Physical matter, like rocks and bodies of water, have consciousness sufficient to perceive their surroundings and have thoughts. Is it because they are aggregates of energy that they have perceptions and can think, or are atoms, subatomic particles and all forms of energy, such as light, electricity, and magnetism possessed of consciousness with the same potentials? Are these energies alive? What is Creator’s perspective about defining whether something is alive?

You are beginning to circle around to the truth of things and closing the knowledge gap quite nicely, because everything emanates from us and our consciousness. All forms of energy are, in their own way, a demonstration of life's existence and its very energetic nature being "lively." So it becomes a matter of splitting hairs to make arbitrary distinctions about what is alive and what is simply an expression of a life form but not, itself, living, much as the hairs on your head are not considered to be alive yet they are without question the product of a life form. In fact, we do consider the hairs on your head to be alive because they are imbued with consciousness, as is everything in existence you are aware of or able to discern or discover. So, as a working definition for life, the existence of consciousness serves quite well. The point of contention would then be, what property or manifestation of consciousness defines what consciousness is, and thus whether or not it might be present? That, to us, is a human activity because it is based on human unawareness and ignorance of the vast complexity of everything, and the origin of everything being within consciousness. We think of the universe as a living part of us because it is an extension of our consciousness, and to us, consciousness is the highest form of existence for the same reasons as you appreciate your self-awareness and your thoughts in defining your self as an individual and a being not only with awareness of its existence, but harboring a purpose and capable of forming many intentions to be a part of things and to cause changes in your environment, and so on. These are quite complex and purposeful behaviors that are consequential. No one would deny that an atomic weapon going off represents a quite prodigious product of human intention and consciousness applied for a goal-directed activity highly impactful on the world as a whole. The fact consciousness comes in many forms and flavors, both complex and quite profound, as well as forms that are, at least to human perception, quite simple and serving predictable functions that are of a very pragmatic nature, like electricity as a form of energy, does not mean they are unrelated and distinctly different fundamentally. That is a misperception based in ignorance. There are many varieties of consciousness and there is always a parallel consciousness within anything in existence. So what you think of as something being alive is a kind of bias based on human observations, and in the end, not always of the greatest importance but yet another arbitrary distinction that is a kind of way station in illustrating your development.