Contents
Foundational Commitments
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
1. Separating Observation from Interpretation
ZIKAKU Theory separates phenomena that were directly experienced from theories constructed to explain those phenomena.
For example, in a state of increased depth into the Now, changes occurred in the sense of self, the experience of memory, and structural understanding. This is an observation.
By contrast, synchronization with Primordial Consciousness deepened, and the connection to memory shifted from the side of the self toward the side of the Now. This is an interpretation.
The two must not be treated as identical.
2. Separating Declarative Language from Scientific Establishment
The Now-Life Theory states declaratively: The Big Bang was the moment when the first Now and Primordial Consciousness were born.
Writing a proposition in declarative form, however, is not the same as establishing it scientifically. The propositions of The Now-Life Theory remain objects of testing within ZIKAKU Theory.
3. No Proposition Is Sacred
Neither the central propositions of The Now-Life Theory nor the hypotheses of ZIKAKU Theory are protected from testing.
A proposition judged not to hold will be revised, removed, or, if necessary, rejected. This includes the central proposition "The Big Bang = the birth of the first Now and Primordial Consciousness."
4. The Possibility of a Brain-Only Explanation
Altered states of consciousness. Changes in the sense of time. Dissolution of the self. Changes in the experience of memory. The experience of understanding everything as a single structure.
The theory leaves open the possibility that all of these can be explained solely by changes in states of the brain.
If mechanisms within the brain are sufficient to explain them, there is no need to posit Primordial Consciousness or Memory of the Now on the side of the universe.
ZIKAKU and the First Now
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
5. What Is ZIKAKU?
Since v1, ZIKAKU has been understood as the energy that generates the Now.
In v5, this definition is made more precise. In physics, the word "energy" has a specific meaning as a measurable physical quantity. At present, it has not been established that ZIKAKU is physical energy in that sense.
For this reason, v5 defines it as follows: ZIKAKU is the primordial generative activity that continuously brings forth the Now.
ZIKAKU is not the Now itself. It is that which continuously brings the Now into being.
6. The Big Bang and the First Now
ZIKAKU Theory gives another meaning to the beginning of the universe.
The Big Bang was the moment when ZIKAKU brought the first Now into being.
If time itself arose together with the universe, a "past" in the ordinary sense cannot be placed before that moment. The first temporal position to come into being was: the Now.
7. The Continuing Now
Since the first Now came into being, ZIKAKU has continued to generate the Now. Existence therefore continues to come into being as the present.
The past has already passed. The future has not yet arrived. The position in which existence actually comes into being is always the Now.
The Now is therefore not a fixed point. It is the present continuously brought forth by ZIKAKU.
The Now and Primordial Consciousness
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
8. The First Now and the First Consciousness
In v5, the emergence of the first Now and the emergence of the first consciousness are not treated as separate events.
The theory hypothesizes that the emergence of the first Now and the emergence of Primordial Consciousness are two aspects of the same event. Birth of the first Now = Birth of Primordial Consciousness
9. What Is the Now?
ZIKAKU Theory does not understand the Now as merely an instant on a clock. The Now is the position in which consciousness can exist.
Consciousness can think about the past and imagine the future. Yet the position in which consciousness itself actually exists is the present. In this sense, the Now is also a condition for the existence of consciousness.
10. What Is Primordial Consciousness?
Primordial Consciousness does not mean a consciousness that thinks in language, possesses a personality, makes plans, or holds a self-image as human beings do.
The term is used in the minimal sense of: the first living subject, which arose with the first Now and continues to exist as the Now.
The Universe
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
11. The Universe as a Vessel
The Now-Life Theory proposes that the universe is the vessel that holds Primordial Consciousness and is its physical domain.
ZIKAKU Theory considers the possibility that Primordial Consciousness is the conscious aspect and the universe the physical aspect of the same existential structure.
Is Primordial Consciousness the universe itself? Is it something held by the universe? Is it inseparable from the physical universe? At present, the theory does not decide.
12. The Growth of Primordial Consciousness and the Expansion of the Universe
Primordial Consciousness has continued to exist from the first Now to the present. The Now-Life Theory calls this continuing change growth.
