Reality is a topic that is hotly debated
in spiritual, religious, psychological and philosophical communities.
Keep in mind,
that because people have dedicated their entire life
to the study of just the concept of reality,
the capacity to really sum up reality
and all of the different philosophies around it,
in this time I have today for this video,
is unlikely.
However,
I've never been one to back down from a challenge
of unpacking a difficult concept.
So without much further ado,
let's dive into reality
and why it is so important to face it.
Reality
Reality is defined as the universe
or the state of things as they actually exist,
as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
Something that is real
is something that actually exists as a thing
or occurring in fact.
Not imagined or supposed.
Here we run into several roadblocks already.
Whoever came up with this definition of what real is,
have a real hard time understanding
that there is such a thing as physical reality
and non-physical reality.
These were people who were heavily locked into the concept
of the world as separate from them.
And as thought,
being incredibly separate from what is real.
They were also completely locked into the idea
that the only thing that is "real"
is the physical plan of existence.
~ Laughter ~
We would love to think of our senses of perception,
things like sight and smell and hearing and felt perception
to be something that can grasp objective reality.
However,
the truth couldn't be further from this.
We know this because there are x-rays
and gamma-rays and all kinds of different
radio waves that are passing through our body all day long
and you have no awareness of it.
In fact, you have no way to prove it. Do you?
You just listen to what scientists have said.
Here's another example:
Let's look at touch.
Particles are attracted to particles with an opposite charge.
They repel other similarly charged particles.
This prevents electrons
from ever coming in direct contact with each other.
You are made of particles.
When you pick up a pen the electrons within your body
are repelling the electrons that make up the pen.
Because of your nerve cells,
when you feel this repulsion in the electromagnetic field,
you perceive yourself to be touching the thing.
But actually, you aren't.
Unless an organism
is doing some kind of deep philosophical
Introspection,
it's highly unlikely that an organism
is going to grasp the concept
that reality is beyond what it can perceive.
I'll tell you a little story to give you an example of this.
I was hiking one day in the desert
and I got into a stream.
And in this stream there was this crayfish.
I sat down in the water and I watched this crayfish
examine my legs for 30 minutes.
It was different than most animals
exploring something they'd never seen before.
I think this was the closest that a crustacean
has ever come to an existential crisis.
The point being in his world
I was an extraterrestrial being.
Because his reality was that stream,
he could not grasp a human world
beyond his world of that river.
It just never occurs to us
that when it comes to reality,
we might just be that crayfish.
Objective reality is the amalgamation
of every subjective reality.
In other words, when they're all added together,
it forms one truth or one reality
within the universe.
It is therefore not possible
to comprehend of objective reality,
as long as you are identified
with your subjective reality.
Of course, we can get into a debate
about whether or not it's possible to truly dis identify.
I think you know which side I am on,
in terms of that argument.
However, that is something that you have to understand.
As long as you are identified with the subjective reality,
there is no way to grasp objective reality.
And number 2:
Grasping objective reality is dependent upon
you being able to expand your perception and perspective
wide enough to accommodate all subjective realities.
This is what source mind ultimately is.
Assuming the definition of source is all energy
and therefore consciousness in existence.
Subjective reality is something being perceived as real
that is solely based
on a person's individual and subjective perspective.
This includes individual experiences,
feelings, thoughts, needs, desires,
preferences and opinions.
If you are identified,
the only reality you can perceive is subjective reality.
In order to get beyond subjective reality,
you have to transcend beyond "I".
You have to be able to accommodate
all subjective perspectives.
Not just "yours".
As identified human beings,
we have the capacity to perceive
just about enough to let us get through our environment.
But not enough,
in our limited human perspective,
when we haven't committed to awareness,
to grasp the full picture.
Now we have to differentiate between
objective reality and a consensus reality.
Because the consensus reality
is in fact just a subjective perspective.
A perfect example of this is religions.
It's a group of people
who have all agreed upon a certain reality.
But all of those people are sharing
a subjective perspective.
It doesn't represent the totality of consciousness
in existence, relative to any subject.
When someone says:
"You have to accept reality"
what's usually happening there
is not that somebody is arguing for the case of objective reality.
Instead what they're saying is:
"You are not in objective reality,
because you're so identified with your own perspective,
you're not...
Accommodating my subjective perspective."
When we're having this conversation about reality
the first thing we have to address is
the concept or philosophy
that there is no such thing as reality.
There are a lot of people who say that
reality is not a thing that exists
or that reality is in the eyes of the beholder.
People who support the idea of non reality,
including many quantum scientists
argue that there's no such thing as objective reality.
Because every possible observation or interpretation
is tainted by subjectivity
and therefore does not constitute truth.
Many of them teach that nothing is real,
because nothing exists until it is observed or measured.
