We are conscious beings. How? Because we are able to experience things. Experience comes through properties of things being perceived, If there is no property being perceived there will be no experience of anything. It is through body or the mind that we perceive things. A body without a mind will perceive things but the dimension will not be of that level of a human. For example a worm without a brain can not perceive emotions of a human mind but it would perceive many things for its own survival. It is the specific instruments in human body-mind complex that gives a human unique experience of the world.
With the scientific studies we now know for sure that all material in our known world are made up with atoms. Now let us consider that atoms are the building blocks of the world around us. Then we all are basically atoms having a certain combination at a specific time. It is also imperative that, this certain combination is capable of having a subjective experience of the world which is also made of of atoms. So fundamentally we can also say that it is atoms experiencing atoms. But when we experience the world we generally do not experience atoms rather we experience a world made up of earth, rocks, plants and animals. With scientific instruments only we can infer that all these are made up of atoms including us. So essentially the building block of atoms(as assumed above) manifested itself into a thing( us humans) that can experience the world that are also made up of atoms.
The atoms do not have properties of a rock or for example of an elephant. Also we as a human can look at an elephant and tell it is an elephant is only because we have some faculties like vision etc. For a being (living or non-living), it can only sense the world through interaction with others properties. So for a being that does not react to light in any way, light does not exist. Light exists only when some properties are perceived.
In other way we can say that atoms have manifested into beings that see atoms as other beings. But as we know from our studies, atoms by themselves cannot manifest. So there must be some finer building blocks that can do the work.
Moreover, we perceive things based on our faculties. This essentially means that if faculties are changed the perception will change. The vision, the sound, the thoughts, memories and the knowledge of things will change. The world as we experience has its existence through our experience only and we can not say for sure that this is how the world is.
It may be argued that we know realities of world beyond our general perception through scientific studies. but if we look closer, we will understand that the scientific studies we do is also through our mental faculties and any idea of the world through such scientific studies is essentially through the mental faculties which enhances our perception. This perception is limited by our faculties.
Now since it is pretty clear that our perception of the world or so called realities are dependent on our available faculties, it is pretty obvious question to ask what the actual reality looks like. From the atom example we can say that atoms are the fundamental reality and anything we ever experience is built up on this fundamental thing. Or in other words, the atoms have manifested into things that can experience themselves. It sounds too fantastic. But the question remains as the atoms are also an object of our experience albeit through scientific studies, but only through our minds and intellect that we have. So it's perception is also dependent on our mental faculties. Therefore it can be deduced that atoms can not be the fundamental block of the world. There is something more deep and fundamental for the world to exist.
If we look around us, it is pretty evident that this question can arise only in a human mind that has some beautiful faculties like a mind with memory. Without such faculties the question will simply not arise and therefore seeking for an answer will not happen. So human life posses a tremendous possibility to seek for the answer and find it.
From the atom example, it can also be deduced that any such thing that can be perceived through human faculties is again an object of experience and by the logic put forward above, the thing can not be the ultimate building block. So logically it has to be something beyond perception of human mind.
If we dig deep, we can be certain of about some thing about this 'ultimate building block'. Since it is the most fundamental 'thing', it must be there in all (things, places etc). There can not be any thing devoid of it. At the same time we can say that it is not a 'thing' because it is not an object to be perceived. So an attempt to objectively experience it in worldly things is not the way to go.
Another aspect of this 'thing' is that, it must exist in all beings. In the atom example, the atoms do exist in all beings. In the same way, digging deep we know all beings are fundamentally made up of that 'thing' which can never be an object of our observation unlike the atom.
Now anything that exists can only exist if it is aware of itself. This awareness is not necessarily be the same as that of a human awareness. In lifeless things we can observe this awareness in its properties that help it exist. If this properties are gone, it will not exist anymore. A rock will no more be a rock if its properties that makes it a rock are gone. If we again consider our atom example, atoms can only exist if it has fundamental awareness about its existence. This awareness flows through anything that is made of atoms. In a similar way the fundamental 'thing' has its awareness of its existence.
Now this 'thing' which is never an object of observation, that exists and pervades all worldly things is Consciousness. Consciousness is pure existence itself and aware of its own existence.
In the atom example, all the worldly things are merely manifestation of atoms. There can be nothing apart from atoms.If we extrapolate the analogy, there is nothing but consciousness manifested into the world. Nothing apart from Consciousness really exists. Everything we see and experience is the Consciousness itself and being experienced by none but the consciousness itself.
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