The lens we see through
Each of us humans perceives reality through our (mostly unconscious) belief system or – in other words – our subjective reality filter. At the basis of this belief system, deeply ingrained into our psyche and identity is our worldview: Assumptions about ‘how the world is’, ‘who we are’, ‘where we come from’, why we are here’ etc. You might not necessarily be conscious of those beliefs, but that does not mean that you don’t have them. And each of our beliefs has implications on our (re-)activity in the world and our life experience. (I wont get into more detail about our reality filter & identity, you can read more about here and here.)
Countless wars have been fought about the ‘right’ worldview and still today, challenging beliefs about our identity and worldview can trigger our deepest survival mechanisms; leading to fight, flight or freeze.
Therefore, in this article I want to investigate different worldviews and share a perspective about how we can see them as different simultaneously existing lenses to what we perceive as reality. As a result we might appreciate that there is not ‘one’ exclusive and correct world view, but indeed multiple. Each enabling and representing different subjective experiences in what we call reality. This understanding might then lead us to more mutual understanding, lose the grip of our inauthentic identity (more here) and enable us to appreciate even more the beautiful diversity of this wonder called life.
Dr. Hawkins ‘Scale of Consciousness’
I am using Dr. Hawkins ‘Scale of Consciousness’ as a concept to highlight that we all perceive a subjective version of reality and that our subjective experience of reality is very much defined by the view point from which we look at. Dr. Hawkins ranks the whole spectrum of human consciousness experience from ‘absolute suffering’ to ‘enlightenment’ on a logarithmic scale from 1-1000. Each one of us is looking through one of those vibrational frequency (or emotional) lenses into the world. These individual vibrational frequencies can be measured and calibrated on this scale, and can also tremendously shift throughout a lifetime.
The scale can be also seen as a measurement of truth:
– 1000 representing absolute truth & enlightenment, while
– 1-999 are relative (subjective / lower) truths.
Important: No vibration is better than any other, just different! (I wont go into the details here about how it is calibrated & measured, a separate article might follow. In any case can I recommend to read Dr. Hawkins book ‘Power vs. Force’) And remember: This is just a concept, not reality!
Worldviews influence our vibration
I am proposing is that our perspective on the world is drastically influenced by our (unconscious) worldview. Therefore I will categorize worldviews based on how they calibrate on the ‘Scale of Consciousness’. That might give us a hint on our current subjective perspective and vibrational frequency but also appreciation for other perspectives still to be uncovered.
The measurements are provided by Elena & Alejandro, who host ‘Vibrational Revelations’ and have been my guests on 2 podcasts episodes (which I will link to further down). As always, don’t believe me (or anyone) blindly, use your own discernment, reflect, test and evaluate for yourself. This is, as any other, a purely subjective perspective! 🙂
The approach
My approach is inspired by the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. He proposed 3 main categories, in which all theories of creation can be sorted. Also in his teaching he always started with the highest truth (absolute truth). If the student was not able to grasp that (yet), he went to discuss the next ‘lower’ concept (relative truth), and so on until the student was able to understand.
The 3 categories are:
- Theory of Non-causality
- Theory of simultaneous creation
- Theory of gradual creation
Using the concept of the ‘Scale of Consciousness’, we will start with the theories, which measured the highest (absolute truth or highest relative truth). And then move lower on the scale. However, that might mean that what you will be first reading about is something you never heard of and might be very different to your own current beliefs. Just be mindful that ‘you’ are neither your beliefs nor your identity and I invite you to note within yourself how you are reacting.
I) Theory of Non-causality: 1000 – Enlightenment
This theory is also called ‘Ajata-Vada’. It states that the Absolute (or the Self: That, which is beyond appearances, labels, perceptions, conceptions, descriptions, words etc.) as the only reality is not subject to birth, change and death. The Absolute is ‘aja’, the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered unreal, and not absolutely existent.
This theory calibrates at 1000: Absolute truth and enlightenment.
“This is an ancient hindu view that creation never happened. it is a complete denial of any causality in the physical world. Ramana Maharshi reinforced this view by saying that it is the experience of the jnani (my comment: Jnani is an enlightened being, measured at 1000 on the Scale of Consciousness) that nothing ever comes into being or passes away because only the Self exists as a single, unchanging reality. it follows from this theory that time, space, cause and effect – all essential components of all theories of creation – exist only in the mind of the Ajnani (my comment: Ajnani is an unenlightened being = almost all humans) and that the experience of the Self reveals their non-existence.
This theory does not deny the reality of the world, but only that there is the process of creation that brought it into being. Speaking from his own experience, Ramana Maharshi said that the jnani sees the world as real, but not as a composition of matter and energy interacting, but as an uncaused appearance in the Self. He went on to say that the true essence or substratum of this appearance is identical with the being of the Self and thus necessarily participates in its reality. Thus, the world is real for the jnani not simply because it appears, but because the true essence of that appearance is inseparable from the Self.
