All a sentient body does, is shape Awareness into a particular form of consciousness. The awareness behind the form taken, is unaffected.
A bee sees a different spectrum of light than we do, and therefor sees the world in a different form. But, the awareness behind bee consciousness is the same as ours. That awareness is not affected by the bee's form of perception.
Our brains have different areas of function. Areas for sight, sound, taste, etc. However, these areas are just interpreting and creating a perception - a form of consciousness.
All sentient beings are just interpreting "what is" according to their form. They are not seeing or experiencing "the thing in itself." The thing in itself is the knower, the subject of all that exists.
So, we can say, "The observer is the observed," because everything is of the same essence.
Awareness is the base of experience, the field in which all appears. It is an open field of potential. Any living form has a certain structure of interpretation based on its sensory apparatus. Awareness interprets according to that pattern, that structure, and provides consciousness accordingly.
All of science is based on what we observe. But, do we appreciate that everything we observe is an interpretation by our senses. The true state of what we observe is never known. It is always an interpretation.
The hard problem of physics has been called materialistic reductionism. But, no matter how detailed science can get into the physical world, it cannot answer the question of conscious awareness.
What comes first, a dream or awareness? Without awareness would a person ever dream at night? To say a dream causes awareness doesn't make sense. But to say a dream appears in awareness does.
We can be nothing other than awareness. Awareness is the primary potential - the open field in which any form of consciousness appears. Since all living beings are aware, all are That. Thus the phrase, "That thou art." Beyond that we cannot go. We are the mystery.
Everything that exists can only be known by a conscious experience in awareness. Nothing can be said to exist without it being known, and the knower is Awareness itself.
All experiences are therefor nothing but appearances in awareness. Thus, when one is enlightened, it is known that one is That Presence that is aware - the one eternal essence that was never born and never dies.
With that identity, life is just an experience of a particular form. What we really are is Awareness, and knowing that, one knows one is eternal and can never die.
