Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Consciousness Research

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1659944

This article is part of the Research TopicDeepening Consciousness: What Phenomenology, Yogic, and Buddhist Meditation Can Contribute From a Psychological PerspectiveView all 5 articles

The Spiritual Core of the Hard Problem: Consciousness as Foundational, Not Emergent

Provisionally accepted
  • Thomas Edison State University, Trenton, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This paper proposes a transpersonal reframing of the Hard Problem of Consciousness by positing that consciousness is ontologically primary-not an emergent property of neural processes, but the foundational reality from which mind and matter arise. Integrating insights from non-dual spiritual traditions such as Advaita Vedanta and Tibetan Buddhism, contemplative science, and the work of transpersonal theorists including Jorge Ferrer, Ken Wilber, and Stanislav Grof, the study argues that a consciousness-centered metaphysics offers a more coherent model for explaining subjectivity, intentionality, and qualia. In critiquing materialist reductionism, it highlights the limitations of third-person methodologies and emphasizes the legitimacy of first-person and participatory ways of knowing. The paper also explores the broader epistemological, ethical, cultural, and ecological implications of adopting a transpersonal cosmology-one that bridges science and spirituality without collapsing their distinctions. By shifting the ontological center from matter to consciousness, this framework invites a pluralistic, integrative paradigm for understanding reality, advancing both human flourishing and scientific inquiry.

Keywords: consciousness is primary, Transpersonal psychology, non-dual traditions, Advaita Vedanta, Contemplative science, Participatory knowing, spiritual phenomenology, cosmology and consciousness

Received: 04 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Arora. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Amira Arora, Thomas Edison State University, Trenton, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.