Mind, matter and being
A novel, unified view of reality
Consciousness is at the core of our existence, yet it remains one of the greatest mysteries in science and philosophy. While modern science has achieved extraordinary success in explaining the physical world, it struggles to fully account for the subjective nature of conscious experience. After 30 years of dedicated self-inquiry and exploration, this work presents a coherent philosophy of reality that seamlessly unifies consciousness with the physical universe. Though not based on prior philosophical works—only observation, reasoning, and logic—its conclusions resonate with several well-established ideas and philosophical traditions.
This journey begins from the undeniable reality of subjective experience—I experience—and uses this as a foundation to explore reality from first principles. As you progress, you are encouraged to pause and reflect on your own conscious experiences. Instead of accepting assumptions or inherited beliefs, this exploration invites you to observe your thoughts, sensations, and perceptions directly, while also approaching the ideas presented here with critical thinking—question, analyse, and test them against your own experience. You might not agree with everything discussed here, but you may still find certain ideas that resonate or offer new perspectives to integrate into your understanding of reality.
Some of the concepts may take time to fully grasp, and certain ideas might feel as though they flip your world upside down. If any of the ideas challenge your current understanding or leave you feeling unsettled, it can be valuable to pause, reflect, and give yourself time to let them distill. Contemplating these ideas deeply, especially when they provoke discomfort, can often lead to the most profound insights.
This philosophy is not yet complete or perfect, but as a whole, it already provides a coherent framework for understanding reality and, hopefully, for sparking further insights and explorations. So, take your time, keep an open mind, and allow yourself to engage deeply with the ideas ahead—this journey may change the way you see reality.
The foundation
If you are conscious, you are experiencing life right now. You are living it. You are aware of it. In this very moment, you might be seeing light, shapes, and colours, hearing sounds, sensing your body, and experiencing thoughts and memories. Yet, despite being constantly immersed in these experiences, it’s easy to overlook that you are experiencing consciousness itself. One reason for this is that we often mistake the contents of our mind for the “outside” world. When you look at your hand, for instance, what you actually perceive is an image of your hand in your mind, not the hand itself. As we will see shortly, the phenomena in your mind (also called qualia—the subjective qualities of experience) are the only reality you directly perceive.
Modern science has achieved astounding success by approaching the world objectively. The scientific method—based on observation, measurement, and repeatability—has provided us with deep insights into the workings of the universe, from the smallest particles to the vast structures of space. Through science, we have developed technologies and theories that revolutionised every aspect of life. Importantly, much of this progress has been based on the assumption that the world consists of objective realities—matter and forces—that exist independently of our perception. This approach has proven incredibly effective in explaining many aspects of the physical world.
However, when it comes to understanding consciousness, this objective approach encounters clear limits. While science has uncovered fascinating details about the brain and its functioning, the subjective experience of consciousness remains elusive. Mapping neural activity and correlating brain states with conscious experiences has been invaluable, but even with these findings, a vast gap remains between the physical processes of the brain and the subjective nature of consciousness. These lived experiences cannot be fully explained through external measurements alone, because consciousness is something we experience from within.
The key challenge is that observing consciousness requires a subjective perspective. While we can study the brain objectively, the essence of consciousness can only be accessed from the first-person viewpoint, the perspective of “I”. This underscores the importance of approaches that acknowledge and explore the subjective dimension of reality, which complements the objective methods of science. After all, even the tools of science—observation, measurement, and experimentation—depend on the conscious observer, whose subjective experience is essential for interpreting data and forming hypotheses.
From your unique perspective, existence is entirely subjective. From birth to death, you experience the world through the same individual lens, centred within your mind. There is no other “you”, and no alternative perspective is available. This “I” is the locus of all your experiences, whether you’re seeing a blue sky, talking with friends, or having a dream.
