We each seem to have a sense of self -- i.e., the sense that I "in here" am separate from the world "out there." Most of our spiritually-related explorations revolve around this key question: How do I (my Consciousness) fit into the world (Physical Reality)?
Physical Reality is very tangible -- we interact with it day-to-day, minute-to-minute. In part because it is tangible, we have made huge steps in our understanding of it in an incredibly short span of time.
Consciousness is much more difficult to pin down because it must be experienced. It is difficult, if not impossible, to physically test. If I lacked Consciousness (e.g., if I were a simple robot), I could perceive all the events happening in my environment, including interactions between people, and still have no idea that Consciousness was involved, or even have the ability to conceptualize it.
I believe that the core of all of our spiritual yearnings is the desire to integrate Consciousness and Physical Reality. This is something that we all share, regardless of our religous and/or spiritual beliefs. It underlies all of our existential questions and is the basis upon which our various religous and spiritual systems are layered.
The Staircase takes an approach which considers Physical Reality and Consciousness independently, but ultimately attempts to integrate them. I start with the assumption that Physical Reality and Consciousness are distinct and then explore both of them to see if that is, in fact, the case. One could be a manifestation of the other or, alternatively, they could be separate (albeit interacting) phenomena. I believe that this is the most important and interesting question there is and we have been looking for the answer for a long, long time.
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