The Wa: An Exploration into Living and Being

Let me share a thought experiment with you. I recommend you play with it yourself.

For simplicity’s sake, assume that our planet is the only planet in the universe with life on it.

Now imagine that all life on the planet is completely destroyed—nothing is left alive.

What happens to the universe?

Consider:
Nothing would be seen, since seeing happens only for living creatures with eyes and nervous systems.
Nothing would be heard, since sound is also a phenomenon of experience.
Nothing would be felt (as sensations)—not heat, cold, presence, or absence.
And time would have no duration, since duration is an experiential quality.

Whatever was left would be neither light nor dark; neither loud nor quiet; neither felt nor unfelt; and would “move” through the rest of existence instantly (without duration.)

What would happen next?

Sentience would re-emerge (seemingly instantly, even if billions of years later, future scientists determined it took hundreds of billions of years to do so.)

Simultaneously, form and time would come back into existence.

One conclusion: our universe requires an experiencer and will never be without one.