Therefore, this article begins from the one reality we cannot doubt: I experience. This statement will serve as our axiom—the foundation from which we will explore consciousness. By starting from this subjective truth, we will take a gradual, step-by-step journey, unveiling insights that may challenge your deepest assumptions about existence, reality, and what it means to be. This philosophy is built from first principles and guided by logic, leading us to conclusions that, while rooted in rigorous reasoning, will resonate with other established philosophical approaches.
This is not to say that subjective experience contradicts the objective knowledge we have gathered. Rather, by recognising consciousness as our most direct and undeniable reality, we are exploring a complementary path—one that may reveal aspects of existence that objective methods alone cannot fully grasp. In taking this different starting point, we are not rejecting our current understanding of the world. Instead, we are reframing it through a new lens—one grounded in the undeniable reality of subjective experience, while still respecting the knowledge we have gained through objective science.
The internal world
You might think that physical objects are more real than your perceptions of those objects. A chair feels more tangible than the colours of that chair. But if you think about it, the opposite is more true. Your primary reality is the phenomena that appear within consciousness, and the existence of the chair is inferred knowledge. It’s not the physical world what you directly experience, but your mind’s model of the physical world.
I experience
Consider how perception works:
- There is a chair in the room. You look at the chair.
- Light reflects off the surface of the chair and travels toward your eyes. Already, you’ve “lost” the chair itself—the only thing reaching the eyes is light.
- The light enters your eyes and triggers receptors in your retina, which convert the light into electrical signals. At this stage, the light is lost, and all that remains are neural signals—coded information about the light.
- These electrical signals travel through your optic nerve to your brain, where they are processed into patterns of neural activity. What was once a signal about light is now interpreted by the brain as different aspects of the chair, such as its shape, colour, and position.
- Finally, your brain constructs a mental image of the chair. This is what you perceive—not the chair itself, but an internal representation created by your mind.
At each step, you move further away from the actual chair, interacting only with processed data about it. By the time you “see” the chair, what you are truly experiencing is your brain’s construction based on signals, not the chair itself. Every sight, sound, or sensation follows this same process, leaving you with an internal representation of the world, never direct contact with it.
Just as the brain constructs a mental image of the chair, it also constructs everything else we perceive. Take colour, for example. What you see as colours—red, blue, green—don’t exist as such in the physical world. Colours are perceptual phenomena that arise in your consciousness. Outside your mind, there are only light wave frequencies and electrochemical signals that correspond to the colours you perceive. But colours, as you experience them, exist only in your conscious mind. Similarly, sounds do not exist in the physical world as we experience them. There are no melodies or noise “out there”, but air pressure waves and vibrations, which are then translated by our auditory system into the rich soundscapes you consciously experience. Our thoughts too, appear as conscious phenomena in the mind. On the physical level, thoughts are patterns of neural activity—complex interactions of electrical impulses and chemical signals across networks of neurons in the brain. While colours and sounds burst into our awareness with immediacy and vividness, the phenomena of thoughts might feel more subtle and elusive. Yet they are just as real and present within the fabric of consciousness.
These phenomena—colours, sounds, smells, tastes, emotions, conscious thoughts, and more—are sometimes referred to as qualia. Qualia are the pure qualities that shape a conscious experience, the subjective, first-person sensations that fill your awareness: the redness of a rose, the bitterness of coffee, the warmth of sunlight on your skin. They are the essence of what it feels like to experience something.
Each moment of your experience is a dynamic tapestry of qualia—constantly shifting and morphing as new sensations, thoughts, and feelings emerge. This is your primary world, your direct reality. It is not a world of physical objects or abstract concepts, but a world of pure experience, where everything you know, feel, and perceive is constructed and presented within the theatre of your mind. Whether you’re savouring the taste of coffee, feeling the warmth of sunlight on your skin, or simply aware of a complex idea forming in your mind, what you are truly experiencing are qualia—these immediate, raw sensations that are not just the core of your conscious life, but the very substance of experience itself—the most you ever truly have.
