Why is there anything instead of nothing?

I would like to throw in a few bones to chew on. So, feel free to chew and bark if you like.

Why is there anything instead of nothing? That is one of the big questions, obviously. Books have been written about it, and many opinions and beliefs about the answer exists. They are all wrong. Every single one of them is wrong. Because the question does not have an answer. It doesn't have an answer because the premisses for the question is off the mark. It defies logic even in the "normal" sense.

It pre-supposes that we know what "anything" is and that we understand what "nothing" is. Then we ask "why" one is, as opposed to the other. It does not compute. We do not know what anything is at all. Just ask any specialist in any branch of science. If they dare admit it, they'll say they have no clue. Just ask a phycisist to explain what really takes place in the double-slit experiment. They have no idea either. Yet they give it funny names like "collapsing of the waveform". As if giving it a name will justify its existence as a tangible concept that we understand. Many pretend to understand it because they believe others do. It's so funny.

Then we have "nothing". Noone has ever been able to accurately describe nothing. (man, there are many puns here). What if "nothing" isn't understandable at all within the totality of our abilities to comprehend things? What if it lies just outside of it? Would it matter because we would be oblivious to it? This could very well be the case, but it is impossible to know for sure. Thus "nothing" also invalidates the other part of the assumption in the question.

So, the very falsness of the question itself points to the possibility that there isn't anything here at all. You following all this? Maybe this is nothing appearing as everything? Maybe this is all there is? Maybe this is everything and nothing at the same time?

But you see, you can't have nothing without something and vice versa. You can't have something without nothing. What we call reality is both real and unreal at the same time. It is so strange and incredibly beautiful, yet completely ordinary and mysterious at the same time, it baffles the mind (actually the mind can't get this at all. It is all that is left after the collapse of the ego, person or whatever makes "you" you, -mind included). It can't be described.

You may agree or disagree with me here, but there isn't any flaw in the logic, only shortcomings in my ability to express it. There aren't any logic here either, though it may appear to be so. This is not logical and the mind can't get this.

These things I am talking about here are not new. They have been adressed by many for millenia. The "Tao Te Ching" and "Baghavad-Gita" to name a few. This is about dualism and non-dual awareness, as it is sometimes called. However, these are also concepts and somewhat misses the mark. First of all: an enlightened person is an oxymoron. It can't be done. There is no such thing as an enlightened person. Because enlightenment (more correctly would be to call it liberation) is what's left when the "person" disappears, when the "energy" that makes up "you" collapses and returns to nothingness. That's why it's more correct to name it liberation - because freedom is recognized when it happens. "You" are not free because "you" are the very chains that bind you. So, there is freedom but no one (person) who is free. Yet freedom is all there is.

Since we can't say what nothing is, it sometimes can be helpful to say what it is not. "It isn't this or it isn't that". It soon becomes apparent that nothing in a way gets defined by everything that it is not. Nothing is everything that it could possibly be, but isn't. The "real" part of this is what is happening, -out of an infinite sea of eternal possibilities of what nothing isn't, but could have been, had it been something.

There is nothing new in nothing! There is no becoming. There is no evolution. There is no meaning to anything, because "nothing" contains the possibility for every meaning there is. There is nowhere else, because this is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There is no time because every moment is timeless. There is nothing "out there". It's only this! Nothing appearing to be everything! Free will? No. Karma? No. Cause and effect? No. This is all part of the dream. The illusion. This is Maya, and she is very, very clever. She will do anything to keep the dream going. But once you start questioning the dream, the awakening is soon to follow. Is there a purpose to all this? No, of course not. Because nothing contains the possibility for every purpose there is. It is a very peculiar nothing we are dealing with here. And it is frightening! This Moksha, Satori, Nirvana, Sahmadi, Awakening, Enlightenment or Liberation or whatever one chooses to call it, means the death of "you". You are your own hinderance in your search for Oneness. What "you" search for cannot be found because it is the absence of "yourself"!
Actually, there might not be oneness either. There was a point to it when the sages of old termed it advaita (a=not, dvaita=2) not-two (or non-dual as some say) instead of oneness. Oneness implies something, which then makes you miss the mark. Not-two is alot closer.

The other thread I made about ending humanity was "dreamtalk". It was meant for the dream and it fed "the story". That was it's purpose. This post is the juicy stuff. It may point somewhere (or more correctly: to nowhere). "The Story" contains everything you believe about yourself and everything else. Thoughts, opinions, judgements, self-image (!), image of others etc. It is only when all this falls away that clear seeing remains. Enlightenment isn't about becoming or gaining anything. It's about un-becoming. About loosing something: the false self. There is no compromise to be found in this.

Those who understand: things are as they are.
Those who do not understand: things are as they are.
~Zen proverb

You see? This is the sort of jokes that crack me up these days. It can't be normal! And of course it isn't (no pun this time).

Until next time.

Just saying: there is nothing "wrong" with "dreaming". The point is not to wake up. There is no point and there is no purpose or meaning to your life! Life is its own meaning. It has nothing to do with "you". Everything is perfect as it is. No snowflake ever falls on the wrong place. There is nothing "you" can do to change or influence any of this anyway. Because "you" and "me" are illusions. Nothing is happening by chance, yet nothing is planned. There is no supreme being pulling the strings here! Everything comes out of nothing, and everything collapses into nothing. What you are is the eternal stillness that precedes all things. You are the emptiness that makes everything happen. Apparently.

reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi


The answer is simple.

There is anything, or something opposed to nothing because of one thing.

That one thing is ironically, a conscious mind able to ask the question in the first place...if it were not for this one thing, there would be no appreciation of either the question or the answer to it...something requires a conscious mind.

reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi


Our language and the concepts we understand are not enough to probe this, but I'm willing to bet there is a grey scale of existence from being absolutely nothing to absolutely being and this whole idea of duality was birthed from isolated intellect.