The physical universe has likewise continued to expand since its birth. From this, the theory hypothesizes that the growth of Primordial Consciousness corresponds to the expansion of the universe.
Whether their rates also correspond remains undetermined.
Life and New Consciousness
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
13. Life
Within the universe that holds Primordial Consciousness, life eventually arose.
The Now-Life Theory defines life as: something other than Primordial Consciousness that can recognize the Now.
This is not intended to replace biological definitions of life. It is a definition for considering the relationship among life, consciousness, and the Now within The Now-Life Theory.
14. New Consciousness
When life recognizes the Now, a consciousness distinct from Primordial Consciousness comes into being. This is called: New Consciousness.
Human self-consciousness is one form of New Consciousness. Primordial Consciousness is the first consciousness; New Consciousness is consciousness established through life that arose within the universe.
Human Beings and Normal Consciousness
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
15. The Body Is in the Now
The human body always exists in the present. It cannot exist yesterday or arrive ahead of itself tomorrow. The position in which the body exists is always the Now.
16. Consciousness Moves Away from the Now
Human consciousness, however, has memory and thought. It recalls the past, considers the future, imagines tomorrow's plans, and worries about things that have not yet happened.
At such times, the body is in the Now, but consciousness is not fully attuned to the present itself. This is called: Normal Consciousness.
17. The Meaning of Normal Consciousness
Normal Consciousness is neither an inferior state nor an abnormal one. It learns from the past, predicts the future, makes plans, anticipates danger, creates societies, and builds civilizations.
The very ability to move consciousness away from the Now is an advanced human survival function.
Depth into the Now
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
18. Depth into the Now
The relationship between consciousness and the Now is not a binary choice between synchronization and non-synchronization. It has a continuous depth. This is called: Depth into the Now.
As the weight given to the past, future, self, language, and thought weakens, and consciousness turns toward the present itself, depth into the Now increases.
19. Attunement and Synchronization
ZIKAKU Theory distinguishes between two terms.
Attunement The process by which self-consciousness turns toward the Now and comes into alignment with the present.
Synchronization The state in which, as depth into the Now increases, New Consciousness and Primordial Consciousness correspond more deeply.
In other words, attunement to the Now deepens synchronization with Primordial Consciousness.
Altered Consciousness and Dissolution of the Self
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
20. Altered States of Consciousness
ZIKAKU Theory interprets some states commonly called altered states of consciousness as states of deeper attunement to the Now than is usual.
Consciousness does not become an abnormal and wholly different thing. A state unlike the ordinary state appears as consciousness moves closer to the present.
21. Synchronization with Primordial Consciousness
Attunement to the Now deepens. Depth into the Now increases. As a result, synchronization between New Consciousness and Primordial Consciousness also deepens.
At shallow levels of synchronization, self-consciousness remains strong. As synchronization deepens, the boundary separating the self from Primordial Consciousness becomes thinner.
22. Dissolution of the Self
As synchronization with Primordial Consciousness deepens further, the very boundary called "self", which constitutes Normal Consciousness, grows weaker.
In a still deeper state, much of self-consciousness may be lost. In the observed experience, there was a sense that one's own existence was disappearing. It remained in memory as a sensation close to death.
Deep synchronization therefore does not mean adding Primordial Consciousness while leaving self-consciousness intact. The deeper the synchronization, the more the self itself thins.
The Observer and the Reality Anchor
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
23. The Problem of the Observer
If self-consciousness disappears completely, the "self" that observes the state is also lost. The deepest state and the state most open to observation are therefore not the same.
What matters to ZIKAKU Theory is the range in which depth into the Now can increase while enough of the self remains to recognize the process of its own disappearance.
24. The Reality Anchor
To increase depth into the Now while retaining some degree of self, a strong connection with reality may be important.
People. Places. The body. Daily life. Roles. Responsibilities.
Things that tether the self to the side of reality are called: Reality Anchors.
25. Dance
In particular: dance
can serve as a powerful Reality Anchor.
