Reality Is Not So Real
By: Amruta Joshi
Tags: Illusion, Reality, Reverse Engineering, Karma, Garden

Reality Is Not So Real

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I was standing in front of the mirror the other day. I noticed a bit of wheat flour on my cheeks and forehead that perhaps got there during roti making. I washed my face and wiped it clean. The reflection now was of a clean face. In this simple moment, I had an epiphany, something so obvious and known yet presented itself to me with much love. The reflection is merely that, a reflection. A mirror image of what is. If the face is clean the reflection is clean, if the face is unclean so is the image. And if not the face, then the mirror might be dirty. In all this the reflection is untouchable. It merely shows you back what’s going on. Either we clean the mirror or the face.

Still standing in front of the mirror, I was somehow transported intuitively to the understanding of the Law of Karma — as you sow, so shall you reap. This is quite evident in nature. Looking at an apple tree one knows that there is an apple seed inside the soil. Looking at an orange plant, there has got to be only orange seeds inside, not an apple, not but orange seeds exactly. There is no need to dig it up. The outer manifest visible form of the tree is a direct reflection of the inner invisible form of the seed. There is no doubt about this. Could it be then, that’s how the rest of the world is? Is the outer visible world possibly a reflection of our inner invisible world?

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We most certainly don’t look like a tree, or laptops or the house or car or friends. They aren’t a mirror image of us. At the most one looks like their family but nothing else is identical. In its appearance, no, we don’t look like these outer objects. But in essence, yes, they represent who we are being. Let’s find out if this is really the case.

The Experiment

We are going to set up a week-long experiment wherein we deliberately chose a feeling inside us and look for evidence of this on the outside. It’s a simple test to change the inputs and observe the outputs. Choose these days in succession so that you have some headspace to gather and record your thoughts. Setup the intention at the start of the day and end the day with your notes. If you find sufficient evidence early on in the day you can end it for the day.

Day 1: On the first day let’s choose a very common emotion — anger. We all get angry when things don’t go our way. Dwell on it for a while. Tell yourself — I feel very angry today. Start getting angry about your day. Be upset over minor things. Feel it deeply.

Record all that takes place during that day which reflects anger in the outside world. Be observant and detail-oriented. Don’t pretend to be angry, really feel it well. It’s very important to note this is an experiment, so don’t get sucked into it. Have a plan to come out of it.

Day 2: Choose contentment. Feel and saturate yourself in it.

Day 3: Choose misery.

Day 4: Choose happiness

Day 5: Choose fear

Day 6: Choose jealousy

Day 7: Choose praise

The Observation

For this experiment to be successful it is very important that you minutely observe the changes in the world. You can keep a pocket notebook on you to immediately record events as they happen, big and small. Here are some sample events that can give you some insights about what triggers those emotions.

Evidence (image by Amruta Joshi)

After the week is over, have a look at your notes once more. You will soon come to realize as I did, when you change your inner emotion the outer world reflects it, like an auto-correct feedback loop. This choice of what we wish to see in the world is being made by us from moment to moment. The apple tree is always going to be the manifestation of the apple seed.

One of Albert Einstein's famous quotes is

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one

How fascinating that one of the greatest scientists in the world thought on these lines? It’s most certainly a persistent one because, in the construct of the world we are in, in slow motion, we can’t perceive these micro-choices.

Wherever you are right now, look at what’s in front of you. I can see my living room, the chairs, and the television set. Now turn around 180 degrees and look at what you can see. I see a staircase and a shoe rack. When we perform the act of ‘looking’ some objects come into our focus, then we turn around they disappear and new objects come into our focus. And we turn again and something else gets our attention.

This appearance and disappearance of the world is happening all the time. Only due to a memory bank do we remember what we saw last. If we stream the same data through our senses repeatedly the illusion appears as a persistent one.

Quantum Mechanics says — That which is being observed is affected by the observer. This essentially means whatever it is we are looking at (in this case reality) is affected by the one looking at it! What is it that we are looking for? Anger or contentment or jealousy or happiness? We are putting together this world and they breaking it apart every moment which is beyond just simple visual imagery. It is created on the foundation of what’s on the inside. The seed is inside us, the tree is seen outside us. Scriptures speak the same.

Reverse Engineering

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This is another experiment that will most certainly convince you of this Law of Karma. Take any event of your life that has had a significant impact on you. Pick out the emotion you felt because of it. Find out if this emotion exists within you. See for yourself if there is a connection between the two. Here are some examples.

Example 1: Getting fired from the job during covid

Inner examination: I have been carrying many thoughts and reading news about the economic impact of covid. So many people have lost their jobs. Just yesterday another airline fired employees. The cafe next to my office also closed down. Could I be next?

Result: Jobs being lost in the outside world is the evidence of the inner fear of losing jobs due to some or the other reason (covid)

Example 2: Friend attacks you emotionally for no fault of your own

Inner examination: Some friends can blame you when it’s not your fault and accuse you of wrong-doing. People never change. Not everyone is trustworthy. Some day people will hurt you. Nobody is perfect.

Result: Carrying that feeling that people can betray you or go behind your back or abandon you is the seed. As long as ‘some’ people tend to do that, is a feeling you have inside you, someone on the outside will prove it true. Could be anyone.

Sunny-Side Up

In the above two examples, one can choose the opposite scenario and plant those seeds within them and check for outer evidence/tree to appear. The seed can be thoughts such as — I have more time to upskill myself and get onto a better job. My social network is brimming with jobs. Soon you will see it. All my friends are trustworthy. No one will hurt you then. This is a guarantee. But we are led to believe that not everyone is trustworthy and not everyone gets a job during the recession. Some space is kept for betrayals.

Due to this some part of us is not completely hooked into the reality we wish to create. In fact, most of our attention is hooked into another’s reality or opinion. It is not enough though to simply cut out some decaying branches of this reality, cause if the seed is still there, some evidence will be left-over. You have got to uproot the entire plant. And until you do, of course, people will continue to betray you. You are 1000% right about your reality. No arguments there.

The Garden and the Gardener

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Any beautiful garden you see will fill your heart with joy. You know effort has gone into carefully selecting plants and trees, flowers, and fruits that show the choices made by the gardener. We are all gardeners here and the world is a garden. It is only because we don’t know this fact properly we struggle through life believing power lies in the outside world or in the hand of other people. The reflection has no power by itself. It’s just an honest friend.

The seeds come in various packets — thoughts, television, internet, social media, childhood upbringing, books, articles, statistics, other people’s opinions about reality the way they see it. These are all buried as seeds inside us.

Remember, most of these are not planted by us, they are planted from the outside since childhood when we didn’t know nor could stop others from impressing upon our inner worlds. As adults though when we see weeds we remove them, don’t we? That’s all we got to do. Nobody in their right minds will ever consciously sow anything but harmony. This is the false ego-self that is present in our world. As grown-ups, we now know how much of what we have been told is true or not. We can modify our beliefs.

Remember the reflection is untouchable. This reflection includes the place you live in, your family and friends, your house, achievements, health, and whatnot. These are all on the outside conveying to you what the seed was or the weed was. If you want a different reality you got to plant some other emotions. Just because it’s persistent, doesn’t mean it can’t change. You can choose to make something else to appear in your observation.

If your in-law taunts you often, there is a seed within. It could have been buried anytime by others or yourself — hearing stories of other’s mothers-in-law, through movies, a friend's experience, an article, your own grandmother to mother relationship. It could be something more generic such as — in-laws don’t love you as your parents do, they won’t treat you the same, it takes time to adjust with them, they won’t give you your space. Outer circumstances perpetuate based on how many seeds you have sown. Most of these seeds are sown unconsciously and feel like natural responses to us. They are not.

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Remember the Universe is conveying a message to you through these people and circumstances. The Universe always has your back. If you want the reflection to change, either wash your face or clean the mirror and you will see a bright shiny world just the way you wish it to be. This scrubbing takes time, patience and persistence, and most importantly self-reflection. This may even require you to weed out the foundation of your life. If you are willing to give up all of your less-than-positive beliefs, you will definitely be gifted with a different world. Test it and know for yourself.

I will leave you here with Gandhi’s wise words — Be the change you wish to see in the world (reflection).