The New Paradigm in Sentience and Consciousness

By Gyorgyi Szabo and Ervin Laszlo

The latest installment in “ The New Paradigm Symposia Series” is this fascinating exploration into what is known and what is knowable. The New Paradigm Sentience & Consciousness focuses on the twin phenomena of consciousness and sentience. Are they the same? What is their source? How does this help us to understand ourselves? This e-book publication is a compilation of dialogues from a two-day international forum bringing together a variety of speakers to ponder these questions from spiritual, philosophical, and scientific points of view. The previous installments in this series include New Paradigm in Politics and New Paradigm in Cosmology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SelectBooks
• Release date: Aug 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781590795583

Book preview

PART 1

Opening Addresses and Symposium Overview

Preliminary Observations

Ervin Laszlo, Founder and President

Thank you, Gyorgyi, Alexander, and Nora—my closest collaborators at the Laszlo Institute—and all our friends and colleagues who have come together to discuss the topic of sentience and consciousness. I make only a few short remarks here, coming from one of the participants in the symposium, not from its host organization.

I wish to address the topic signaled by the title of the symposium: Sentience and Consciousness. When addressing such a fundamental topic, I insist on the need to be as simple as possible (but not, of course, simpler). Albert Einstein said that in science we seek the simplest possible scheme that can tie together the observed facts. This is the principle known by philosophers as Occam’s Razor: Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity. I intend to follow this principle in these remarks.

The question I am asking is whether we really need two fundamental entities or phenomena to tie together the observed facts, or would one suffice? More specifically, are we confronting one phenomenon of which sentience and consciousness are different manifestations—perhaps different stages of emergence and evolution? Because if it is the latter, we should replace the word ‘and’ with a hyphen; we can then speak of sentience-consciousness.

Where in the known and knowable world would there be sentience-consciousness? Let us go back to basics. When we talk about phenomena of sentience and of consciousness what are we talking about? I submit that we are talking about the universe: our topic is sentience-consciousness in the universe. But there may be a problem with the use of the word ‘in.’ Is the universe something that contains the phenomena of sentience and consciousness or what we have referred to sentient-consciousness? There is a more comprehensive and simpler alternative. The universe could be unitary and embracing, not permitting dissection into separate parts or events. In that case, the sentience-consciousness we are talking about is not ‘in’ the universe—it is a hallmark of the universe itself.

In the wider and simpler view, the universe has the properties of a hologram—or following the same principle, we can see it as being a hologram. As we know, all the elements (all the information) that makes a hologram into what it is, is present in every part of it. In this case, the sentience-consciousness we speak of can be assumed to be present in every entity in the universe. A sentience-consciousness universe is sentient and conscious in every part of it. Every thing or event in space and time manifests sentience-consciousness in some way.

I believe that it is very likely that the embracing reality we call universe is a hologram—this view is maintained today by leading-edge cosmologists, including our colleague Jude Currivan. In describing this phenomena we are not speaking of sentience and consciousness in the universe, but of a sentient-conscious universe.

We know that the universe is evolving. This was, indeed, the topic of the previous symposium of the Laszlo Institute, The New Paradigm in Cosmology. The universe is shifting from an initial (post-Big-Bang) state of universal chaos toward states of increasing coherence. We live in—or better, we are part of—a holographic sentient-conscious universe. In the earlier states of its evolution, this universe manifested the characteristics we associate with sentient entities, the feeling or ‘prehension’ Whitehead said is present in every actual entity. In the more mature phases of its evolution, the property we know as consciousness surfaces in correspondingly evolved entities.

This, I believe, is the simplest possible scheme that can tie together the observed facts. This scheme embraces the sentience manifest on the one end of the spectrum of evolving entities: the basic sentience of single-celled organisms (and logically, even of the hydrogen nuclei that form in the earliest stages the universe’s evolution). And it embraces on the other end of its known spectrum of manifestation the reflective consciousness which is the defining characteristic of human beings.