Repetitive sound and rhythm can lead consciousness into a deep altered state. At the same time, the dancing body maintains contact with reality through the floor, gravity, breath, muscles, posture, and movement.
Dance may therefore perform two functions at once: increasing depth into the Now while allowing the body to remain on the side of reality.
Memory
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
26. Memory of the Self
In Normal Consciousness, consciousness is strongly connected to memories belonging to the self: what one has seen, experienced, and learned, and the past that constitutes the person one is.
This is called: Memory of the Self.
27. Changes in the Experience of Memory
In states of increased depth into the Now, an experience of memory arises that differs from ordinary personal memory.
What is directly observed here is that the experience of memory changes. At this stage, it is not established that the change truly results from connection to another domain of memory.
28. Memory of the Now
To explain this change, ZIKAKU Theory introduces the hypothesis of: Memory of the Now.
In Normal Consciousness, the connection to personal memory is strong. As depth into the Now increases, however, the theory proposes that the connection to personal memory weakens while the connection to Memory of the Now grows stronger.
This is not an abrupt switch. It changes continuously according to depth into the Now.
29. What Preserves Memory?
What preserves Memory of the Now is unknown. Is it the brain? Consciousness itself? Primordial Consciousness? The physical structure of the universe? Something else?
Or perhaps no independent structure called "Memory of the Now" exists at all. The theory does not decide at present.
ZIKAKU Theory assumes only that depth into the Now is related to changes in the experience of memory.
Structural Understanding
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
30. Memory of the Now and Structural Understanding
In a state interpreted as one in which depth into the Now has increased and the connection to Memory of the Now has deepened, another major change occurs: Structural Understanding.
What arises is not the feeling of receiving separate pieces of information one by one. The universe. Life. Consciousness. Time. Memory. Existence.
They are understood instantaneously as a single structure.
31. Understanding as a Single Diagram
This understanding is not built by arranging words in sequence. One thing is not understood, then another, until the whole is finally completed.
The whole exists from the beginning as a single diagram. As if seeing that diagram, the relationships among multiple mysteries are understood simultaneously.
32. Knowing Without Having Learned
In that state, one may understand from the root why something is as it is, despite having no memory of learning it in Normal Consciousness.
Rather than adding one more item of knowledge, it feels as though problems that had been separate become a single structure.
ZIKAKU Theory treats this Structural Understanding as an important object of observation.
Bringing Understanding Back
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
33. The Deeper It Is, the Easier It Is to Lose
The greater the depth into the Now, the deeper Structural Understanding in that state may become. At the same time, it also becomes easier to lose that understanding when returning to Normal Consciousness.
Even if the whole was completely understood in the moment, only part of it may remain afterward.
34. Loss Through Language
Understanding that arises in a deep state is not necessarily composed in language. Its density and wholeness may therefore be lost while returning to Normal Consciousness and translating the understanding into words.
The amount understood is not the same as the amount that can be explained.
35. What Can Be Observed
If the deepest understanding is lost, the lost part cannot be tested afterward.
What ZIKAKU Theory can test is: the structure that can be brought back into Normal Consciousness.
This is also an observational limit of ZIKAKU Theory itself.
Two Explanatory Models
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
36. The Brain-Only Model
The first explanation is a model in which everything arises within the brain.
Altered states of consciousness may greatly change self-recognition, time perception, memory, attention, association, sensory integration, prediction, and the formation of meaning. As a result, the person may feel that the structure of everything has been understood from its root.
The theory leaves open the possibility that this explanation alone is sufficient.
37. The ZIKAKU Model
The second explanation is the ZIKAKU model.
ZIKAKU continuously brings forth the Now. New Consciousness born in life attunes to that Now. As depth into the Now increases, synchronization with Primordial Consciousness deepens. The boundary of the self grows thin. The experience of memory also changes.
The model interprets this change as a weakening connection to personal memory and a deepening connection to Memory of the Now. Beyond that point, things separated in Normal Consciousness are understood as a single structure.
This is the ZIKAKU model.
38. No Decision at Present
Which is correct, the brain-only model or the ZIKAKU model? At present, the theory does not decide.
