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To say the opposite of something, we need a base to stand on. And to say the opposite of that base, again we need another base to stand on. And also there must be something that is different from the base.
For instance let's take 'hot' and 'cold'.
Both these words are adjectives and are used for comparing temperatures. Since these two are of the same category and is also possible to say a word that differentiates some properties, we can say one word is the opposite of the other.
But this is not the case of consciousness. Consciousness is the base of everything. Only those who realized the Ultimate truth know that consciousness is pure, unique and undivided. But usually our ego creates boundaries and we live safely in it believing that there are myriads of consciousnesses.
Since consciousness is the base of everything it (my consciousness) has no opposite.
P.S.
[Since there is a higher level of understanding, from a lower level we can say 'consciousness is the base'. To understand anything consciousness is a must. But from a higher level many great men have realized that 'there is nothing beyond/other than consciousness'. So they didn't even need to use the word 'base'.
I think there is no difficulty in believing that consciousness is pure. The difficulty occurs in the next two words only...i.e. "it is unique and undivided". If one can believe that consciousness is pure, he can also say it has no opposite.
If there is a thing that is absolutely pure, it won't have an opposite...In other words, the word we found out must have moved from its level. But to realize that purity, one must 'go' beyond the imagination of particles.
You may try to find out the opposite of 'Pure consciousness'. People may say its opposite is 'Impure consciousness'. But to become impure it must move from its level. That means these two have no common base to confirm that one is the opposite of the other. But one can argue linguistically.]
See this reference
Vivekananda also gave importance to consciousness:
You, as body, mind, or soul, are a dream, but what you really are, is Being, Consciousness, Bliss. You are the God of this universe. You are creating the whole universe and drawing it in.
somebody says that everything that can be defined, must have an opposite
Absolute nonsense. I would expect that more things don't have opposites than do. Tell me if you can, what are the opposites of these?
- a box
- Handel's Messiah
- the number 0
Wikipedia's definition of opposites is decent:
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship, like the opposite pairs big : small, long : short, and precede : follow. The notion of incompatibility here refers to the fact that one word in an opposite pair entails that it is not the other pair member. For example, something that is long entails that it is not short. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members in a set of opposites. The relationship between opposites is known as opposition. A member of a pair of opposites can generally be determined by the question What is the opposite of X ?
There are many concepts which are not in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. To say that everything that can be defined must have an opposite is a falacy akin to the false dilemma.
It is not a meaningful question to ask what the opposite of a consciousness is.
As barrycarter notes in a comment, most opposites are descriptors, adjectives or adverbs. Few are nouns, though as Wikipedia notes, some nouns are in a relationship of opposition, such as teacher and pupil.
Anyone know what the opposite version of the phrase "Me, myself and I" would be?? ie. "you, yourself and ______" etc.
Hi English speakers,
Which of these are gramatically correct and which one do you prefer?
Opposite (physical location):
My home is opposite to the school.
My home is opposite the school.
Opposite (non physical quality):
3. My opinion is opposite to his.
4. My opinion is opposite his.