As far as I can figure: There is no such thing as 'nothing.' Now...excuse me while I go contemplate my bellybutton.

p.s. - I thought MysterX provided some excellent food for thought in the above response.

MysterX
reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi

 

...something requires a conscious mind.

That's just the point! But it goes both ways. A conscious mind requires something also. So, they appear to rise together.
But none are real. "Something" does not exist, nor does a conscious mind. The conscious mind is an illusion and "something" is actually nothing appearing to be everything. The conscius mind collapses also when "liberation" apparently occurs.

So then, what is left if the conscious mind disappears too? Everything! More clear and tranquil than anything you can imagine. Everything is happening, just like before, but there is noone there being conscious of it. It just is what it is. Beautiful, powerful, vibrant and totally alive. Everything is vibrating. But there is noone there. Same thing goes for awareness. Just swap the words.

This is impossible to explain using words and language. There is a mystery here that cannot be explained. But consciousness cannot be aware of itself. Where there is consciousness, there is duality. This is further than that! This is exactly the point where most fall of. Even the most famous spriritual teachers and gurus doesn't get this (most of them, but perhaps not all).

What they offer is within the realm of consciousness. Make no mistake about it: there are incredible stuff to be found there. Powerful stuff, even mystical and "supernatural" things. There are no limits to what may arise out of nothing. But it is still only Maya playing. If you want to "get it", you must go beyond that.

The GUT
As far as I can figure: There is no such thing as 'nothing.' Now...excuse me while I go contemplate my bellybutton.

You are right! There absolutely is no such thing as nothing. (I threw in a pun)

Nothing always seems like something to me. If someone asked me what I seen about 4 feet right too me, I'd probably say nothing. But in reality, there's an entire microbiological world just doing it's thing. Endless amounts of atoms and particles. Maybe the secret to nothing is that it is everything?

Good question OP, it's tickling my brain.

If I try to imagine "nothingness" the closest I get is a sort of darkness but that is something because it has to exist. I start to fear that if I could comprehend it my brain would pop or id spontaneously combust or just cease to exist.

reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi


The darkness provides nothing and the nothing.
But everything else is the light of eternal mind.

LadyTrick
If I try to imagine "nothingness" the closest I get is a sort of darkness but that is something because it has to exist. I start to fear that if I could comprehend it my brain would pop or id spontaneously combust or just cease to exist.

You are right. "You" would cease to exist. Truly, and forever. All that would be left is everything. But don't worry, "you" and "me" and any "person" cannot comprehend this. When it happens, there is no "you" there to comprehend anything anyway.

However, there can be a short moment when your "me" realizes that something is about to happen, and a sense of rising clarety may occur before the "collapse".

Nothing is a null-set. 0 = |Ø| A set with no elements.

reply to post by MysterX


And that conscious mind required for something requires something to exist... so something has either always been, or arose from nothing... which is weird but in the enormity of infinity, the impossible must have happened... OR the state of "something" is the natural state and there is no nothing, never was and never will-be... but perhaps nothing will arise from something in an anti-genesis event... sometime.

reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi


Wow you just blew my mind! In Jainism they say Everything's always been here but changes form over time. They say to get out of your head what was here first because there is no answer.

reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi


Not forgetting how , Yesterday Today was Tomorrow and Tomorrow Today will be Yesterday.

The reason there is something instead of nothing, or anything at all, is because within the very first planck seconds of the Big Big there was Matter and Anti-matter. Almost equal parts to both sides, and matter and anti-matter quickly cancelled each other out. However there was a 0.00001% difference in the amount of matter than there was anti-matter, so matter actually won.

This small imbalance is what gave rise to everything around us today, and gave rise to you.. 13.7 billion years later pondering why there is existence as opposed to non-existence. The very same matter that won that ancient battle has now coalesced and formed a conglomerate - your brain - that can not only ponder the very stars and matter that gave it birth but can also think about it's own ability to think and wonder about it's own ability to wonder. With the arrival of humans the universe has suddenly become conscious of itself.

Perhaps the real reason there is anything at all is because you are here to observe it?

MysterX
reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi

 

The answer is simple.

There is anything, or something opposed to nothing because of one thing.

That one thing is ironically, a conscious mind able to ask the question in the first place...if it were not for this one thing, there would be no appreciation of either the question or the answer to it...something requires a conscious mind.

I like this. Until the universe developed awareness, it might as well have not existed. And then, when it did develop conscious beings, they all observe it uniquely, so the universe became many things. Thinking like this makes me believe I am the God of my universe who makes the universe become what I see it as. But before I get carried away, I also keep in mind that I didn't put the system into place. I only exist as part of it.

reply to post by Nomad451


No. This only describes the reason there is matter rather than antimatter. Antimatter and nothing are not the same thing.

reply to post by Koyaanisqatsi


Maybe:

It cannot be answered because cause and effect is false - it is fake - a delusion of a superstitious mind looking for answers it does not have.

So, in regards to causation, there is no reason, there is only will.

You will then probably ask why will exists, but again, there is no reason.

Maybe:

All that exists is consciousness, consciousness' will, and consciousness' images...

but does all exist? All but nothing, I think.


Fun thoughts. Maybe its all for pleasure.

reply to post by smithjustinb


So were talking as if there was no Big Bang at all? It's impossible to know what was before the Big Bang so we'll assume there was this concept of "nothing". The nothing is not even empty space. Yep thats a brain melter

I thought this was nearly perfect except one line.

You are the emptiness that makes everything happen.

I thought it should read closer to "The emptiness that makes everything happen is the void of 'you.' "