Existence
Commentary
Reality is that which necessarily is.
Reality is what must be for existence to transpire. Reality is the ordering principle for existence.
A noumenon signifies nothingness: outside of existence. Reality is noumenal. What exists are phenomena: whatever may be perceived and thereby experienced.
Reality and existence are processes. Their mechanics are parametric process mechanisms. What we perceive as objects are really processes with perceptual form stability.
Cöcö is reality. Cöcö is an acronym for the unitary field of Cönsciousness and cöherence. Cöcö mechanics are described in the next chapter.
Reality orders existence.
The word “orders” here has double meaning. Cöcö both demands (“orders”) existence and sets the operational arrangement of (“orders”) existence.
The rest of this chapter defines existence through its requirements. The mind construes existence as actuality.
Sans existence, nothing is.
Existence is what is. Without existence, there is no is. Reality is necessary for existence to manifest. Lacking existence, nothing is necessary. Without existence, there would be no reality. Reality and existence are a codependent paradox: an inyō – and, as an eternal cycling process, an ouroboros.
Existence requires contrast. Sans contrast, there can be no diversity. Sans diversity, there is no existence.
This passage states that perceptual differentiation – “contrast” – creates the diversity that is necessary for the perceptual uptake we call existence. Existence requires the ability to perceive diversity, which is a process done via contrast.
Existence requires consciousness. Sans awareness, nothing can exist.
Consciousness is the ability to be aware. Without awareness, nothing would exist because there would be no faculty for witnessing it.
Existence requires life. Sans life, there are no vessels for consciousness.
The essence of being alive is being aware. Awareness is the basis for perception and all mentation. This passage posits life forms (beings) as “vessels for consciousness.”
Existence requires coherence. Sans order, there can be no comprehension. Sans comprehension, awareness is useless.
Comprehension is making sense of what is experienced. If there were no coherence to existence, there would be no way to make sense of it. Without the ability to comprehend anything, awareness would be a waste.
Existence requires Nature. Sans perception of expression, nothing exists.
Nature is the mind’s construal of existence. Nature is a creation of perception. If there were no experience of Nature, nothing would exist.
Existence requires credibility. Sans credibility, Life loses purpose. Sans purpose, Life loses meaning. Sans meaning, there is no jeopardy.
This passage relates to reason for living (ikigai), with credibility as key. Without the deep-seated feeling that actions have consequence, either personally or morally, it would not matter what we do.
Vitality in living relies on believing that living has intrinsic value: that one’s own life is true: that living has meaning and purpose. A positive spirit toward living depends upon credibility.
Living would be a hollow exercise if you thought your life was unreal: if you considered yourself just a cartoon character in a silly skit. Without a sense of meaning, living would be like playing a game of no consequence.
You would not strive for accomplishment if you felt there was no point to it. Nobody plays poker without betting something. A sense of purpose gives life meaning.
What grants meaning is that it cannot be taken for granted. Anything that can be had by the sheer desire of it has scant meaning. The possibility of loss – jeopardy – makes living meaningful.
“Sans meaning, there is no jeopardy” is an inverse way of saying that you do not care what happens to things you do not care about.
Jeopardy grants credibility.
We come alive in moments of danger. Peril is exciting. Thrill seeking and enjoyment of horror movies rely upon this psychological dynamic. Jeopardy makes being alive feel real, thereby granting credibility to the mind’s conveyance that the perceived physical world is true.
Existence is all that is.
Noumenal reality is a requirement for phenomenal existence. Existence is the expression of reality.
Reality is delved in the next chapter. Cöcö signifies the ordering principle of reality.
