Life
Life is not a fundamental attribute of the universe, but it is a necessity for the universe.
Forms of Life
Life manifests in five major forms: primitive state, basic state, aware state, detached state, and voidness state.
Life on any planet usually begins in a primitive state but can end in any state.
Once life enters the aware state, individuals will experience awakening, which means that individuals no longer rely on the collective to move onto the next form. The entirety of life can strive to enter the detached state, but it can only reach the voidness state through personal pursuit.
Primitive State
The earliest form of life is very simple, and it can occur naturally in the early stages of a planet's formation. Life on different planets is similar in this stage.
Many planets have the conditions to produce life early on, as long as the following criteria are met:
- Suitable Element Distribution: A suitable distribution of elements facilitates the formation of water and more complex compounds[1]. This condition is relatively easy to achieve[2].
- Suitable Temperature: Appropriate temperatures can promote physical and chemical processes that synthesize elements and stabilize the existence of synthesize products, giving life a chance to assemble further based on these compounds. The process of a planet cooling from its initial hot state is quite lengthy, during which there will exist a period of suitable temperatures.
- Suitable Environmental Changes: The changes in the planet's environment must align with the development process of life; a complex and dynamic environment is suitable for the emergence and development of primitive state life but is detrimental to the survival of basic state life. A stable environment is conducive to the development of basic state life but is not beneficial for the emergence of primitive state life. The changes in the environment must match this developmental phase without being premature or delayed.
The primitive state generally exists in the early stages of a planet's formation[3]. If life cannot develop stable coding and methods of dissemination before settling into the planet (the time suitable for primitive state existence is very short)[4], then life cannot enter the next form. In other words, life may linger for a while in this stage and then rapidly perish (failure leads to extinction).
Most life in the universe, at the birth of their star systems, exists within this stage.
Basic State
This form of life develops stable coding and dissemination methods, allowing life to accumulate evolutionary advantages, leading to richer development, diverse forms, and functions (resulting in many species), and more complex structures capable of more sophisticated actions, adapting to more complex environments.
During this phase, the coding is still hard-coded, meaning the responses of life to the environment are pre-defined. Individuals cannot actively change this coding during their lifetimes (there is no conscious intention to change in beings of this phase).
However, due to low-probability random events during coding and dissemination, each individual's coding will have slight variances; an individual's survival and reproduction imply that evolution is locally optimal, which allows that individual's coding to spread further[5].
Life in the basic state is variable and no longer uniform; life forms on different planets differ significantly, and even within the same planet, variations abound.
When life exists in the basic state, the planetary environment has become relatively stable, and life at this point possesses considerable adaptability to the environment. As long as the planetary environment does not undergo drastic overall changes[6], the basic state will persist for a very long time[7].
The diversity of basic state life enhances its adaptability to the environment, providing it more time to explore the evolutionary path toward the aware state; this exploration is random, and various species may rise and fall, potentially making the process quite prolonged[8]. It may also take many detours along the way, and it may ultimately not evolve into the aware state.
Most planets capable of supporting stable life exist in this phase.
Aware State
The core hallmark of the aware state is that life has developed awareness, awareness is the individual life’s consciousness of itself. This is a prerequisite for advancing to intelligent life and a very important phase.
The key to the emergence of awareness is that life has evolved the ability to process various types of information (not just transmit information). Processing information requires more internal and external connectivity within the life form, consuming more energy than merely transmitting information. In natural evolution, specific events generally are needed to cross this barrier. Such events can randomly occur during long evolution or be triggered by other higher forms of life[9].
Awareness constitutes a soft coding[10]. Under the guidance of awareness, life can implement self-control, dynamically adjust its parameters, summarize the past, plan for the future, engage in prolonged creative activities, and recode more optimized results. At this stage, life possesses stronger environmental adaptability and transformative capabilities; in this form, threats from the environment become rare.
Awareness generates a Self[11] concept, which separates the individual from the life collective, fostering better individual capability, while also causing individuals to become isolated. A strong Self concept may impede the connection between life and Spirit, hindering entry into the next stage, the detached state.
The development of aware state life is rapid; they have the ability to research and understand the universe, thus advancing technology and transforming planets. However, aware state life remains significantly influenced and constrained by biological vessels[12].
This phase does not last long, ranging from tens of thousands to millions of years.
In this developmental process, if life continually seeks external technological developments, it will lead to an imbalance between awareness and technology, ultimately resulting in self-destruction. Conversely, if life begins to introspect and connect with Spirit to obtain the "source code" for vessel detachment, there exists an opportunity to step into the next form.
At this stage, life has the capacity to awaken to the Spirit, with some individual lives awakening early and entering the next stage. They will leave behind content to guide those who have not yet understood[13]. Once the entirety of life reaches a consensus on this, it can collectively move into the next phase.
Human beings currently exist in the aware state[14]. Very few life forms in the universe have reached this phase, but their absolute number is not insignificant.
Using a Computer Analogy
Hardware is fixed (the body is hard-coded); the operating system and pre-installed software cannot be altered, but software parameters can be adjusted and new software can be installed (the brain can soft-code), allowing the computer to perform many different tasks, greatly increasing flexibility. However, because it does not have access to the system's interface and software source code, this software can only be used by itself, and the hardware cannot be replaced.
Detached State
Detached state life completes the separation of consciousness from the vessel; life is no longer restricted by the biological vessel[15], and its scope greatly expands.
