Meditate on This: Reality is Just an Illusion

 “Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one.” ~ –Albert Einstein

I’m going to propose something to you that will challenge your beliefs and assumptions. It may bend your mind like a pretzel. Ready? Hold out your hand in front of you. What do you see? What if I were to tell you that what you were seeing actually wasn’t there and was just the illusion of a hand? Would you think I was crazy or have me committed?

Quantum Physics

This concept actually falls squarely into the field of quantum physics. It has shown us that the solar system image of planet-like electrons and protons whizzing around a neutron inside an atom is flat out wrong. This is a convenient representation of what is happening in the atom–and certainly handy for science class lectures. In fact, electrons, muons, tauons, quarks, and gluons have no internal structure or physical size. 

This means they are entirely illusory. Said another way, they are made up of energy. They are zero-dimensional and are more like “events” than things. In fact, quantum physics demonstrates that 99.9999….% of everything in existence is empty space filled by energy. 

If you were to expand a nucleus up to the size of a golf ball, for example, its electron would be over two miles away and everything in between would be just empty space. It would be energy. As Albert Einstein, the father of Quantum Physics, said, “Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one.” 

Einstein also stated, "...the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." In other words, time is an illusion. Similarly spirit beings, in automatic writings, have stated there is no time, for time is defined by physical distance, which doesn’t exist in the non-physical realm. They’ve said there are only milestones or the passage of “events.” Seems like they knew their quantum mechanics. 

Superposition

Even more bizarre, under the theory of Superposition, quantum physicists have discovered that these non-particle electrons, protons and quarks are capable of being in hundreds of places simultaneously. This is only possible if everything is energy at its most fundamental level. You may have heard that spirit and angelic beings can be in multiple places at once. Well now quantum physics is showing how this is possible. 

Copenhagen Interpretation 

Superposition is possible under the Copenhagen Interpretation that states a quantum particle exists in all possible states simultaneously, but will only actualize into one location when acted upon by another energy (in our case, our human consciousness). Therefore, reality as we experience it seems to be the result of human consciousness interfacing with the quantum levels of existence that are pure waves of energy.

As the famous Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger put it, “What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space. Particles are just schaumkommen (appearances).” That essentially everything is energy.

You’ve Never Touched Anything

Go ahead and press your finger against a wall. Feels solid right? What if I were to tell you that in fact you weren’t actually touching the wall at all? “Oh boy, here he goes again!” Just bear with me. 

Under the Electron Repulsion theory, things can never touch each other because everything is made of atoms that contain electrons. Electrons (negatively charged) repel each other just like two magnets with the same poles facing each other. This is basic physics. 

What we call touching is our brain interpreting the electromagnetic force between atoms created by electron repulsion. In fact, the perceived “touching” is actually more like hovering at 10^-8 meters. Thus, whether or not two things can or cannot touch depends on what we mean by touch. Again, it's all perception.

How Does This Impact Your Life?

Are you thoroughly confused, baffled and left scratching your head? “What did he just say?” So why am I bringing all this up? Why am I dredging up all this indecipherable science that only a handful of people might even care about?

What quantum physics has helped us to understand is actually what spirit and mystics have been saying for thousands of years. Everything is energy and what we perceive as reality is in fact just an illusion. Furthermore, all that exists is in fact a unity consciousness–it’s all ONE thing, energy. Call it what you will, Energy, Universe, Source, Self, God, Intelligence, Information. The label doesn’t matter. 

In the words of Swami Muktananda, “The Self, Shiva, is supremely pure and independent, and you can experience it constantly sparkling within your mind. It cannot be perceived by the senses, because it makes the senses function. It cannot be perceived by the mind, because it makes the mind think. Still, the Self can be known, and to know it we do not need the help of the mind or the senses.”

Knowing all this frees our minds from superstitions and restrictions. We know that as energy we are limitless and we can create our existence and our universe with our thoughts. We are unlimited beings in one perceived state with a consciousness that shapes the energy and reality around us. 

As the saying goes, “Thoughts become things.” As Buddha once said, “All that we are is a result of what we have thought.” When a person is perceived to transition into the non-physical, it’s not like their body died, for their body was never here. The body was just energy. We are just consciousness, or energy. We are all energy with unlimited potential to create, and the highest and most powerful energy is love. That is the ultimate creative energy in the here and now that is ever-present. Therefore, in every waking moment, you create your existence and can choose what it looks like based upon your thoughts. Go forth and create your universe of loving energy.

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Tags: meditation, mindfulness, living spiritually, loving kindness, consciousness, source, God, self, energy, spirit, spirituality, mystics, thoughts, creation, quantum physics, quantum mechanics, superposition, Copenhagen Interpretation, Entanglement, Einstein, Schrödinger