We start with an image taken from Gestalt psychology. Above you see three black and white images from left to right. Going from left to right, what do you see?
- The left image
- Do you see two white faces in profile facing each other or do you see a black Rubin vase?
- The centre image
- Do you see a white gorilla facing a white lioness or do you see a black tree and some birds?
- The right image
- Do you see a black and white image of a woman's face or do you see a black image of a man playing a saxophone?
Keep in mind it is possible to see two images in each of the three images from left to right. The very first image you will see in each case is the image you have identified from memory and your focus of conscious attention. But you should be able to make out the second image in each case from your conscious awareness.
What you should however notice is that you cannot see both images together at the same time. This is because one image forms the background of the other image.
In mystical terms this is known as duality and it relates to perception and how we perceive the world around us. We tend to focus on the form and ignore the space. But see the physical form is defined by the space surrounding it. Relative to our environment, everything is coming at us in a multi-dimensional continuum of sensation and experience. Everything is happening everywhere all the time. By contrast the narrow focus of attention is extremely limited and linear in nature. We can only think in terms of duality, for example light and dark, hot and cold, form and space, and so on.
In order to develop a meta-physic, we need to understand space and work towards non-duality, because what separates the physical and consciousness is space, which also defines relationship.
Existence and reality
One of the biggest mysteries in life is figuring out what consciousness really is. This is because we cannot directly perceive consciousness in any other way than through energy and physical form. But see insight arises out of consciousness, and there are certain things we know but we cannot explain how we know such things or even why we know such things. We simply know and that's all there is to it.
Therefore while space is real, as in really real, because it surrounds us, much of what consciousness is comes down to perception and awareness, and what we take consciousness to be. But see out of consciousness we get physical form and energy, which all arises out of consciousness. Much of the activity of your brain, breathing, your digestive system, and everything else you do without needing to consciously think about it is subconscious. You cannot do anything unless you are conscious and much of what you are able to perceive and understand is based on your levels of conscious awareness.
To keep all this simple and within the terms of common logical understanding Qultura defines space as reality and consciousness as existence. If something exists in space, and you are able to perceive it, then it must be real. Keep in mind that what is real is not restricted to just physical form, because there are such things as love, truth and beauty which are fully conscious experiences and relative to perception. Therefore existence is taken to be based somehow on consciousness.
What is truth?
Truth is conscious awareness which comes to us in a variety of different ways such as insight, intuition and also reasoning (both deductive and inductive), and also through what is known as synergy (connection through space) and synchronicity (connection through consciousness). The fundamental difference between truth and belief is that belief requires your participation to exist whereas truth doesn't. Truth stands all by itself, it does not require any participation, and no matter however which way you look at it it remains the same.
Unlike space, which is relative to everything and everyone the same way, truth as it is consciousness is always relative to individual perception and individual perspective. There is no such thing as an objective truth which applies to everyone and everything. Truth is always relative to individual perception and individual perspective. The same can be said of the other conscious experiences love and beauty. This means that truth, love and beauty are all relative and relatively real once they manifest through physical form.
To determine what is truth and what isn't we require something we all understand to be law. The clearest example of this is of course in a court of law. Would you want to be convicted of a crime on the basis of someone else's belief or on the basis of truth? Think about it. Another fairly clear example is science. All sciences, from physics to biology and chemistry, are based on various laws. Likewise in mystical terms to determine what is real and what is truth, you need an understanding of mystical principles which arise out of what is known as Natural Law. The first component of Qultura methodology is based on Natural Law.