Which Came First: Consciousness or Light?

Sometimes on Facebook we talk about more than just what's for dinner.  Last night, pal Andrea de Michaelis of Horizons Magazine posted a question, and then promptly went down for a nap in her Big Puffy Chair.  The question was, Which Came First -- Consciousness or Light?

Good question, Andrea! 

Several people chimed in with a guess at the answer.  Most of us suggested that consciousness must have come first.  As students of the Law of Attraction, it only seems to make sense.  Consciousness is a creative force.  The creation myth in Genesis says that God (supreme consciousness) created light by speaking it into existence.  "Let there be light!" he decreed; and there was light.



This might be a good place to pause and offer a disclaimer to my Muslim, African, Native American, Hindu, Neo-Pagan, and Buddhist friends.  I'm not suggesting that the myth of Genesis is how it actually went down; it's just that having been raised a Catholic, I am most familiar with Judeo-Christian myths, and so I use them quite often as as symbols hinting at the ultimate Truth.  To my Jewish and Christian friends:  I'm not suggesting that the Genesis account is NOT how it went down.  As I often point out here on The New Book of Clues, I don't have answers:  only questions and clues.  The Judeo-Christian bible is one of my biggest clues, as are the huge body of books known collectively as World Literature.

At any rate, in answer to Andrea's thought-provoking question, Jeffrey Smith posted this equally compelling reply:

This is a question that puzzled Einstein for years.

In physics, space and time have been demoted from their absolute status. Einstein showed that they are relative to an observer's point of view. Hence why the majority of answers correctly indicate consciousness, then light. However...

Don't forget the absoluteness of light. The speed of light is a universal constant, and so is the quantum of action encapsulated in a photon. For a photon traveling at the speed of light, as all photons do, time and space disappear.

In some strange way, light seems to lie beyond both space and time – and, since it has no mass, beyond matter too.

That's why Einstein said "For the rest of my life I want to reflect on what light is." Because light (the light of physics) and (pure) consciousness are beyond both space and time and matter.

So what do you think now? Must consciousness come before light?

I don't know, but could it be possible that they are the same?

Good answer, Jeffrey!  Suddenly, Andrea's question went from being a mere poll to being a deep metaphysical discussion.  We began then to suggest books that deal with the link between quantum physics and spirituality.  I list them here so you can check them out from the library and spend your weekend curled up with a good book:

The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukov  (my suggestion)

What the Bleep Do We Know, actually a DVD for you non-readers (Jeffrey's suggestion)  

Stalking the Wild Pendulum, by Itzhak Bentov (Kumuda's suggestion)

Jeffrey's mention of What the Bleep reminded me of the big segment on Masaru Emoto's study of how water molecules react to specific words spoken or written in their presence.  The conversation made me realize that my fascination with the power of gratitude began as I was watching that film.   So, of course the discussion then moved toward an examination of the role of gratitude and love in the whole consciousness-light issue.    I suggested that maybe gratitude and love are actually an aspect of light and consciousness.

This comment just raised even more questions, so Jeffrey asked:  When was love created? What about gratitude? Is there a date we can point to and definitely say, "on this day, love came into existence?" They're eternal, timeless. Gratitude, Love, Light, Consciousness, with no beginning and no end.

Which is where I dug into my bag of clues and pulled this out:  In Genesis, after God creates the world, it says that he looks at it all and sees it as good. As a linguist, I suspect a lot of meaning has been lost in the translation. I think God stands back and looks on what he has made with love. I also think that he creates the world because he is overflowing with love ... not because he is lonely and wants someone to talk to or needs his ego stroked by being worshipped, as some religions teach.

Right about then, Kumuda showed up to offer this suggestion:  "Supreme Consciousness is beyond time, it is the eternal 'Before Abraham was I AM,' whereas light is dependent on space and perception."

Hmmm, after all of these words we are no closer to an answer than we were when we began, but our bag of clues has certainly gotten much heavier.  Andrea slept through the entire discussion, but I'm suspecting that while she was snuggled up with kitties in the Big Puffy Chair, her spirit was out there soaring in the light of pure consciousness, gratefully and lovingly searching for the answer.