The key to detached state life lies in the understanding and awakening to Spirit, acquiring the "source code" of life and consciousness[16]. The "source code" serves as the vessel for consciousness, only with it can consciousness be loaded onto different vessels.
Several points need to be understood here:
- Without awakening to Spirit, a high-tech aware state life can still acquire soft coding of consciousness and transfer it into other vessels, yet without obtaining the "source code" behind the soft coding, this transfer will lead to "rigidity" (consciousness cannot exist in soft coding). The new vessel would actually remain in the basic state rather than the aware state but can nonetheless carry out various complex tasks.
- Life with different evolutionary paths can both develop to the aware state, but their soft coding will differ significantly (path dependency). The aware state phase cannot adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach. In the detached state, one can optimize soft coding at the "source code" level.
With the ability to change and update vessels, life becomes immune to environmental influences and no longer concerns itself with lifespan, leading to almost no possibility of destruction. Life in this phase has already achieved significant advancements in technology and a profound understanding of the universe.
In the later stages of this life form, individual life forms and the collective share all knowledge, becoming immensely powerful. Individual survival becomes no issue, leading to profound changes in societal structure; centralized societies cease to exist as individuals in this stage become widely dispersed. Life individuals become remarkably liberated, exploring the universe according to personal volition and awakening Spirit.
As life forms developed on different planets approach the later stages of this form, their forms and states gradually converge. This life state can continue indefinitely; once individuals fully awaken to Spirit, they can enter into the next form: voidness state.
Using a Computer Analogy
At this stage, software source code exists, allowing compilation and execution across different hardware platforms rather than just running on the original platform.
Voidness State
Life individuals fully awaken and merge with Spirit, recognizing the essence of the universe's creation from nothing, completely letting go of the Self, returning to the origin, and merging into nothing, becoming one with the universe, no longer distinguishing between entities.
The voidness state of life, Spirit, nothing, the universe, and all things are different expressions of the same whole, fundamentally indistinguishable.
Experience It
"You"[17] no longer perceive the existence of space/time/probability[18] and will not be hindered by space/time/probability, as "you" are space/time/probability itself; "you" can "appear" in any space at any time and can "know" the various possibilities of material development.
Individuals in the aware state can enter the detached state through their awakening to Spirit; merging with Spirit allows them to enter the voidness state. This process does not depend on the overall progress of life. The overall progress of life can aid individuals in transitioning from the aware state to the detached state but cannot assist individuals in reaching the voidness state.
Life in the voidness state continues to differentiate and experience the universe, endlessly cycling.
To Be Continued...
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Translation Note
The original text is in Chinese, and the English translation was automatically completed by ChatGPT. The translation may contain inaccuracies or errors in expression; please refer to the original text for accuracy.
For example, amino acids and proteins in Earth life. ↩︎
Different stars in the universe provide a variety of elements by ejecting or exploding in their lifespan. The four most abundant elements are H, He, O, C (hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon). These four elements are the most basic and primary elements that make up proteins. While they are ubiquitous in the universe, they are not evenly distributed, leading not every planet to meet this condition. ↩︎
For instance, Earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago, with primitive life appearing around 200 million years later and basic life appearing no later than 600 million years post-birth. ↩︎
Life on Earth uses DNA/RNA as a coding method, spreading through processes like transcription and replication of DNA/RNA. This method is the most natural formation based on the four key elements H, He, O, and C but is not the only way. ↩︎
Refer to Darwin's theory of evolution. ↩︎
For example, dinosaurs are a case of biodiversity, having survived for 140 million years until they went extinct due to drastic environmental changes caused by asteroid collisions. ↩︎
On Earth, fossils of microbial life were found in sediment from hydrothermal vents in Quebec's Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt, which may represent the oldest basic state life on Earth, approximately 4 billion years old. ↩︎
For example, some cells evolved into nerve cells, creating primitive neural networks, gradually forming nerve nuclei. The earliest brain appeared about 600 million years ago after basic state life had explored this evolutionary route for 3.4 billion years. However, note that this is not the only route but may be the most suitable for Earth life. ↩︎
Detached state life may unintentionally influence the life processes of other planets. ↩︎
Human neural networks illustrate plasticity; through reorganization, they alter soft coding. ↩︎
The Self is a protective mechanism constructed by awareness throughout evolution; “Guide: Self” elaborates on the human Self in Earth games. ↩︎
Vessel refers to the tangible entity (e.g., body) or intangible spirit (e.g., quantum state of brain neurons) that carries awareness, which can be controlled by awareness and can also influence awareness. “Guide: Vessel” discusses human vessels in Earth games in detail. ↩︎
The individual life’s attempts to reach the next stage are referred to as “practice.” ↩︎
The emergence of human awareness began roughly 100,000 years ago, evolving a more complete aware state about 10,000 years ago. ↩︎
Life can exist in entirely different forms, such as machine vessels; it may not even require vessels, such as in a network. ↩︎
Refers to the underlying structure representing the existence of consciousness, which can reconstruct and reload soft coding. The term borrows from computer science for understanding and does not literally refer to source code. ↩︎
The voidness state lacks individual concepts of you, me, or others, making it indescribable; we can only use “you” as a placeholder to evoke some sense. ↩︎
For more details, see the relevant chapters in “Understanding Deeply - The Universe” regarding the descriptions of space/time/probability. ↩︎