This concept is supported by things like the double slit experiment.
To simplify this concept,
until we observe reality,
it exists as a wave of potentials and probabilities.
The funny thing is,
is that even these non reality concepts
prove the existence of an objective reality.
Why?
Because even a statement like:
"The truth is, everything exists just as a wave of potential,
and therefore reality only exists when we focus on it."
Would in and of itself be considered an objective truth.
And therefore something that is objectively real.
An objective reality exists,
whether a subjective reality
is capable of perceiving of that objective reality or not.
That's a different thing entirely.
There are many constraints
when it comes to perceiving objective reality.
Constraints like biology, awareness, belief patterns, coping mechanisms, etc.
To understand more about these concepts though,
I urge you to watch my video titled:
Objective Truth (Do We Create Our Own Reality?)
It is critical to decide,
when we're talking about reality in general,
whether we're talking about objective reality or subjective reality.
I'll let you guys argue about whether it is even possible,
by the way, to have a conversation about objective reality.
If the conversation itself is taking place in the language
that is happening when somebody's identified with a singularity.
~ Laughter ~
Oh it's gonna get too complicated.
That being said,
both objective reality and subjective reality
are actually really valid and important
levels of reality.
~ Laughter ~
Here's what I mean by that:
when I'm sitting here and teaching somebody
how to line up with their individual truth
and how to become aware
of their thoughts and their emotions,
we're dealing with a subjective reality there.
That's valid and important.
So it's not like we're saying:
"Objective reality is the only thing that matters."
No.
But something like...
Breaking outside of your own subjective reality
and the thought constraints that cause you a lack of freedom,
that is stepping more in the direction of potential
objective reality.
Because the more you accommodate different perspectives,
the more close you get to objective reality, right?
So when we are dealing with
spiritual awareness and awakening,
we're actually working equally with both.
We're trying to integrate subjective and objective reality.
To say: "I create my own reality."
is true in terms of subjective reality.
It's not as true when it comes to objective reality.
And let me tell you why;
It is to use a spiritual truth of creation and perception
to deny objective reality for the sake of individual preferences.
Because all things in existence are part of source
and therefore imbued with the innate capacity to create,
you can create reality.
But so can everyone else.
Because source is currently fragmented,
objective reality is therefore a co-creation.
This means you're not the only one creating objective reality.
Also, objective reality
must accommodate for contradictory truths.
Because of this universe is multi-dimensional.
And a truth that exists at one dimension of this universe
doesn't exist at another.
The most common example of this that I can give to you is:
At one level of existence there is no death.
Energy does not die.
It is not created.
It literally is simply recycled.
Obviously that's not true for the physical dimension. Is it?
How easy was it for you
to perceive grandma after she died?
So at one level of existence death is a reality.
At another level of existence it's not a reality.
Both are part of objective reality.
That means the objective reality in this universe is:
Death exists.
It also doesn't exist.
The main goal of awakening
is to become more and more aware.
What that really means is,
more and more able to accommodate
every subjective reality,
so that the amalgamation of it
results in these truths,
that stand for all dimensions of time and space.
Or the capacity to present and hold
contradictory information.
Believe it or not,
but free will is only possible with genuine awareness.
Because when we're not in a space of awareness,
we can't make choices.
We're actually acting as a result of determinism.
Therefore stepping in to objective reality
is where you actually find your access to free will.
As we progress down the path of awareness
and awakening,
then our perspective must become more and more
accommodating.
That includes accommodating of the truth that
all of us must accept
that we don't know what we don't know.
Now because we have hit the tip of the iceberg
of the debate about reality,
we need to go into the more practical aspects of reality.
Because it's absolutely critical.
Now in the spiritual communities and the self-help communities
it's a really really really big shadow
that people deny reality.
And these teachings and philosophies
around non reality,
meaning "I create my own reality"
or "reality doesn't exist until you observe it",
has become a huge cop-out
or escape mechanism for people,
from looking at what is real for themselves
and in the world around them.
If we grew up in particularly powerless situations
as a child
(childhood is innately powerless)
but for some of us we had parents
that were let's say less accommodating
of our reality than others,
then we perceived this powerlessness
about facing reality.
When we face reality,
it feels like we can't change anything about it.
So it's better to just ignore it.
For this reason,
I want you to look at a video that I created.
It's called:
OVERLAY (What Prevents You >From Having a Real Relationship)
Basically, if we feel like there's a situation
we can't do anything about
and we can't proactively change,
then what's the point of facing the reality
and being miserable about it all the time?
Why not just pretend it to be different?
Reality as it applies to this practical level of reality
is in fact your only access of power.
Many of the spiritual practices people engage in today
are a mechanism of reality avoidance
instead of practices that create
an expansion of subjective reality.
