The Nature of Reality
Session 18
Did the universe have a beginning? That is the same question as asking, is there time? If the universe didn’t have a beginning, how was it manifested?
You are asking the wrong question! Rather ask, have you always been aware? If so, then you can say you have always existed. If you have always existed, then there is no beginning or end to anything, for you have always been conscious.
What? Let me clarify my question. I distinguish between awareness, or consciousness, which is a quality, not a quantity. Therefore, it does not exist, but is the creator of existence. So the matter and energy of the observable universe came into being from a Source which itself is not created. Source-of-all must be a pure, massless creative potential, otherwise, it would have had to be created by something else! Source-of-all is the Uncreated Creator. So you are confusing awareness with existence, as far as I’m concerned.
There can be no awareness without existence. The two terms are indistinguishable, are merely semantic hair–splitting.
I don’t get it. Is that supposed to be an answer?
What we mean is that in order to be self–aware, there must be a conception of self. In order for there to be a conception of self, there must be self–and–other, or something outside of self. Otherwise, there is no distinction, no differentiation, no identity, no communication, no space, no time. In other words, in order for there to be a creator, there must be the concept of something created. This very idea brings forth a thought or a vibration, which can then be perceived. We call this the First Thought. The thought of ‘something other than myself’ itself creates space and time and existence. However, the instant (no– instant) of self awareness cannot be separated from the original idea, for there was no self awareness before the First Thought!
The First Thought occurs in no–time. That is because time itself is the motion of objects in space, and there is nothing yet in existence prior to the First Thought. Therefore, there can be no distinction between existence and self awareness! Self awareness, existence, and eternity are one and the same, all occurring in a no–moment transcending, or prior, to time (an impossibility, of course). That which is beyond time is eternal. This is how a universe comes about.
Once you have become self aware, you exist. Once you become self aware, you are eternal, for there was never a time when you were not aware, do you see? Eternal means always in existence, and attempts to dig further into this question always leads to a circular argument.
We want to point out that altering the conditions or ‘things’ of existence is the definition of time, from your physical point of view. So time is dependent upon the decisions of consciousness.
Wow! That’s a lot to digest, but I got it! I don’t quite understand what you said in the last paragraph about time.
Time is the alteration of perception. If perception is altered, time is said to have ‘passed’ Every thought, every decision you make is an alteration of your consciousness, so with every thought you think, you experience time. That is why many teachers recommend meditation, to stop the flow of thought and release self from the perception of time, in order to reach different states of consciousness. That is what being ‘in the zone’ is –– a concentration so powerful that it leads to a complete release and a sense of being ‘outside’ the flow of time.
OK. So does reality have an independent (objective) existence, or is it simply a subjective product of consciousness?
Everything that can be imagined can be experienced because it can be perceived. If you have a dream, do you say you are not experiencing?
Wait a minute! A dream is pretty flimsy compared with reality. You talked previously about how the physical universe was created because dreams were too unsatisfying. There is no comparison to imagining something and actually experiencing it.
Nevertheless, what is imagined is perceived. The intensity of perception may vary, but perception itself is only dependent on having something to perceive. All perception is based in thought, and thought is a creation of consciousness. You may consider that something outside yourself is objectively real –– which is true, because it is Not you –– and you can also consider perception to be subjective, because it comes forth from consciousness, of which you are an aspect. The distinction is really irrelevant. What you perceive is real!
Jeez, I sort of do, but that means that nothing is really real is it? Is there an objective object when I look at a glass, or is it just an interpretation of my mind? That has been debated for millennia among philosophers.
Consciousness creates from what it can imagine and draw forth from the potential. There is a ‘real’ glass there if you agree to interpret the ‘vibrations of the glass’ as a glass. The vibrational sensors of your human body interface with the energy of the glass; they are tuned to interpret the glass as a glass.
You become so dependent upon the physical senses to feed you information that our talk of ‘vibration’ makes no sense to you, for the interpretation of your world occurs instantaneously and in a continuous stream. You are barraged with a flow of data in every conscious moment. That’s the way the physical experience was designed. Remember, the point of a physical universe is to intensify perception and heighten the impact of experiencing. Therefore, it is very difficult for you in physical form to have any reality on the vibrational nature of the universe. The best you can do is build instruments which attempt to interpret your world independently of your human sensors.
OK, so you are saying that there is no objective reality, because the glass energies may be interpreted differently.