Who am I?
Since the primary reality you are in direct contact with is the world of conscious experience, everything you see, hear, feel, or perceive in any way is consciousness. Looking around, you are not engaging with the external world but with the contents of your own mind. What you see is not the world “out there”, but consciousness itself. When you look at your hand, what you are perceiving isn’t a physical hand in an external space, but the conscious experience of a hand—qualia—arising within your awareness.
We can go even deeper. You might feel as though you are observing your experiences from your body, looking through your eyes, listening through your ears. But even your sense of your body is just another mental representation within your mind. There is no distinct observation point to be found. The observation point is the “space” of consciousness itself.
The signals traveling through your nervous system ultimately arrive at consciousness, where they stop being signals and instead manifest directly as experiences. These phenomena are not separate objects to be observed; they are direct expressions of consciousness itself. Qualia are one with consciousness—they are consciousness in motion, much like ripples that are inseparable from the water that creates them. Thus, when you experience anything, you are, in fact, experiencing yourself—because as consciousness, the qualia you perceive are manifestations of your own being.
You are consciousness, experiencing consciousness. You are the continuous flow of experience. You are pure existence. At this point, the distinction between observer and observed dissolves—there is no separation. You have reached a non-dual understanding, where consciousness is simply aware of itself.
Does this mean that your sense of self—the “I”—is an illusion? At first glance, it might seem so, as there no longer appears to be a singular point from which you observe the world. The observation point has expanded to encompass the entire space of consciousness itself. Yet this space remains subjective, and it is still connected to the perceptions of your body and brain, rooted in a particular physical location. While you may feel distanced from the body, brain, and personality that once defined your sense of self, a subjective viewpoint still persists. In this sense, the “I” is not an illusion—it remains the focal point of conscious experience, though its boundaries may have shifted.
The external world
We always experience only consciousness, even though this fundamental truth often goes unrecognised. The true nature of physical objects remains hidden from us. In everyday life, we often don’t recognise this, believing that we directly perceive the world as it truly is. This misconception arises because we’ve been conditioned to identify ourselves as physical bodies within a physical world.
Our constructed reality
Most researchers believe that newborn babies have conscious experiences. Since newborns lack the knowledge, concepts, and models that adults have about the physical world, their experiences are raw and unfiltered, free from the layers of interpretation and understanding that adults apply. These early experiences are direct, immediate, and sensory, unmediated by the awareness that what they are perceiving is tied to their own body or to an external world that operates independently of their perception. Newborns are immersed in a state of pure sensation, where the boundaries between self and environment have yet to be drawn.
For example, when a newborn feels a sensation of warmth, they don’t yet recognise it as coming from their own body or from an external source like a parent’s touch or a blanket. The experience of warmth simply exists without the baby understanding its origin. Similarly, when they see a bright light or hear a sound, they perceive it directly, without yet knowing that these stimuli are connected to the world around them or that they are perceiving them through their own eyes and ears. The baby’s mind is a blank slate, receiving sensory input but not yet interpreting it through the concepts of self, body, or environment.
As we develop, we gradually construct a complex cognitive model of the physical world, shaped by our experiences and interactions. Initially, our world is mostly conscious phenomena—raw sensations without clear distinctions between self and surroundings. However, as we learn to identify and name objects, understand their functions, and grasp abstract concepts, we begin to organise our experiences into a coherent and reliable framework.
This growing understanding allows us to associate sensations with external causes, leading us to see ourselves as distinct entities within a material world. Over time, this accumulation of knowledge and conceptual understanding forms a detailed cognitive model of the world and ourselves within it. We begin to see ourselves as distinct entities, which allows us to navigate the complex landscape of objects, people, and abstract ideas that shape our understanding of the world.