For example,
let's say I can't face the reality
that I'm in a really incompatible relationship for me
and because of it,
it feels like crap to us both.
It's a lot better that I don't face that.
Now what I do is focus on the fact
that I'm in a twin flame relationship.
And twin flame relationships are extreme growth relationships.
That's why we're hurting so much.
It's only by seeing the reality
of how someone feels,
accepting where they really are,
that we can actually do something
to remedy a conflict between us.
It's only if we see the reality
that our gas gauge in our car is empty,
that we can stop and fill it up with gas.
Here's another example:
Imagine that you're in love with somebody,
but they died.
Let's say you're not able to see that reality
or you refuse to see it.
And so you prop that person up at the end of the table,
you set a plate of food down in front of them,
you're still loving on them still kissing them,
still expecting them to have a conversation.
You can see that that's not going to go well for you.
Now stick with me.
You're gonna have to accept the reality
is that that person is dead,
to have any power.
Why?
Because,
even if it was possible
to bring someone back from the grave,
I know those of you who are into magic and stuff like that,
even spells are gonna be like:
"Well, anything is possible. You can bring people back."
Okay, so here's the thing;
In order to even do something like that,
if you could,
to bring them back from the dead,
you would have to first admit to the reality
that they are dead.
And if it is not possible to bring a person back from the dead,
then your only access of power
would be to accept that
and then act accordingly.
So either way,
your only access of power
is by accepting reality.
For another analogy;
Imagine you're in a boat in a river headed towards a waterfall,
it's obvious that your only access of power
is to accept the reality that you're headed towards a waterfall
and to act accordingly by getting your boat out of the water.
If you refuse to see this reality, you're going over.
This is part of why it is so important
to get closer to objective reality,
by accommodating other people's subjective realities.
One of the things that I see in families
relative to this practical aspect from not accepting reality,
so often is that people in the family won't accept
other family member's "reality"
of how they feel.
It's almost like:
"Well, you shouldn't feel that way, so I'm not gonna acknowledge
that's the reality of how you feel."
But the thing is is that if you're refusing to acknowledge
the reality that that's how the other person feels,
then you are the one in fact, not in objective reality.
Because your reality is not accommodating
of their perspective and their perception.
You can only make a genuine change
from inside reality.
Therefore I I'm actually opposed,
very opposed, to these teachings around
"You create your own reality,
so ignore reality
and focus only on what you want to have happen.
Intentional focus
and the intentional and conscious creation of reality
absolutely has a place in your life
and in your spiritual practice.
However, it should never replace
your commitment to seeing objective reality.
And subjective reality.
As far as subjective reality is concerned,
different perceptions
lead to completely different experiences
of the reality that we individually interpret
and accept as truth.
Thankfully subjective perspective
is mutable as hell!
It is constantly being amended.
It is constantly being changed.
One single experience
can change the reality that you perceive in this universe.
And that is perhaps the most valuable aspect
of awakening.
The most valuable aspect of becoming aware.
It's that you can continue to alter
and continue to expand your subjective reality.
It's also a good thing
that subjective reality is so incredibly mutable.
Because the universe itself
in terms of collective consciousness,
is the most interested right now
in taking each subjective perspective within itself
and expanding it
to accommodate the whole.
Now, you know that the universe fragmented.
That means objective reality fragmented
into multiple subjective realities.
If each one of these subjective realities
expands wide enough to perceive objective reality,
meaning each other fragment within Itself,
then source has come to know itself.
Which would be the goal of life in general.
Think of it like consciously
putting all of the puzzle pieces together
and so that you can comprehend
the entire picture
which we never quite saw on a conscious level to begin with.
Creating your subjective reality consciously
is super healthy as long as it is not done
to the exclusion of other subjective perspectives.
Which is the exact opposite of awareness.
Basically what I'm saying here is
there's a lot of ideas floating around the spiritual community
that there is somehow some contradiction between
awareness and creating your own reality.
Now what I'm going to argue
is that these are the concepts that need to be integrated.
We need to be willing to create our own reality,
at the same time
as have complete awareness.
At one level of reality,
because everything in this universe was created,
then everything is just as much illusion
as everything is just as much truth.
At one level of reality in this universe
everything in existence is just atoms
and beyond that just particles.
Therefore it's not very dangerous
for particles to be swimming around with other particles.
At another dimension of truth,
It's not particularly safe
for you to be swimming around
convinced that you're swimming with fish,
because of how painful it would be
to be swimming around with sharks.
That would be scary right?
Don't want to face that reality.
But let me tell you what;
Pretty important,
if you're swimming in an ocean,
to know whether you're swimming with fish,
or with sharks.
~ Laughter ~
So face reality!
It's not a contradiction to creating your reality.
Have a good week
Subtitles by: Tanya Duarte www.tanyaduarte.com