
There's no difference between what we call reality and illusion. What seems like reality to us is what we can see, and experience with the rest of our five senses. To make the old Matrix analogy, this could all be simulated and we could be plugged into a machine feeding us all the inputs we need to produce a very realistic world. We’ve all seen what AI is capable of generating. Some fake videos and pictures are indistinguishable from real ones. Scams no longer look fake.
We use microscopes to examine tiny particles and organisms to determine what is real on that small scale. We use telescopes and advanced computer software to look out into space and determine what is real on the macrocosmic scale. Whatever technology we use to assist us in gathering information about the world must all come through our five human senses eventually. The data we obtain from our senses are then decoded and processed by our brains to make sense of it. There are also errors in the way our brain processes these images and events. We have preconceived ideas and beliefs.
When something we see challenges our beliefs it is easy for our minds to distort and manipulate it into something else. We may deny the evidence we see with our own eyes. Today we can’t trust photo and video evidence because it’s become so easy to create fakes. After being fed a lot of lies and misinformation we start to become used to it, and we give up on thinking critically about the world, denying that there is even truth out there. When the genuine article comes our way we accuse it of being fake and plug our ears from listening.
The only thing we know that is real is our consciousness. Even if we’re a brain in a vat and we’re just being sent signals to simulate a world like a video game, the fact still remains that we’re experiencing something. Whether it’s good or bad, pleasurable or painful, this part of us that is aware of it and decides what it likes and dislikes is real. We have the gift of consciousness so that we can navigate this illusion and make choices.
This is a very convincing illusion though. We can prove certain things by confirming whether other people have experienced the same thing. If the moon explodes, millions of people will see that happening. It will be all over the news and people will be sharing this information over social media. The way facts are solidified by peer reviews and multiple witnesses makes this illusion persistent and strengthens our collective ideas about reality. Let’s say you had the ability to move objects with your mind and you practised everyday until you were absolutely confident that you had this skill. If you then stood in front of a crowd of people who did not believe that this was possible, consensus reality would prevent you from displaying your supernatural ability. It would infringe upon the beliefs of the majority around you and this would make it impossible for you to perform the magic.
You may ask how this world was formed before people existed on Earth. If there was nobody to create the shared illusion of reality then how did the world come into being in the first place? Well, you would need to release your conception that only intelligent organisms have consciousness. The planets in our solar system, the galaxies that spin clockwise and anticlockwise throughout the universe also have consciousness. These gigantic god-level consciousnesses keep in place the laws of physics and set up the backend forces that drive evolution from simple elements to animal and plant life and forward to higher level beings.
Humans have believed in the divine influences of the stars for millennia. Those who’ve studied astrology know how intricate the planetary configurations can be and how many different types of personalities can be formed by the way their galactic energies integrate with the planets and the intelligent beings living on them. What the influences are exactly is a mystery but it could lighten up the subject if we know that everything is identity and it’s all connected together.
Everything is made of light energy. Matter is basically light energy that has been condensed and crystalized into a solid form. If you look closely at an object you’ll notice that the atoms which make up the material consists mostly of empty space. It is the electromagnetic forces between the atoms which repel other objects and create the illusion that they are solid. If our hands were vibrating at a different frequency we could possibly pass one of them directly through a table as if we were a ghost. It has been scientifically proven that the mass of heavy objects can change due to high impact. If you measure the weight of a cannonball, and then drop it onto the floor from a height, it will weigh a little less afterwards because some of the atoms within the cannonball have shifted to a slightly different vibration. The weight will then gradually return as these atoms pop back into existence and you’ll see this on the scale.
The nature of our reality is therefore very much like a videogame. Video games are probably a development of the human mind which came out of a primitive subconscious understanding of the way the world is put together with light. The further developed you are spiritually, the more light energy you have. Light energy is stored in the DNA, so highly advanced beings which are able to transcend this third density realm would have more light information stored in their DNA. Another way to look at reality is as if it was a dream. The dream experience we have every night may actually be more real than the waking world we prepare for each morning.
When we die, it will be like waking up and we will remember everything. We will no longer be bound to the limits of our physical bodies, and all the information that we have stored up throughout our preincarnate lives will return to us. Then we will see what a great opportunity we had while we were on Earth. We might even desire to return so that we could take more advantage of the lessons possible during a human lifetime. The meaningful actions and nonsense that wasted our time will be clearly distinguishable.