(Sigh) If you are driving along in a car at 100 miles an hour and you run into a brick wall, do you wonder whether or not the experience is real? What difference does it make if there is ‘really’ a brick wall there, or you are just interpreting a bunch of energies? If you have a vivid dream, and you wake up shaking with fear or experiencing something wonderful, do you say ‘well it was all just a dream, therefore it is not real?’ An experience is just the way a conscious being decides to perceive, as we said before.
Say you are driving along on a 2 lane road at 70 miles an hour, and as you come up over a hill you see a car coming the other way in your lane. You swerve quickly out of the way and avoid the collision. Now you and your friend talk over the incident: you are scared out of your mind and your body is shaking all over, but your friend is excited. To him, it was a wonderful thing, because it allowed him, in that instant, to experience a profound and powerful connection with his source energy. Same event, but in ‘reality,’ two completely different events.
You see, questions along those lines can never have a truly satisfactory answer from a human point of view. You are always looking to lock it down, declare it as fixed forever, when life is simply the creation of something new in every moment! If we were to say, ‘yes there is an objective reality and this is the way it is’ then you would all start creating ‘reality’ that way, and it would manifest for you, and you would be limiting yourself to a certain way of experiencing.
YOU GET TO DECIDE WHAT REALITY IS FOR YOU!
OK. So the distinction between subjective reality and objective reality is a false one.
Yes. There is no difference between objective and subjective reality. What is perceived is what is real. What is perceived is dependent upon the choices a conscious being makes. You recall yesterday, you were recording music off VHS tapes. Your VHS recorder was in the living room and your computer sound card was in the computer room, so a long cord was necessary to connect the two. You had to run in and out of the computer room occasionally to check on the picture from the TV. You recall that no less than three times you placed the VHS remote right in front of you, and walked out of the room without seeing it. When you got to the TV you did not recall where it was.
When you walked back into the computer room you saw it sitting right before the monitor. This is a good example of: what is perceived is what is real. Did the remote have an ‘objective‘ reality? Another observer might say ‘Yes, I see the remote on the desk in front of the monitor.’ But you did not see it. So for you it did not exist. What is perceived is what exists. Now you might say, ‘But I could have perceived it and I did perceive it later. So it must have been there all along.’ Yes, but the point we are making is that when you were not thinking of it, it did not exist, and only when you were thinking of it, did it ‘reappear.’
This is how the game of perception, and reality, works. If the remote was made and it was sitting on the desk but no one in the universe is aware of its existence, can it be said to have an ‘objective’ or independent existence? You might say, again, that an observer who was aware of it could point to it sitting right there. But postulated observers who do not themselves exist are merely theoretical constructs and have no meaning! A thing can be said to exist right now if and only if it is perceived by an observer, a conscious being. And ONLY by that conscious being, not a theoretical observer!
From our vantage point these questions are merely an intellectual exercise with very little meaning. We assure you that we do not contemplate such things. We have a complete and total knowing that our choices and decisions determine our experiences. We exist in a sea of well–being where questions like ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg’ are meaningless. Eternal means, always was, always is, always will be. We are eternal beings, and so are you.
Therefore we have always existed and will always exist, and our thoughts and creations are evolving continuously. What has been created is not so important to us as what is being created and what will be created! What new potentials will manifest from the decisions of consciousness? What new games and new experiences can we invent and then play around with?
To us it is not important whether conscious beings decide whether the remote is objectively or subjectively ‘real.’ Life is all about the joy of creating and experiencing, and the sooner you learn that the better off you will be, dear one. Do you understand?
For a second there I really got it. I gotta admit, you are consistent in your point of view.
We would say, do not limit yourself! That is our definitive answer to all questions about the nature of reality!
You may perceive in any way you choose. You are the choreographer of your life, so to speak. You get to decide who is in your play! By trying to figure it all out, you just limit the ways in which you can perceive. Use your imagination!
We understand that on earth there is fear of change, fear of those who perceive differently or have radical ideas that differ from the accepted norm. So those who dare to think and act differently are often censored. But this censorship can have no effect upon you if you just go about living life the way you would like, and paying no attention to those who do not like what you are thinking or doing.
OK, thanks again. I’m a broken record, it seems. I am asking the same questions over and over again.
(smiles) That’s all right. We enjoy adventuring with you. You are never boring, we have to say that.
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In 2005, he created a second volume of Dialogues which included more questions and answers that he had received since writing the first book.
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