This symposium has been called to explore the various alternative conceptions we can entertain of sentience and of consciousness and will reach its own conclusions. I submit that it will do well to consider whether the sentience and consciousness we find in our experience are two in the universe or one, and whether this two or one is in the universe, or is the universe itself.

Thank you for your attention. I wish you an illuminating and constructive dialogue on a subject of age-old but lasting and paramount importance.

Opening Remarks

Gyorgyi Szabo, Executive Director

My name is Gyorgyi Szabo; I serve as the Executive Director of the Laszlo Institute. This is our third online symposium: the first was titled The New Paradigm in Politics, the second was The New Paradigm in Cosmology, and this weekend, presentations and discussions are centered on sentience and consciousness. Today, we will observe how sentience and consciousness are explained and viewed by various wisdom traditions. There are an estimated 10,000 religions worldwide but due to the shortness of time, we chose representatives of eight wisdom traditions. On Day Two of this symposium, we will be exploring the evolution of sentience and consciousness and its relation to the future of humanity.

According to some cosmologists, only 5% of our universe is made up of matter, but that is where most of us put 100% of our focus and attention. This creates an illusion of separateness where we believe we are alone, that we are independent of the rest of the world, and that when our material body dies, that’s the end. We even call this stuff ‘matter’ because we believe it is all that matters. But the other 95% of stuff in our universe is made up of energies and mysterious vibrations, which actually govern our universe, our bodies, our experiences, our feelings and our lives. This non-material universe can also be called the spiritual universe. As we tap into this spiritual plenum, we start to see how all things are connected; we see relationships, we feel energies, we sense intuition, and we discover the true nature of our mind, the true nature of who we are.

Is there a consensus about what exactly consciousness and sentience are? As Ervin said:

Consciousness is at the same time the most familiar and the most mysterious element of our lives. Consciousness is mysterious because it is not clear what it is and where it comes from…. Consciousness is nonlocal: it exists in association with the brain, but is not produced by and confined to the brain…. We experience the flow of sensations, feelings, and intuitions we call consciousness, but we do not perceive consciousness itself…. Consciousness is a cosmic phenomenon.

Thick Nhat Hanh said, We are all leaves of one tree. We are all waves of one sea. Indeed, we are embedded in consciousness. Everything is in consciousness and all information is accessible through it. We can only validate the essence of our existence through the deepest internal experience of awareness within us.

I believe that sentience is the conscious intelligence that is transcendent of the physical body and connected to the soul. I very much look forward to our two-day exploration on sentience and consciousness.

Introduction to the Symposium

Alexander Laszlo, Director of Research

Thank you, everyone, for coming here, for being here, and for joining in this exploration. Gyorgyi and I are the co-directors of this event, and it is our honor and our pleasure to provide you with a platform, a forum, a moment in time, and indeed, a field of exploration. This, as Gyorgyi mentioned earlier, is the Third Global Symposium of the Laszlo Institute. The first one was on the new paradigm in politics. The second was on the new paradigm in cosmology. And truly, in that one, we considered many topics similar to the ones that we will be considering today and tomorrow on the subject of the new paradigm of sentience and consciousness.

Indeed, in our Second Global Symposium, we explored questions relating to what consciousness in the universe is, but we did so from a framework of cosmology and the cosmovisions of various scientific practices and perennial wisdom traditions. This perspective, offered by the different viewpoints that the vantagepoint of science and spirituality affords, opened a window of understanding onto the nature of consciousness in the universe. That exploration contemplated the aspect of consciousness that is manifest in the universe and comprised the focus of the second symposium on the new paradigm in cosmology.

In this Third Global Symposium, you will be offered a variety of perspectives, a sample of which you have already been exposed to in the brief comments presented by Ervin and the somewhat different considerations offered by Gyorgyi in their respective opening comments. This is exactly what we’re looking for here: not to try to get to The Answer to such specific questions as: What is sentience? What is conscious? Are they the same? Rather, we intend to be provocative in the hope that we may simply explore these issues together.