However, while this cognitive model is crucial for functioning in the world, it often obscures the true nature of our experiences. We become so engrossed in our constructed understanding of the physical world that we forget to see our conscious experiences as they truly are—immediate and raw sensations, existing before any interpretation or labelling. In this way, the simplicity and purity of consciousness are often overshadowed by the complex model we’ve built, leading us to overlook the fundamental truth that all we ever experience is consciousness itself.
We know the world through abstract concepts, while only conscious phenomena are immediate and non-abstract. Although we once believed we knew the world through direct experience, it turns out the world is a mystery. At the same time, we considered consciousness to be a mystery, yet it is our most direct reality.1
Recognising this, we must acknowledge that our cognitive model of the world, though fairly accurate, is ultimately just one possible representation. The true nature of the world remains hidden from us. There is no way for us to experience a rose directly, as doing so would require the rose to exist as an experience within our consciousness rather than as a physical object. Instead, what we experience are redness, fragrance, flower-like shape, and soft texture—phenomena that exist solely within our consciousness and not in the external world—which inform us about the brain’s perception of the rose. In a metaphorical sense, consciousness acts as a screen upon which our brain’s interpretation of reality appears, shaped by the cognitive model we’ve constructed. While this model helps us navigate and interact with the world effectively, it is important to remember that it is a construct, not the direct truth of the world itself.
Redefining matter
This understanding dissolves the notion that the world consists of solid, tangible materials. We are not confined to perceiving the physical universe as a collection of concrete objects. Instead, we can conceptualise it in alternative ways, as long as those concepts are consistent with the underlying laws of the universe. Rather than viewing the world as made of material objects occupying the familiar three-dimensional space we intuitively imagine, it may be more liberating to think of it as a system of data and processes—pure mathematics in action. This is analogous to how software generates a vivid, dynamic world on a computer screen. From this perspective, the objects we perceive are not inherently solid, three-dimensional entities but instead exist within an abstract, “non-material” system. They appear tangible and spatial only within our consciousness, much like how the characters in a video game are merely data but manifest as vivid images on a screen. Yet, the end result—our experience of reality—remains the same, as does most of our scientific understanding of the world.
From our subjective standpoint, the reality we experience directly—conscious phenomena—feels weightless and non-material. If we reframe our understanding of the physical world not as a collection of solid objects but as a network of interacting data, then the physical world itself can also be conceived as weightless. In this conceptual shift, matter becomes better understood as an informational structure in operation. What we perceive as solid objects disintegrates under scrutiny into atoms, which are mostly empty space, made of subatomic particles interacting through forces and fields. Delving deeper, these particles reduce further into quanta of energy, which can be viewed as manifestations of underlying informational processes.
In this framework, the physical world is no longer seen as a collection of static, tangible objects, but as a system of dynamic processes that appear static and tangible only within our consciousness. This reframing positions the physical world as an abstract network of interactions that give rise to the form of the world as we know it. By adopting this perspective, we begin to see the underlying nature of both consciousness and the physical world as fundamentally compatible. The apparent divide between them narrows, revealing that they may be more intimately connected than we previously imagined.
Yet, even with this shift in perspective, our conventional understanding of the physical world remains intact. We can still view physical objects as material, recognising that this understanding continues to effectively describe how the physical world operates. This new perspective does not undermine the principles of physics or the tangible experiences of everyday reality, but rather complements them, allowing us to approach the world with both our established understanding and an expanded philosophical insight into its deeper nature.
Bridging the gap
We have seen that the only direct reality we ever encounter is the world of conscious phenomena in our minds. On the other hand, the physical world—including our brain and body—is hidden from us. We never perceive the world directly, only through the representations that arise in consciousness. These two sides—subjective consciousness and the abstract physical system—together form the system of our reality. But how do these two seemingly distinct realms connect?
Ripples on the ocean of the universe
At first glance, there seems to be a fundamental dissonance between these two dimensions: the physical world appears tangible and concrete, while the mind feels ethereal and immaterial. However, as we established in the previous chapter, this divide is not as deep as it initially seems. We have already seen that, rather than viewing the physical world as tangible and concrete, we can approach it as a system of weightless processes that give rise to the appearance of spatiality and solidity within our experience.
