One way of expressing the framework of reality is to first see that all things can immediately be reduced to the Big Three, consisting of I, We and It. There are obviously things in this world, atoms, molecules, cells, planets, etc. which are made up of some stuff and have at least some substance to them which we can see, hear, feel, smell and so forth. The nature of things is hierarchical, that is, some things are more basic than others, a tree is made of cells, cells are made of molecules, molecules are made of atoms, and so on. One crucial feature of things is that higher order constructions always transcend and include their constituent parts. Trees have attributes that no cell has, cells have attributes that no molecule has, yet each higher thing includes the lower, and could not exist without is parts. This is the It.
The I is the self, the interior reality which can never truly be shared. Often consciousness is reduced to the workings of the brain, the neurons, synapses, brain wave function, but no matter how sophisticated an instrument may be devised to measure the activity of the brain, no one can ever measure it in such a way as to tell you
what I am thinking. To participate in that reality, you have to ask me, and I have to tell you truthfully. Consciousness includes the brain, but it also transcends it and has attributes that its constituent parts could never have. Consciousness also has hierarchical (or holarchical) reality, as some levels of consciousness transcend and include others. One can easily see an evolution of self-awareness that is virtually non-existent in, say, a shrimp (though some researchers posit that even cells have some level of consciousness!) through mammals, primates, and human beings. Human beings themselves have an ontogeny of consciousness, from the sucking and grasping instincts of an infant through the entirely egotistical early childhood years, when the mind cannot yet take the place of the other, where the world is not yet disassociated from the self, through that early differentiation, concrete operational thought, and rationality. Researchers in this field such as Piaget tend to stop with rational thought, but if we continue to higher levels of consciousness we can see that even higher states are possible, which include rationality but also make use of higher mystical or spiritual states typified by the Four Jnanas of Buddhism, the spiritual ecstasies of Meister Eckhart and St. Theresa of Avila, and so on, right up to the non-dual states related by Ramana Maharshi, Dzogchen, and Plotinus. This is the I.
The We is the interior collective, or the parts of ourselves that we share as human beings, culture, society, relationships. As we grow and experience higher internal states, we are able to communicate and commune with others in deeper ways. Societies emerge from mythic-arcaic tribes through nation-states, democratic republics, and so forth. We all see the shortcomings of our societies today, many people have not developed their consciousness to the point where a shared vision of how to interact with each other in loving, respectful, supportive ways is possible. The only solution is to increase our perception of these deficiencies, and work to improve our own level of consciousness and that of those with whom we interact. This is the We, and from our perspective, this is the purpose of life.
Recommended Reading
A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber