People and Subjective Reality

In a subjective reality belief system, what’s the role of other human beings? Are they just projections? Do they even matter? Won’t you end up feeling all alone, believing you’re the only one who’s conscious and everyone else is fake?

Lately I’ve been getting a flood of similar questions via email, so I figured I’ll answer them here for the benefit of all.

What is the outermost container for subjective reality?

Subjective reality’s container is the ever-present awareness, the field of consciousness in which all of reality takes place. This “reality” includes all thought and all of its manifestations, including the following: ideas, concepts, imagination, people, animals, plants, places, objects, events, circumstances, situations, relationships, beliefs, emotions, time (past, present, future), the afterlife, spirits, angels, etc. Anything and everything you can perceive or conceive is part of this reality. There is no outside. Even the act of considering there may be something outside is still taking place within that awareness. So if you die physically and find yourself a disembodied spirit, you’re still experiencing subjective reality. Truthfully only your ego can experience death.

What is the ego?

The ego is your avatar within this field of consciousness, the individual human being whose life you live. Most likely you identify with the ego — it is the person you refer to with words like “I” or “me.”

What is my true identity in subjective reality?

Your true identity is the ever-present awareness, the field of consciousness in which all of reality exists. It is permanent and immortal. It exists independent of time, and it can only be perceived in the present.

You are free to identify with the ego, but it is not your true identity. To say you are your ego persona is like saying you are your thumb. Your thumb is certainly a part of you, but it is not the entirety of you. Just as you are much more than your thumb, you are much more than your ego. But to the degree you turn your ego (or your thumb) into your whole identity, you limit your experience immensely. There’s some value in having that experience to be sure, but eventually you’ll suspect there’s more to you than just a thumb.

If I believe in subjective reality, won’t I end up becoming narcissistic, lonely, and depressed?

No, actually you would experience the exact opposite. These fears only emanate from an egoic perspective. If you identify fully and completely with your ego and adopt the belief that reality is a projection of that ego, then yes, you would almost certainly become narcissistic, lonely, and depressed. That’s because you’d be barricading yourself from the realization of your true identity.

Subjective reality, on the other hand, involves a crucial identity shift far beyond the limitations of the ego persona. If you were to seriously adopt a belief in subjective reality, you would begin to identify yourself with the entire field of awareness in which reality occurs. This means recognizing that there is nothing outside of you — all of reality is occurring within you. You are consciousness itself. You are that ever-present awareness. You are oneness. You are God.

If you try to turn your ego into God, however, you’ll become a narcissist. If you notice that other egos don’t share your belief, you’ll become lonely and depressed. That is a path to suffering.

But if you identify fully with this ever-present awareness, and you understand that your ego persona is only a small part of it, the natural consequence is to experience a feeling of joy beyond words. This is a sensation of oneness, expansiveness, and God-consciousness. Whereas narcissism, loneliness, and depression cut you off from your true identity and make you feel isolated, God-consciousness embraces it fully. Instead of isolation you experience connectedness with everything that exists. Significance is overwhelming. You perceive everything as conscious, meaningful, and intensely beautiful.

What are people in subjective reality?

People, including your own avatar, are projections of consciousness. They are not projections of your ego; your ego itself is a projection of consciousness as well.

Every human being is effectively a physical representation of part of the contents of consciousness. You are that consciousness, so every human being is a manifestation of a part of you. Consequently, everyone is significant and meaningful — there are no irrelevant or inconsequential people.

Every person you create in your reality is the manifestation of a thought. Every unique person represents a specific aspect of consciousness itself… a specific aspect of you. If you understand yourself fully, you will know all there is to know about people. And if you understand other people fully, you will know yourself completely.

What are human relationships?

Human relationships are the physical representation of the relationships between different parts of the content of consciousness. Whatever thoughts are contained in your consciousness will manifest in the form of human relationships.

For example, if you hold thoughts of conflict in your consciousness, you will perceive conflict between people. The people in your reality will seek to harm each other. If you hold thoughts of love in your consciousness, you will perceive loving relationships between people.

If you hold thoughts of attractiveness, new relationships will come to your avatar. If you hold thoughts of repulsiveness, your avatar will manifest that in his/her relationships.

How can I use this model to improve my relationships?

For every person whose relationship (to you or to another person) you want to improve, ask yourself what that person represents? What part of consciousness does this person symbolize? Then describe the person aloud. What adjectives come to mind? The adjective you use to describe other people will also apply to the part of you this person represents. If you hate another person, it’s only because you hate the part of yourself that person represents. If you love another person, it’s because you love the part of yourself that person represents.

For example, perhaps you identify President George W. Bush as one person in your reality. What role is this person playing in your experience? Perhaps you would say the role is President of the United States (your specific answer can vary). What part of consciousness does this role represent? Perhaps you would say it is leadership (again, your specific answer can vary). Now how would you describe this person? Perhaps you describe President Bush as being misguided and unpopular. These words would thus describe your relationship to leadership itself. In such a situation, your avatar would be unlikely to take on a leadership role for fear of making mistakes and becoming unpopular, and you will experience failure and unpopularity to the degree your avatar is already a leader of some sort.

If you wish to attract loving relationships into your avatar’s life, then identify the qualities you desire in others, and learn to love and accept those same qualities in yourself. If you do this successfully, those relationships will manifest in your reality. Similarly, if you wish to improve an existing relationship, then identify what that person represents to you, and direct your focus on improving your relationship with that part of yourself. To the degree you do this, your avatar’s relationship with this person will improve.