We create our own reality. This is accomplished on an energetic level. When we’re able to resonate with the energy of what we desire we will attract that into our lives. Opportunities will come our way and we won’t be aware of the train of circumstance that led them to us. Things will fall into place easily in the way that the Tao makes events flow smoothly through life. Negative energy attracts negative experiences.
When people die, their heart stops beating, their brain activity stops and the body starts to decay. The part of them that animated their body with vitality and shined consciousness through their eyes is no longer there. Death is a transition of consciousness into another plane of existence. Any attempt therefore to measure or detect what happens to the consciousness of a living being after death is futile because you would be trying to analyse something that is somewhere else. I don’t know about you but I haven't heard of any device that was invented to measure the activity of spirits in time/space. Perhaps there are some movies that portray that sort of idea.
I think what people really want to know is what kind of experience they could expect once they pass away. There are many different beliefs and theories among cultures and religions. Some Christian denominations teach that the soul is equivalent to the body. This belief system includes the teaching that Jesus will return someday in the future to resurrect the dead Christians and bring those who are alive at the time with Him back to heaven. Other Christian denominations are in agreement with the concept of an immortal soul that departs after death. This set of doctrines include the idea of hell being a place of torture that the wicked are sent to for punishment. On the other hand they teach that believing Christians go to heaven to enjoy ceaseless bliss.
People of eastern religions have beliefs about death which are worlds apart from the beliefs of western religions such as Christianity. In the East, reincarnation is the main philosophical explanation for the spiritual processes of life and death. In reincarnation, a soul has an unlimited amount of opportunities to incarnate and live human lives. In this eastern paradigm there is a period after death where the soul reviews the lifetime it had and integrates all the human lessons it’s learned. In the time/space domain of the spirit world the rich experience of human senses are not available. Being born as a human is a true privilege and provides an opportunity for the soul to gain an enormous amount of data for spiritual evolution. The soul then uses this data to polarize more positively on the path of service to others, or to polarize negatively on the path of service to self.
The purpose of living a human life is not to chase after pleasure and avoid pain. These are simply survival instincts which we inherit from the animal kingdom. The weighty moral choices that we make on a daily basis is of primary importance. Do we choose to be a good person and show kindness, or do we choose to control others in order to benefit the self? What makes these choices of value is the difficulty that is involved with processing our human feelings. We are only able to feel complex emotions because we are incarnated in a human body. We’re not robots that operate based on pure logic and programming. Doing the right thing in spite of physical or psychological pain develops your character and ultimately determines your path of spiritual evolution.
A loving Creator would set the universe up to provide his creation with as many opportunities to learn as they need. Imagine having a child and then disowning that child after it makes one mistake. A good parent would be patient and teach the child the right way of doing things consistently. That’s why the idea of sending souls to burn forever in hellfire for a limited number of sins they committed during their life is ridiculous. That would beg the question, why God would create them with sinful propensities in the first place?
From what I know about the religious beliefs associated with systems like Buddhism, there is a difference concerning the understanding of the nature of the soul. The concept about life after death is somewhat foreign and requires you to ponder it for a while. If we’re all instances of god living seemingly separate lives in this illusion, then there isn’t the need for an ego to exist that persists after death. In this paradigm, I am god having a human experience as Caleb. So if I die and reincarnate as someone else, there wouldn’t be a difference from my perspective because I would lose my memory of my past lives.
Other people are also me but they’re having different experiences because they have different bodies and living circumstances. This illusion we live in, also referred to as Maya, allows the universe and all those in it to move through time simultaneously. For me it makes more sense for our souls to have some sort of spiritual memory or body that carries on and evolves throughout many lifetimes. Then eventually we will merge again with the Creator once we’ve reached that level. This aligns more with the notion of a hero’s journey or a structure for the soul to follow.
Human beings fear the unknown. So it’s natural for us to be fearful about death and what happens afterwards. But death is just another transition in the cycle of life. Everything in this world changes and nothing lasts forever. In nature when things become stagnant it usually produces pollution and results in a very unpleasant environment. Death allows nature to improve upon its ecosystem and the old is replaced with the new. In my opinion most people would enjoy it if we lived for a few hundred more years, but I think immortality would make us all miserable eventually.
