more complex vehicles through which the entity we call the Earth manifests. Thus we gain a deeper insight right away into the true nature of a planet. We are here on Earth because we belong here: we are denizens of the Earth because we are part of its own constitution.
So let us give our rope-analogy a different application. Let us suppose that the full length of the rope represents the total universe in all of its possible levels of energy matter, or, to put it in other words, in all of its levels of consciousness. Then the knot would represent the physical universe alone. In like manner, we may take the rope to represent the entire stream of consciousness that is a human being. The knot would then represent the physical man. As a matter of fact, it is only another form of presenting man as a special case in a general rule of life — a principle we have already discussed but which we are now relating to the universe in a more direct way.
Why, then, must there be only one knot? Why could there not be as many as we like to put into the rope? Would this not make a better analogy of the nature of man, since each factor in his makeup has a life all its own, in other words are a knot of consciousness in its own right? And if we can do this on the microcosmic scale, why not on the macrocosmic, considering that each such knot represents a level of consciousness, or a field of force, thus providing many environments in the total universe, suited to numberless types or classes of entities.
We are now ready to take up some strictly Theosophical teachings under the general heading of the Seven Jewels of Wisdom, after which we shall be better prepared to inquire into the secret structure of the Solar System as a whole, and the Earth in particular.
1 So rapidly are modern concepts developing in the direction of the Ancient Wisdom, that it is worth mentioning that the reverse picture is gaining ground, to wit, that rather than matter using a curvature in space, it is the result of the curvature. In other words, matter is a condition of space, and is a derivative of the curvature. The Ancient Wisdom sees space as pure consciousness and all so-called matter as a function of consciousness.