The ajnani, on the other hand, is unaware of the unity and cause of the world, and consequently his mind creates a delusory world of separate interacting objects, constantly misinterpreting the sensory impressions he receives. Ramana Maharshi said this way of looking at the world is as unreal as a dream, since it superimposes a creation of the mind on the reality of the Self. He summed up the difference between the jnani and ajnani viewpoints by saying that the world is unreal when the mind perceives it as a collection of objects, but real when it is directly experienced as an appearance in the Self.”
‘Be, As You Are’ about Ramana Maharshi by David Godman.
II) Theory of simultaneous perception: 1000 – Enlightenment
This theory is also called ‘Dristhi-Sristhi-Vada’ or ‘the doctrine of creation through perception’. It maintains that the perceived phenomenal world comes into existence only in the process of ones observation of the world which is seen as a world of ones own mental construction; having no objective reality, it exists only in ones mind. Thus, mind is the cause of the universe and creates the world.
“The existence of objects is nothing more than their perception (drishti). There are no objects corresponding to our perceptions and existing independently of our minds. All phenomena are subjective or imagined; so that the jug that I see had no existence before I perceived it and it will also cease to be as soon as I cease to have the perception of it. It is the mind that creates its own objects.”
Prakasananda, who proposed this theory first.
This theory is measured at 1000: Absolute truth and enlightenment.
“If the questioners could not understand the idea of non-causality, Ramana Maharshi said that the world comes into existence with the emergence of the I thought and ceases to exist when that thought is absent. This theory – also called simultaneous creation – states that the world of the ajnani (my comment: unenlightened being) is a product of his mind and that it disappears when the mind disappears. Ramana Maharshi encouraged his followers to accept this theory as a working hypothesis because the world would lose attraction and it would be easier to achieve undisturbed awareness of the ego mind.”
‘Be, As You Are’ about Ramana Maharshi by David Godman.
III) Theory of gradual creation
This is the common-sense view which holds that the world is an objective reality governed by laws of cause and effect which can be traced back to a single act of creation. This includes practically all essential ideas about creation from the Big Bang to the biblical story of creation. We measured a selection of theories, of course there are more and the list is not all-inclusive. Important again: The measurement does not state a theory is bad or negative and does not express any kind of judgement.
Involution: 700 – Enlightenment
“While the evolutionary theory indicates that higher forms evolve from the lower, matter being the original source. According to the involutionary model the lower are generated from the higher, consciousness being the source. Hence, involution can be defined as interdimensional, cosmically descending evolution, controlled and executed through mental impulses which inspire and form matter; a cosmic-hierarchical creation from the highest, least dense dimensional world to the world of three-dimensional dense planets and bodies. Involution means that spirit precedes matter and that creation occurs when spiritual beings go into matter (for any reason whatsoever) and form entire worlds, as well as fate and destiny, through their respective orientation of consciousness.
This explanatory model defines matter as an eternal energy which develops transient material forms, and all that under the shaping and inspiring influence of the spiritual source, the eternal, individual consciousness (in an interplay between the consciousness of God and that of the spiritual beings). Thus, consciousness is not the product of a brain that is “large enough.” Consciousness is a reality of its own, independent from matter, just like light is a reality of its own, independent from shadows. If matter and energy were the absolute reality, there would be no free will—a concept of belief also in materialism, in both secular and occult circles. Materialistic worldviews are always atheistic and godless.”
Armin Risi about Involution
Hollow Earth Theory: 500 – Love
The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space.
Flat Earth Theory: 200 – Courage
This theory states that the earth is a plane, there is no curvature and possibly also no gravity, just different densities determining if an object rises or floats. It also states that there is a firmament above with stars, sun and moon on it.
Round Earth Theory: 100 – Fear
That is the model we are all familiar with and learn in school. Our earth being a sphere, an ellipsoid and we dont fall off planet earth rotating with a speed of 1670 km/h because gravity is keeping us to the surface, while we are on a journey through our solar system.
Darwinistic Evolution: 55 – Apathy
Today’s pre-dominant explanatory model is based on Charles Darwin’s hypothesis in the second half of the 19th century. It postulates that higher life forms developed from lower and that the first unicellular organisms evolved from organic matter accidentally by a so-called “biogenesis.” Darwinism arises from a materialistic worldview. Its basic assumptions are: “life originated from matter,” and “everything that exists—also life and consciousness—is a function of material energy and can be explained by the laws of matter.”