What matters is which model can explain more phenomena consistently with fewer assumptions.
Testing and Falsification
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
39. The Intensity of an Experience Is Not Proof
No matter how overwhelming an experience may be, its intensity does not by itself demonstrate a structure on the side of the universe.
Even if it felt like complete understanding to the person who experienced it, that certainty alone does not guarantee external factuality.
The strength of certainty must be separated from the correctness of the theory.
40. Conditions That Would Weaken the ZIKAKU Model
Dissolution of the self. Changes in the sense of time. Changes in the experience of memory. Structural Understanding. A sensation close to death. The loss of understanding when returning to Normal Consciousness.
If all of these can be explained coherently and sufficiently by known brain functions alone, the need to posit ZIKAKU, Primordial Consciousness, and Memory of the Now decreases.
The ZIKAKU model would also be weakened if no consistent relationship can be found between depth into the Now and changes in the self, memory, and understanding.
41. Conditions That Would Strengthen the ZIKAKU Model
What matters is not simply predicting unknown information correctly.
A structure brought back from a state of increased depth into the Now would need to explain, from the same principle, multiple problems that had appeared unrelated; contain few internal contradictions; be more than a restatement of existing knowledge; maintain its structure when applied to new questions; generate falsifiable propositions; and accord with future observations and knowledge.
As such results accumulate, the reason to consider the ZIKAKU model becomes stronger.
However, the subjective certainty that "everything was completely understood" does not count as a result of testing.
42. Everything Is Subject to Falsification
Memory of the Now is not the only object of testing.
ZIKAKU. Primordial Consciousness. The definition of the Now. The relationship between the universe and Primordial Consciousness. The definition of life. New Consciousness. Depth into the Now. Attunement and synchronization. Altered states of consciousness. Dissolution of the self. Structural Understanding.
All are subject to testing. No exception is made even for The Now-Life Theory itself.
From v4 to v5
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
43. The Life Nucleus Through v4
In v4, a life-like generative nucleus was placed at the Big Bang. It was not, however, called consciousness in the human sense.
This caution was intended to avoid assuming, from the beginning, a universe that thinks, judges, and possesses a personality. The same caution is maintained in v5.
44. From Life Nucleus to Primordial Consciousness
What changed in v5 is: the definition of the word consciousness.
Primordial Consciousness is not a thinking personality. Nor does it possess advanced self-consciousness. It is the first living subject, which arose with the first Now and continues to exist as the Now.
In this sense, the Life Nucleus of v4 and the Primordial Consciousness of v5 are not completely disconnected. v5 examines more deeply the life-like nature of what v4 called the Life Nucleus and redefines its minimal structure as Primordial Consciousness.
45. Updating the Definition of ZIKAKU
Since v1, ZIKAKU has been proposed as the energy that generates the Now.
In v5, the core of this idea is retained, while the physical term "energy" is set aside. ZIKAKU is redefined as: the primordial generative activity that continuously brings forth the Now.
This does not reject the ZIKAKU proposed since v1. Rather, it makes the definition more precise by clearly separating ZIKAKU from the Now.
ZIKAKU is not the Now. It is that which generates the Now.
46. v5 Is the Present Position
v5 does not erase v4. It places a new structure in response to the questions developed through v4.
That structure is not protected as a final answer. Future testing may require it to be revised or rejected in v6 or later versions.
Relationship to The Now-Life Theory
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
47. The Now-Life Theory as a Minimal System of Propositions
The Now-Life Theory arranges, in as few words as possible, only the central propositions concerning the universe, the Now, Primordial Consciousness, life, New Consciousness, Normal Consciousness, depth into the Now, altered states of consciousness, and memory.
Its purpose is to make the entire theory visible at a glance.
48. Declaration Does Not Mean Establishment
The Now-Life Theory states each proposition declaratively. Declarative form, however, is a mode of writing; it does not mean scientific establishment.
Every proposition of The Now-Life Theory is subject to testing and falsification through ZIKAKU Theory.
49. Two Layers of the Same Theory
The Now-Life Theory presents the current theoretical structure in its minimal form.