Consciousness, as the space in which these processes are experienced, is not separate from the physical system, but intimately connected to it. There is a direct correlation between brain activity and conscious experience—specific patterns of neural activity correspond to particular mental states and experiences. For example, when you look at a red apple, electrical signals from your eyes are processed by your visual cortex, creating the conscious experience of seeing the apple. When you close your eyes, this neural activity ceases, and the image of the apple disappears from your conscious awareness. The change in brain activity is directly mirrored by the change in your conscious experience. This strong correlation reveals that mind and matter are not fundamentally incompatible, but rather two sides of the same reality. If they were truly separate systems, no interaction between them could occur.
Instead of viewing mind and matter as separate substances, we can understand them as complementary aspects of the same underlying system. The physical aspect, consisting of abstract processes, is experienced from our first-person perspective as conscious phenomena. We can think of the physical world as an informational system, and conscious experience as the subjective manifestation of the brain’s interpretation of this system. In this way, the processes of the physical world are the invisible engine generating the conscious experience that forms the core of our existence.
In this unified system, specific brain activities manifest as conscious phenomena within the subjective space of our awareness. For instance, when you smell coffee, your brain processes the sensory signals and creates a representation, resulting in electrical activity that manifests as the conscious experience of its aroma in your mind. To make this easier to grasp, imagine the physical universe as an ever-changing ocean. The depth of the ocean represents the myriad physical interactions occurring in the universe. Your subjective viewpoint—the “space” of your consciousness—is the surface of this ocean. As your brain, embedded within the ocean of physical processes, interprets perceptions, it generates waves that rise and break on the surface—your conscious awareness. These waves are your experiences, the reality unfolding moment by moment in your mind. In this way, the brain (along with the entire physical system to which it belongs) acts as a generator, and your current perceptions are the waves it brings to life, forming the conscious world you experience.2 There may be intermediary steps between the brain’s electrical patterns and conscious experiences, but that does not alter the central concept: conscious phenomena are manifestations of physical processes. When we experience something, we are directly encountering the physical processes of the universe.
Earlier, we explored that qualia—the subjective qualities of experience—are manifestations of consciousness itself. When we experience something, we are engaging directly with the substance of consciousness. At this level, the separation between observer and observed dissolves; consciousness is simply aware of itself. Since experiences are direct manifestations of physical processes, it follows that consciousness, qualia, and the physical causes of qualia are all aspects of the same underlying reality. The wave you experience as the pleasant aroma of coffee is simultaneously a physical process in your brain and a conscious phenomenon in your mind. This wave is both physical and mental, with no division between the two. Therefore, there is no true separation between the physical and mental realms. Instead, they form one unified reality: the conscious physical universe, which we can simply call consciousness.
One-way flow and free will
By approaching certain brain activities as “waves” in consciousness, we can better understand how physical processes manifest as vivid mental experiences. But what about the reverse direction? How do we consciously control the physical world? Is there feedback from the conscious phenomena back to the physical brain? For example, if seeing a chair brings up good feelings, does the conscious experience of feeling good influence your brain’s decision to sit down? In other words, do our conscious experiences influence physical reality at all?
Interestingly, physical bodies are capable of functioning without conscious experience. Just as a robot can operate perfectly well without being conscious, a person without subjective experience would likely live and behave much like their conscious counterpart, but without any internal experiences. This suggests that feedback from consciousness to the brain is not necessary, even in beings who are conscious. This idea aligns with our unified model of reality, in which conscious experiences are physical waves in an abstract system. For instance, when you look at a chair and feel good about it, your brain is already in the physical state of “feeling good”. When you believe you are consciously deciding to sit down, you, as consciousness, are simply experiencing your brain’s decision-making process in real-time. Similarly, when you remember sitting in a comfortable chair, your brain recreates the relevant states and processes, which you then experience as conscious phenomena. Thus, a “one-way communication” from the brain to consciousness is sufficient to explain how the two interact.