Geocentric Model: 55 – Apathy
In astronomy, the geocentric model is a description of the Universe with Earth at the center. Under the geocentric model, the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets all orbit Earth. It was the predominant description of the cosmos in many ancient civilizations, such as those of Aristotle in Classical Greece and Ptolemy in Roman Egypt.
HumanS as genetically engineered Alien slave race: 55 – Apathy
Some researchers, like Zecharia Sitchin, believe that the Annunaki genetically engineered modern-day humans by crossbreeding with homo erectus. Which they did to use humans as a slave species race in order to mine gold from the earth.
Heliocentric Model: 50 – Apathy
Heliocentrism is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the sun at the center of the Universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the earth at the center. The notion that the earth revolves around the sun had been proposed as early as the third century BC. But it was not until the sixteenth century that Nicolaus Copernicus presented a mathematical model of a heliocentric system, which was later evolved by Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei.
Fundamental Creationism: 50 – Apathy
“Fundamental creationism as some interpret the Bible, and others the Koran, holds that God created the world and mankind seven thousand years ago. According to this concept of belief, paradise came to an end by the fall of man (the original sin), and that it is why man needs the kind of salvation that is proclaimed by the advocates of this religious doctrine. Thus, creationism is associated with a dogmatic doctrine of salvation in an absolute manner, and any other biblical interpretations, and especially all other religions, are considered to be designed by the devil, the same evil power that provoked the fall of man in paradise.”
Armin Risi about Fundamental Creationism
Conclusion
As you might have realized there are a variety of theories and concepts. And they might be all (relatively) true at the same time when we refer to what was measured as
absolute truth: It is our mind that creates our reality – there is only perception.
We might conclude from that, that no matter the worldview filter we look through into the ‘world’, we will find the evidence to back that view up. Until we chose (consciously or unconsciously) to change our perspective and look through another lens. It is then, when we might realize the fallacies of our old beliefs and world view, which in return provides the reason to further leave that one behind and be open for another lens.
Depending on our orientation towards or away from absolute truth & the true Self, we might move either up or down the Scale of Consciousness (this is metaphorically speaking, we don’t move anywhere). And as each one of us has their individual path and choice there is no better or worse, just different.
It is also interesting to reflect that the larger the frequency spectrum an individual has experienced on the Scale of Consciousness the more theories one might be able to understand and accept as relative truths. For example,
- an individual which experienced a spectrum from 50-700 during its lifetime, might be able to understand all theories & perspectives within that frequency spectrum, and deeply empathize with others who are within that spectrum on another frequency.
- While an individual, which only experienced 50-100 might not be able to understand others experiencing other frequencies and project their beliefs as ‘the truth’ onto them.
Orientation on our path to (our) Self
Above framework fits greatly to the ‘3 levels of nondual Reality‘ as defined by Timothy Conway:
“Level 1: Absolute Reality, wherein it is realized that whatever happens is a dream, so nothing is really happening, there are no distinct worlds, no distinct beings, no multiplicity, only GOD, only Divine Awareness.”
Level 2: the “psychic heavenly truth” that whatever happens for all immortal souls is “perfect,” the “exquisite manifestation of Divine Will,” the “flawless play of Awareness” bringing these souls Home to God-Realization; and
Level 3: the conventional level of the “appropriate & inappropriate,” “helpful and harmful,” “right and wrong,” “justice & injustice,” “up and down,” “female and male,” etc.;”
Which provides another form of orientation. If one relates above 3 levels to the ‘Scale of Consciousness’, one could infer that:
- Level 1: Equates to full Self Realization and a frequency of 1000.
- Level 2: Equates to realizing the miraculous dream play and that there is ‘no doer’. Everything is perfect as it is. Nothing to do or not do. Pure being. Possibly from a frequency of 700 upwards.
- Level 3: The realm of cause and effect; reaching up to a frequency of 700. Reasoning: ‘Involution’ was measured at 700 as well as the ‘7 Hermetic Principles’, which are the laws (seemingly) governing the realm of cause & effect.
During our human (awakening) journey we might oscillate between and / or have experiences on multiple levels & frequencies. We might learn or follow a concept, e.g. ‘everything is happening by divine will’, but are still within a (lower) vibration of cause & effect and subject to our own biases and illusionary beliefs. And therefore prone to use a spiritual concept to spiritually bypass and avoid dealing with painful feelings, unresolved wounds and developmental needs or taking responsibility for our circumstances and environment. We also might neglect to actually develop & embody spiritual qualities such as e.g. compassion, leading to thinking such as: “Everything is manifested by divine will, therefore I don’t need to help anyone”. Highlighting the importance for critical thinking and truthfully reflecting on ones state, needs and ambitions.
As a gentle reminder: Above are just concepts, they are not reality. They might be helpful and provide another perspective. In any case, listen to your own inner knowing. Within you is everything you need. ❤️✨
