Is the Universe Real, or Just a Story I’m Perceiving?

 

🪷 Opening Note

Today’s reflection comes from a place of sincere confusion, awe, and inquiry. It’s not a conclusion—it’s a doorway. I find myself circling around the big questions of existence, matter, consciousness, and reality. The more I read, the more I question. The more I question, the more I sense that I don't know anything. And yet, there’s a strange peace in sitting with the not-knowing.

If everything is made of waves and emptiness, then what is actually real?
Is the universe an illusion?
Are we perceiving matter—or projecting it?

Science tells us the body and universe are made of particles—vibrating, empty, and held together by invisible forces. These particles behave like waves until observed. Atoms are mostly empty. Consciousness doesn’t have a shape or a location, yet it is through consciousness that everything is known. I ask: If everything we feel as real is just a pattern in the brain or a sensory construct, what is truly there?

I look around—cars move, people talk, I breathe, I feel hunger. Yet these bodies are made of particles, which are not solid in themselves. How is this orchestra of movement and form happening? If my mind is recognizing patterns and projecting meaning, is what I see "real," or just the way I’m interpreting the unseen?

The paradox is difficult: we function in a world that feels real—work, pain, joy, action—but physics says it’s 99.9999% empty. Spiritual teachings say it’s illusion (maya). Quantum mechanics tells us particles only “decide” their state when observed. Vedanta says the observer is the only constant. Both views seem to agree: the physical world is not as it seems.

Still, when someone sits beside me, I can feel their presence. Not just see, but hear, sense, and intuit. How do these fields of energy (called bodies) interact to create experience? Where do the waveforms collapse? Who is observing?

I sometimes feel I understand something deep. Other times, I feel completely lost. The mind craves a pattern, a final answer, but it seems reality refuses to be captured by words, theories, or even thought. The more I seek, the more I realize: maybe I’m not supposed to know intellectually. Maybe knowing is being. And maybe being is before the story begins.

There is no final truth in books or theories—only mirrors. Science offers maps, spirituality offers metaphors, but the terrain must be walked. I can read that the body is empty space and vibrating waves, or that consciousness is the source—but unless I see this for myself, I’m still moving in concepts.

The universe may not be material—it may be mathematical, mental, or entirely non-existent in the way I perceive it. The “I” that seeks may itself be part of the illusion.

Maybe the real practice is not in answering these questions, but in unlearning the assumptions behind them.

• Sit with the unknown without rushing to conclusions.
• Watch how the mind tries to solidify experience.
• Observe thoughts as movements—not truth.
• Study science, yes, but don’t get lost in explanation.
• Let self-enquiry be the ground: “Who is asking this question?”
• Accept that reality may not be knowable—but it can be directly seen when the seeker dissolves.