This means that, although we experience our conscious thoughts and feel as though we are in control of our decisions, it’s hard to find clear evidence that consciousness directly affects our actions. Our choices and behaviours seem to be driven by the physical processes in our brain, which follow the same laws that govern everything in the universe. What we experience as conscious decision-making might simply be the brain presenting its decisions to us as they happen. In this view, free will may be an illusion, as our actions appear to be determined by the physical world, with consciousness passively observing the process.3
This brings us to an important question: If conscious experiences don’t affect the brain, why do we have them at all?
On one hand, the question might make its conclusion too early. As we’ve discussed, conscious phenomena are like ripples in the physical universe, and the experiences themselves are indistinguishable from their physical counterparts. There aren’t two distinct sides—consciousness and physical processes are one and the same—and thus no interaction is required between them. In this sense, conscious experiences do make a difference, as their physical aspect is present within the brain’s processes. As a physical being, you are still the one making your conscious decisions. After all, it is your body that gives rise to your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, personality, and individuality. However, this still doesn’t imply free will, because all of your decisions are determined by the state and processes of the physical system.
On the other hand, the role of conscious experiences does not need to involve influencing our decisions and behaviours. The answer to the question above becomes clearer when we reframe it: What would existence be like without experiences? Since you are a subjective being, without conscious experiences you wouldn’t exist at all. Thus, consciousness is essential to existence itself. We will explore this further in the next chapter.
Subjective and objective existence
Descartes famously said, “I think, therefore I am”. He sought a fundamental truth upon which to build his philosophy, and realised that the act of thinking—just being in the process of thought—was proof enough of his existence. However, we can go even deeper and state that having any conscious experience is proof of one’s existence: I experience, therefore I am. This captures a more fundamental truth about existence. While thinking takes effort, experience simply happens. You can feel sensations, emotions, or simply be aware, without needing to engage in active thought. Without existence, experience would be impossible.
We can take this idea further. As a conscious being, experience is not just a feature of your existence—it is its very essence. Picture your day filled with sights, sounds, emotions, and thoughts. These experiences are what it means to exist. From our subjective perspective, existence is not a passive state but an active process—the ongoing flow of conscious experience. Without the presence of experiences, your existence would not only become meaningless but would no longer truly be existence. For a conscious being, to exist is to experience, and to experience is to exist. You can’t have one without the other.
If experience is central to existence, it’s worth considering what it means to have no experiences at all. Without experience, there would simply be nothing—a state of pure non-existence. Non-conscious objects, like rocks, have no experiences. They don’t have a subjective standpoint. From their perspective—which is no perspective at all—there is no existence. They cannot mean to say “I exist”, because they lack the “I” that experiences. It is not the physical object itself that possesses the ability to have a subjective viewpoint; only consciousness can hold such a perspective. The processes of some objects, like the human brain, create a perspective through which consciousness observes the world, but the perspective itself belongs to consciousness, not the object. Therefore, objects cannot exist without a conscious observer for whom they exist. Objective existence is only possible from a subjective viewpoint.
This principle also applies to beings that may seem to have a subjective perspective but lack true consciousness. Take, for instance, a hypothetical snail that is not conscious. The snail may sense its environment through touch and smell, and its simple nervous system may process these inputs, but none of this would translate into subjective experience. The sensory data would remain at the level of neural activity, never forming an inner awareness. If this snail were able to say “I exist”, the statement would not reflect a true subjective awareness—it would be the mere output of physical processes. What seems like a subjective claim is simply the result of state changes in the physical universe: shifting configurations of matter and energy, like the functioning of a thermostat or a motion sensor. These objects might react to their environments, but without consciousness, they don’t have subjective existence. They don’t exist without you, the conscious observer.