One of the things we want to put particular attention to is what Gyorgyi mentioned regarding how these questions and concerns live in us. In this sense, the previous symposium, The New Paradigm in Cosmology, was more about consideration of questions such as: What is consciousness in the universe? What is the aspect of the universe that we can think of as being conscious? How can we understand it better?

By contrast, in this symposium we will be considering questions such as: How does the universe live in us? How is it that we have the kind of knowing that we can even express rationally and scientifically about what conscious is, while at the same time we also have a knowing that lives in us—a type of sensing that we can express in certain ways but that often defies being put into words? How do we know the ineffable? After all, the fact that we can’t put this kind of knowing into words is precisely what makes it ineffable. What is it that we know about our being, that we sense as true at the core of who we are, but can’t put into words? How do we know this ineffability of our being? And how do we know the ineffable aspects of the universe, or of the cosmos underneath and behind it?

These are the kind of things we will explore together in this symposium. We will look at different wisdom traditions and try to get in touch with how various aspects of their truths may live in us. We will consider forms of knowing that may lie deep within each of us, and how they rise into human consciousness. We will explore how forms of knowing are accessed through our sentience and our being, and how they sometimes cannot be put into words—and indeed, sometimes should not even be tried to be put into words. These expressions of the ineffable are what we often refer to as holy or sacred.

So, with that little overview of what awaits you in this Third Global Symposium on The New Paradigm in Sentience and Consciousness of the Laszlo Institute of New Paradigm Research, we invite you to open your hearts and your minds, and all of your senses, and join us in this exploration.

PART 2

Sentience and Consciousness in Wisdom Traditions

From Daoism to a Global Worldview

Frederick Tsao

About Frederick Tsao

Born in the East and educated in the West, Frederick Chavalit Tsao is the fourth-generation leader of IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group. He became chairman in 1995 and transformed the family business from a traditional shipping company to a diverse, multinational conglomerate.

With more than 40 years’ experience as an entrepreneur, Fred has worked successfully with business partners and governments in multiple markets across diverse cultures. Not afraid to push boundaries, as Chairman of Intercargo, Fred repositioned the dry bulk industry from a shipper to one that plays a role within the global supply chain.

He later founded Family Business Network Asia and served on the board of Family Business Network International, where he inspired the exploration of family businesses’ role within the global system. Fred founded East West Cultural Development Centre in Singapore in 1995 to conduct research on sustainability and modernity. His exploration into Eastern Wisdom led him to focus on Chinese esoteric traditions and Western quantum science. Both are paradigms of consciousness and evolution.

Fred has since published over 30 books in Chinese, concluding that we are amidst a major consciousness shift and at the dawn of a new era of wellbeing. He advocates that business should transform and reform our era. For this, he founded OCTAVE Institute, a comprehensive integrated life journey approach towards wellbeing.

In 2019, Fred co-authored Quantum Leadership, New Consciousness in Business with Chris Laszlo, published by Stanford University Press. Fred also contributed a piece titled Reconnecting to the Source in the Mirror of Chinese Culture to the book by Ervin Laszlo titled Reconnecting to the Source published by St. Martin’s Press in 2020.

More about Fred can be found at https://www.aitiainstitute.org

Today, the world is more interconnected than ever. We now have a global common language. Without International English this symposium would not happen. Similarly, we need a unifying global worldview. In history, all conflicts started with different worldviews, and the most divisive ones led to wars. In this new era, the challenges and opportunities faced by human beings—such as sustainability, globalization, and technology advancement—require integration rather than separation. We are at a particular crossroad of energy and consciousness where our unifying consciousness needs to create this common worldview across religions, cultures, and countries.

To build this common worldview, we need to start with understanding each other. The more we understand each other, the more we find commonality and the more likely we are to unite our worldviews. My focus here is Daoism, one of the Chinese philosophies that has deeply influenced the Chinese worldview.

The Chinese believe that there are three key aspects of this philosophy: first, there is a worldview of the cosmos, with which one answers the questions of the universe; second, there is a worldview of life, with which one answers the existential questions; and third, there is a worldview of values. Ultimately, three aspects consolidate into