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Ontology of Consciousness

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Bhakti[Gaudiya]
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Transontology: the Calculus of Consciousness

Transontology, a convenient contraction of ‘transcendental ontology,’ is the master key to understanding the science of consciousness. With Transontology, for the first time we can logically map different states and qualities of consciousness, and accurately predict the symptoms and outcomes of conscious states. The theory of Transontology explains all states and manifestations of mind and consciousness: from deep sleep to superconsciousness, and from the pathologies of neurosis and psychosis to advanced stages of meditation, creative visualization, so-called mystic powers and transcendent God-realization. Transontology literally demystifies these aspects of consciousness, bringing them for the first time into the domains of empirical scientific inquiry and even engineering.

Contemporary research into consciousness is stymied because it insists on trying to study consciousness using the same ontological framework as the physical sciences. This will never produce satisfactory results because consciousness is not mundane or physical, but a transcendental object with completely different properties. Existing scientific ontologies lack a proper set of categories for transcendental objects. Therefore the difficulties in consciousness research stem from the fact that consciousness can only be observed, measured and manipulated by entities of equivalent ontological nature and qualities―in other words, by similarly conscious entities.

Transontology eliminates this heretofore intractable difficulty by introducing a complete background ontology of such conscious entities drawn from the Esoteric Teaching of Vedanta, a very ancient tradition of transcendental consciousness research. Transontology is the first mathematically precise definition of consciousness and the conscious living entity against the background of other spiritual entities, such as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the spiritual world.

Transontology is a special type of ontology that describes transcendental objects and phenomena. If you are conscious, then you are a transcendental entity; as such, to understand yourself requires Transontology. Against this transcendent background, it is easy to design and implement protocols that produce clear-cut experimental results. In other words, for the first time, Transontology makes consciousness amenable to methodical empirical research.

Ordinary materialistic ontology and logic cannot account for, or correctly reason about, transcendental phenomena such as consciousness, individuality, personality, living force (prana, ki), desire, choice, intention, initiative, imagination, creativity, love and many other human qualities we experience every day. We need Transontology to understand these phenomena because existing ontologies were developed to support materialistic ways of looking at the world. Transontology helps us to correctly evaluate the immanence of spirit, consciousness and the inner life of the soul.

Transontology is important because it is the only way of giving appropriate meaning to the transcendental aspects of human consciousness, experience and life. To understand ourselves as spiritual beings, make tangible advancement in spiritual life and develop our consciousness to its highest potential, we need to understand Transontology and apply it in our lives.

The Ontology of Consciousness

Consciousness is the primary issue in human life. Indeed, without consciousness, there are no other issues. Consciousness and its corollaries are fundamental to every thought, word and action. Yet how strange it is that no universally accepted, comprehensive theory of consciousness exists in Western science. The reason for this is clear: science intentionally restricts its domain to empirical investigations of the manifest objective world, whereas consciousness is intrinsically subjective and immanent.

Consciousness is the primary experiential fact. Without a practical theory of consciousness, science cannot adequately explain our experience or the world in which we live. Any observer must be conscious, and therefore the consciousness of the observer is critical to the outcome of any quantum experiment. However, so far Quantum Mechanics treats the observer’s consciousness as a ‘black box,’ as if consciousness were proscribed from serious scientific inquiry. And the consciousness research done so far tries to isolate consciousness, as if it were a physical substance that could be poured into a test tube.

This is a perfect example of how language and theory can differ from reality. Just because it is possible to isolate the word ‘consciousness,’ it does not follow that one can isolate the thing consciousness. In reality, consciousness is not a thing, but on the internal side it is a quality inseparable from the living entity: he who is conscious of being conscious. On the external side, consciousness is never found separate from senses, form, mind and personal identity. Any attempt to treat consciousness apart from its structural relationships with the living entity, form (whether material or spiritual) individuality and identity, is futile. Such crippled theories can never lead to any practical result because they fail to recognize the actual structure of consciousness as a transcendental quality of the living entity or soul.

Transontology is derived from the ancient theory of consciousness of Vedanta, a spiritual tradition of vital living importance to hundreds of millions of adherents and practitioners all over the world. Our research reveals an unexpected deep congruence between the Vedic model of consciousness and current trends in pure mathematics and the philosophy of science. It provides a practical and efficient model for understanding all consciousness-related phenomena and techniques that have so far eluded scientific exploration.

Although the Badarinayana-sutras of Vedanta certainly make reference to the Upanisads, they cannot be interpreted by reference to the Upanisads alone. Vedanta can be understood properly only in reference to Bhagavad-gita (Gitopanisad) and Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata-Purana), the natural commentaries on Vedanta-sutra by the same author. Any attempt to interpret Vedanta without reference to these works will lead only to an intractable regression into nihilism, similar to Theravada Buddhism or existentialist philosophy. Although such disempowering misinterpretations are popular today, they are useless for understanding and realizing the true potentials of consciousness, for they attempt to deny the indelible structural connections between consciousness and its concomitant transcendental qualities, such as individuality and personality.