But what if you temporarily lose consciousness, as in deep sleep or a coma?4 Does that mean you cease to exist during those periods? Not quite. While your body may appear unconscious from an external perspective, there are no gaps in your conscious experience. You simply don’t register the periods of your body’s unconsciousness, creating a seamless continuity in your awareness. If you woke up after a year of unconsciousness, it would feel as though no time had passed. From your perspective, there is no experience of non-existence—only the continuous flow of consciousness.
It’s important to distinguish between our own existence and the existence of objects in the world. If an object doesn’t exist, it is simply not present in the world. Its non-existence means it is absent from our reality. However, if you don’t exist, then there is no place for anything to exist for you. In other words, nothing exists in that case because there is no conscious perspective to perceive anything. The existence of objects depends on your conscious subjective perspective to experience these objects directly or via their effects on the world, but your own subjective existence is fundamental, as it is the precondition for any experience at all.
Ultimately, we can only grasp our existence from the one perspective we truly have: the subjective viewpoint of consciousness, or “I”. This realisation leads to the conclusion that consciousness is not just a part of what it means to exist; it is the very foundation of existence. Without our conscious “I”, there would be no reality to observe—no being at all. In this way, existence and consciousness are inseparably intertwined.
Consciousness and the existence of everything
You are ultimately consciousness, and your entire existence is a subjective experience. We’ve seen that objects don’t experience—only consciousness can have experiences. Experiences always happen within consciousness. If an observer existed outside of consciousness, we would still call this observer consciousness—which means observers can’t exist outside of consciousness. The observer is always consciousness, because its existence is defined by its capacity to experience, and the “space” where experiences appear is consciousness itself.
Any observer inherently occupies a subjective standpoint, which is always the “I”. The standpoint of consciousness—your subjective perspective—is the only perspective truly available. As we will explore shortly, consciousness is not one of many—it is the same across all individuals.
In the previous chapter we have seen that objects don’t exist without a conscious observer. We can generalise this principle by stating: Anything can only exist if there is an observer for whom it exists. Without an experiencing observer, the “I”, there is no existence to speak of. The existence of anything that never affects experience is irrelevant, much like a sealed box in a universe entirely disconnected from ours, or a particle existing in a different dimension that can never interact with any particles in our universe. If the contents of that box remain forever inaccessible and the particle is entirely cut off from any physical or observational influence, their existence is irrelevant to us. In the same way, anything that might exist without an observer, for all practical purposes, does not exist.5 6
This leads to a profound realisation: Consciousness is fundamental to the existence of everything, including the universe and reality itself.
If consciousness—the only observer that allows reality to be experienced—were to cease, it would not only end subjective experience but also reality itself, including anything that could be experienced. Therefore, the very existence of reality is inseparable from consciousness. The existence of the whole universe depends on the presence of consciousness to observe it. The observer—consciousness, the “I” that experiences—is not merely a part of reality; it is reality itself, the very essence through which all existence is made possible.
This concept aligns with the idea that conscious experiences are like “waves” on the ocean of the physical universe. Whenever we experience anything, we are engaging with the essence of consciousness itself. These waves are not just manifestations of the physical universe but are also manifestations of consciousness. In this way, consciousness and the physical universe are one and the same. And since you are consciousness, you are not merely the foundation of all that exists—you are one with everything that exists.
From this understanding, it logically follows that consciousness cannot cease to exist. Since consciousness is existence itself—the very foundation of reality—its cessation would imply the end of all existence, which is an impossible outcome; existence is absolute by its nature and cannot negate itself. While the human body is mortal and subject to morph into other forms after death, consciousness is not tied to the physical form. Therefore, even as the body perishes, consciousness remains. The world cannot exist without you as an observer, because there is no such thing as objective reality. Reality is subjective—existence is experience. You’ve always existed, and will continue to exist forever.