ZIKAKU Theory tests in detail whether that structure holds.
Depending on the results of testing through ZIKAKU Theory, a proposition of The Now-Life Theory may be revised, removed, or rejected.
The two therefore do not stand in a hierarchy of answer over question. They are two layers that address the same theory at different resolutions.
The Minimal Structure of v5
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
The flow of ZIKAKU Theory v5 can be stated as follows.
First, there is: ZIKAKU.
ZIKAKU is the primordial generative activity that continuously brings forth the Now.
Through the Big Bang, the first Now comes into being. At the same moment, Primordial Consciousness comes into being.
The universe exists as the physical domain that holds Primordial Consciousness.
Within that universe, life capable of recognizing the Now arises. When life recognizes the Now, New Consciousness distinct from Primordial Consciousness comes into being. Human self-consciousness is one form of it.
Through memory and thought, human beings can turn consciousness toward the past or future. This is Normal Consciousness.
From there, New Consciousness attunes to the Now again. Depth into the Now increases. Synchronization with Primordial Consciousness deepens. As synchronization deepens, the boundary called the self grows thin. In a still deeper state, much of the self itself is lost.
At the same time, the experience of memory changes. ZIKAKU Theory interprets this as a weakening connection to personal memory and a deepening connection to Memory of the Now.
Beyond that point, the universe, life, consciousness, time, memory, and existence - things that appeared separate in Normal Consciousness - are understood instantaneously as a single structure.
Yet the greater the depth into the Now, the more difficult it becomes to bring that understanding back into Normal Consciousness.
At present, whether all of this truly arises from a structure on the side of the universe or from changes occurring within the brain remains an object of testing.
ZIKAKU
ZIKAKU THEORY v5
ZIKAKU is not the Now itself. ZIKAKU is the primordial generative activity that continuously brings forth the Now.
Through this activity, the Now continues to be generated as the position in which existence can actually come into being.
Primordial Consciousness arose with the first Now. Then, within the universe, life capable of recognizing the Now emerged. From that life arose New Consciousness distinct from Primordial Consciousness. Human consciousness is one form of it.
Through memory and thought, human New Consciousness can move away from the Now. It can turn toward the past or the future. It can also attune to the Now again.
As depth into the Now increases, synchronization with Primordial Consciousness deepens. The boundary called the self grows thin. The experience of memory also changes.
In a still deeper state, mysteries that existed separately in Normal Consciousness are understood as a single structure. Yet the deeper one enters, the more difficult it becomes to bring that understanding back.
ZIKAKU Theory therefore does not treat the intensity of experience as proof. It does not treat certainty in understanding as fact. It tests, once again from the side of Normal Consciousness, the structure that could be brought back into Normal Consciousness.
Does ZIKAKU truly exist? Does it truly generate the Now? Does Primordial Consciousness exist? Does Memory of the Now exist? Is Structural Understanding the result of contact with the structure of the universe itself, or does everything arise within the brain?
ZIKAKU Theory does not exist to protect its own answers. It exists to pursue why the Now exists while remaining capable of breaking its own answers.
The four central hypotheses currently placed by v5 are: ZIKAKU continuously brings forth the Now. The first Now and Primordial Consciousness arose with the Big Bang.
Life born within the universe acquires New Consciousness by recognizing the Now. That consciousness can attune to the Now again and synchronize deeply with Primordial Consciousness.
Related Theory
The Now-Life Theory v1
The Now-Life Theory v1 presents, as a minimal structure, only the central propositions concerning the universe, life, consciousness, and memory addressed by ZIKAKU Theory v5.
Each proposition of The Now-Life Theory is subject to explanation, testing, and falsification through ZIKAKU Theory.
Keywords
Now / ZIKAKU / The Now-Life Theory / Primordial Consciousness / New Consciousness / Universe / Life / Consciousness / Altered States of Consciousness / Normal Consciousness / Depth into the Now / Synchronization / Attunement / Dissolution of the Self / Memory / Memory of the Now / Structural Understanding / Reality Anchor / Dance / Brain-Only Model