Focussing on the present moment is more important than worrying about death. To be as present as you can be and to be mindful in all the mundane activities of life is the way to happiness. If you place happiness in the future then that’s always where it will be.
When we’re teenagers we develop our personalities and we learn how to take care of ourselves. One of the lessons of youth is that if we don’t put ourselves first and go for what we want, we will miss out on life and be left at the back of the line. When we’re young this is necessary because we haven’t learned about what we’re capable of. We first need to get to know and empower ourselves. Then once we’ve decided on what our career path is, and we know what talents and abilities we’re gifted with, we can start looking at the world and seeing where we can offer service.
This third density world requires us to have survival skills and to know which places and people to avoid. It becomes important for us to find a balance between taking care of our own needs and looking out for the needs of others. This is when the ego starts putting its foot in the door. Some of us find that there is so much evil and negativity around, that we decide that we might as well focus on benefitting ourselves entirely. We start relying on the pleasure principle, which states that human beings do whatever they can to seek out pleasure and avoid pain.
When you’re in survival mode for too long it gets difficult to see the oneness in everything. The illusion of separateness takes over your mind and you become identified with your thoughts and desires. Your own importance becomes inflated and you end up only looking out for number one. When this happens, the negative emotions of fear and guilt start increasing. You begin to fear what others think of you, whether you’ll have enough money, achieve your dreams, and ultimately whether you’ll survive.
In this state of mind, your sense of guilt grows because you know you’re not aiming to benefit the world around you. Everytime you have to step on someone else to go up the ladder, it adds a bit more guilt. When the guilt becomes so large that it threatens to eat you up you hide it deep down. You wonder why you struggle with intimate relationships and trust. Every time someone comes close to you and wants to show you love, you push them away because you know that the hideous pile of guilt that you’ve stored up is going to come out.
The Ego gets in the way of your success in life. Instead of correctly evaluating yourself and doing what needs to be done to improve and grow, you listen to the ego’s voice. It says you’ve already made it and you don’t need to improve. You believe the lie that you already have the knowledge and you don’t need to read books. Eventually you fail and someone who has done the hard work takes your place and because they were willing to listen to criticism.
In reality, your ego doesn’t even exist. It is more of a set of mental identities that we get programmed with. It is a way of thinking about our reality. We don’t have an ego, we perform an ego. We think along the lines of ego when we believe that we are lacking something. This could be a lack of finances, friends and companionship, fulfillment in life, or mental aptitude. The ego grows like a mushroom in the dark areas of the mind that fears lack. When we realise that the universe is one and everything is connected, it’s like shining a light in a dark place. There is abundance if we'll only pay attention to the present moment and find the connection to it.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26 NIV
The ego is very cunning and may even try to deceive you into desiring abundance for the wrong reasons. It ridicules the idea of abundance because you don’t have a lamborghini or live in a six figure house. Abundance doesn’t necessarily mean money, although there is nothing wrong with money. Some of us will end up making a lot of money, and some of us will go through life earning a modest salary. The ego will now protest and demand only the best future for you because you’re entitled to it, are you not? Well, enlightenment is learning to be content and accept your circumstances. Be grateful for what you have right now, and you’ll show the universe that you have the right energy to be given more.
When a hungry wild dog sees food, it goes crazy and runs to eat it viciously because it wants to prevent other dogs from consuming it. It is in a state of survival and all it can think of is lack. If you have that attitude, you’re missing an important point. The analogy is that, by looking out for the other dogs your own needs will be met. If you try to help other people, relieve their suffering, and provide for their needs it creates a high frequency in your life. Your own suffering shrinks as your perspective changes and you realise that there is abundance after all.
A big bad ego will do whatever it can to convince you that you don’t need others. It will show you a fictional future and make you believe that you can only become powerful by controlling and manipulating other people. For those who rely on ego in life, there is really no alternative than to focus on power. The idea is that if you have enough power you can force others to give you what you need. If you are oriented towards service to others and realize that the ego is a lie you start focussing more on love.
Your life becomes filled with peace because you’ve abandoned the belief that you’re separate from others. When others are happy and successful, it does not stir jealousy within you or resentment. They are part of the Creator, and you are part of the Creator, and you know this deep down. There is no reason to ever be angry.

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