Reality is not objective

1 April 2026

I think we can all agree that we share a consensus reality. Castaneda’s books talk about it as the ‘first attention’ – where perception tends to be fixed in humans. His mentor Don Juan described it as the world of objects. That said, we all see the same things but through dramatically distorted lenses. If you’re to believe Rizwan Virk’s multiverse theory, why couldn’t each and every one of us run our own personal simulation? Solipsistic sure, but is it really that improbable?

Despite that possibility it seems more realistic to assume that we share a reality, but that reality is distorted by perception. What renders perception? The ego, of course. Or in Castaneda terms, the foreign installation. We project everything through the filters imposed by the ego which relate to our experiences as humans. There is a school of thought that we even inherit karma from previous lifetimes, stored impressions that follow us into distinct lives. I am thinking specifically about Buddhism and the reincarnation wheel. The analogy that I think is appropriate to reality is that of a computer. Each of our minds is like a personal computer with the stored programs, the likes and dislikes, the highs and the lows which then project onto our sense of reality. The simulation itself (being based on information) is like the Internet. We render this objective information (through our sensors – or senses) through the filter of our ego to create a unique snapshot. The reason we are always perceiving the world differently then is based on the local conditions (our personal computer/filters). Tom Campbell goes into this in his big TOE theory.

There are so many ingredients involved in rendering perception. Did you sleep well? Did you eat properly? Did you argue with your spouse? These things create constant distortion. In my view, if you work on the basics and treat your body properly, you can then get to work on the deeper stuff causing havoc in your life. The body getting what it needs is foundational though. Without that, it’s like setting course to a destination with very unpredictable wind conditions. It would be better to keep the sails down.

I think you can get closer to objectivity though. The closer you get to spirit and the more you become the witness (and not the witnessed), the more beauty you see in things. Your energy becomes more pure. You then render the information of the simulation for what it is, objective information. Less victim mentality. The sim runs through you, unfiltered. That’s because you moved yourself out of the way. I understand this isn’t everyone’s goal in life, but for those who are looking for deeper meaning and purpose, the spiritual path is the only thing that can offer lasting results. The rest is conditional and temporary.

When you become sincere on the path, you’ll see small changes. It doesn’t happen all at once. As stored patterns start to fall away (because you chose to let go instead of resisting), you’ll notice that you have more energy (or a higher vibe). The bigger, structural issues will take more time to resolve. You are going to be faced with pain as you get closer to release. Obviously ego doesn’t let go without a fight. Like learning a sport though, you get better at letting go. The goal is to have naturally higher energy. And generally it’s because you learned to detach. Not in an ‘I don’t give a fu£k!’ about anything way, more like ‘meh, this thing doesn’t move me like it once did’. That’s progress, young Padawan.

As you become witness to the background programs (mental chatter), you notice the mind starts to quieten down. The mind is not your enemy as suggested in the Castaneda books I always quote. It’s trying to purge the energy you couldn’t deal with in your lower centers (or chakras). The problem then is that you dump your garbage out into the world. This shows in relationships. You lose energy in mental rehearsals over things you cannot control. Often times it leads to completely invented fears. The result is a leakage of vitality and energy. One of the main objectives living inside of a human body is energy management. Once you understand how these perceptual filters work, you will hopefully wise up and starve them of your attention. The mental chatter should be viewed as background noise. As you do the work, the days remaining for all that mental noise are numbered.

Buddhists say you need to work at the root. To do that you have to walk through the white hot fires of the heart, where fear lies. Michael Singer taught that. Once you get to the other side, you become fully established in the seat of self. Those programs no longer pull you in as before and drain your energy. You become. You don’t become somebody. You become nobody. Ram Dass wrote about that. It actually feels like something (ha ha). There’s a default state of bliss behind all the personal junk.

For those that want this to be their final incarnation on Earth, you have to understand that. You burn the internal karma. You don’t have to seek people out you’ve done wrong and apologize. The work to be done is on the inside, not the outside. Those filters will start to dissolve and you’ll see now why you’re here. Life is like an escape room. It isn’t a physical escape. It’s peeling back the layers of your personal self to become who you really are, God descended. Or the quantum field itself, pure awareness.

Time to wipe the aperture of the lens clean, program by program.