by Owen Waters

“The universe only exists when you are observing it,” or so the popular theory goes.

This theory is an offspring of quantum physics. It says that, because the observer affects the outcome of experiments, the observer is key to reality. The theory goes on to suggest that the universe only exists when you look at it; therefore you must be creating the universe from your consciousness.

This is actually not a new idea. The old Zen riddle, “If a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, then does it make a sound?” reflects the same style of thinking. It suggests that nothing happens in the universe without an observer being present.

There is some validity to this theory in that, at the deepest level of consciousness, you are Infinite Being. At that deepest level, you are that which creates the entire universe, and that which maintains it in motion. However, at the everyday, human level of consciousness, the universe exists and runs quite happily without human intervention, whether or not anyone is watching it. The tree makes a noise when it falls, whether or not any human observers are present at the time.

Take, for example, the Pleiades, the star cluster which is also called the Seven Sisters. Often, on a clear night, you can see the Seven Sisters twinkling in the sky, even though they are five hundred light-years distant. Because of that distance, you are actually observing where the Seven Sisters were five hundred years ago. It took that long for the light image to reach your eyes. Basically, you are observing history in the night sky, not the actual, current position of the stars.

If you were creating the universe by virtue of being its observer, as the theory goes, then you would actually witness the Seven Sisters in their current position, and not in the position that they were five hundred years ago.

The idea that we live in a conscious universe has been gaining ground steadily for a number of years. The conscious universe is much more than a universe which is simply self-aware. The fabric of the universe is consciousness. The universe consists entirely of consciousness. The objects in the universe are all made of consciousness. Everything in the universe is fabricated from aspects of original consciousness, interwoven and set into motion.

The chair on which you sit appears to be made of physical material. It has the appearance of a solid object that exists somewhere outside of yourself. However, physical matter is composed of subatomic energy particles, and energy, in turn, is composed of compressed consciousness. So, the chair is made up of 100% consciousness. It only appears to be a separate object outside of you because it is a projection of consciousness within consciousness.

Physical objects have their own specific locations in space. Space, however, is just a projected illusion, a concept manufactured by consciousness so that the All may be divided into an infinite variety of apparently separate parts.

Time is also a projection of consciousness. Time is a concept whereby the infinite parts of the All can engage in the appearance of movement. The underlying reality is still the eternal Now and yet time makes change, and therefore an infinite variety of experiences, possible.

An everyday analogy of projected reality is a movie projected onto a screen. You know that the movie is just the projection of a recorded, dramatic scene, but it’s easy to forget that as you become involved in the unfolding drama. The movie appears like a real-life drama for as long as it absorbs your attention.

Time and space were fabricated within the consciousness of the universe in order to set the stage for life as we know it. Because the universe is made of 100% consciousness, all things are within it, and therefore subjective. Nothing is really “out there,” even though life appears to be an objective experience. All physical reality is a projection within your consciousness, not something outside of, or separate from, yourself.

Each and every object in the universe – a table, a chair, a car, a house, anything – is not only composed of 100% consciousness, it actually IS conscious in its own way!

*Owen Waters is the author of Freedom of the Spirit: Four Powerful Steps to Spiritual Freedom.

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