All of this demonstrates that consciousness cannot be an emergent property of the physical brain. While conscious experiences arise from brain activity, consciousness itself is fundamental. If consciousness were merely a product of the brain, it would vanish with the death of the body, bringing a permanent end to your subjective viewpoint and, with it, the possibility of anything existing for you. But this idea only makes sense if we assume an independent, objective perspective that continues to exist without you—but, as we’ve established, such a perspective is not possible. You are the subjective being, and when we speak of existence, we are referring to your existence—the existence of “I”. You are not a temporary byproduct of a physical body—you are this vast, beautiful, ever-changing reality itself.
Multiple minds
By asserting that consciousness is one with the universe, and that you are this conscious universe, we encounter a key challenge: the problem of multiple minds. How do we explain that you are not the only conscious being? If consciousness were simply a product of brain activity, this issue would be straightforward to resolve. However, within our philosophy, it presents a challenge. At the time of writing, there are more than eight billion humans on Earth, and we assume that most, if not all, of us are experiencing consciousness at all times. If you are the One, then who are the rest of us?
Solipsism
Perhaps the most tempting explanation is that you are, in fact, the only conscious being, while the rest of us merely simulate feelings and perceptions, without any real inner experience. As we explored earlier, consciousness is not a prerequisite for behaviours that appear to express conscious awareness—such behaviours can be simulated without any internal experience.
We often project consciousness onto things that almost certainly lack it. For example, consider how easily we empathise with cartoon characters, attributing thoughts, emotions, and intentions to two-dimensional drawings that have no inner life. A simple combination of two dots and a curved line can evoke the impression of a happy face, even though it is nothing more than a few shapes on a screen. Similarly, advanced AI and robots, which mimic human behaviour with remarkable accuracy, can evoke the sense that they have feelings or intentions, even though they are simply following programmed responses. In each case, what we perceive as another being’s feelings or perceptions is actually a reflection of our own inner experience.
It may be impossible to prove that another person is sentient. At first glance, one might think that determining whether someone else has conscious experiences is as simple as asking them. However, even if we know for certain that the other person is being completely honest, this approach still has a significant limitation. While brain activity may correlate with conscious experiences, it cannot prove that the person is truly experiencing anything. We can observe brain patterns, but these patterns alone do not guarantee the presence of subjective awareness.
Debunking solipsism
However, people’s behaviour reflects a wide range of emotions and responses that are hard to fake without inner experience. The way we connect through language, discuss our thoughts, emotions, and inner lives, and the shared appreciation of art, literature, and music all indicate the presence of a subjective world beyond your own. Additionally, our shared biology is another strong indicator. The fact that humans have similar neural structures and brain patterns tied to conscious experiences makes it highly unlikely that consciousness is an isolated phenomenon in just one being. If your brain patterns correlate with your conscious experiences, it follows that others with similar brain patterns likely have those experiences too.
For thousands of years, humanity has been captivated by the mysteries of existence, life, death, and consciousness. These universal questions have shaped rich philosophies and religions, reflecting our deep curiosity and wonder about the nature of being. From ancient texts to modern thought, we see that people have always sought to understand the meaning of life and the mystical experience of being. This collective exploration further supports the idea that consciousness is not confined to a single individual, but rather a shared experience among all of us.
In our philosophy, consciousness is one with the physical universe, and qualia are direct manifestations of physical processes. When we experience something, we are directly experiencing the “substance” of consciousness, which is one with the physical. Therefore, if you—as a conscious being—observe another person’s brain patterns that resemble those associated with conscious experience in your own brain, it is likely that the other person is conscious as well. This is because the other person’s brain activity manifests as conscious experience within the same fundamental consciousness as your brain activity. While this offers compelling evidence for the consciousness of others, it still cannot provide absolute certainty.
While it’s logical to question the existence of other minds, the idea that you are the only conscious being—seems far less plausible when we consider the evidence around us. It is philosophically possible that you are God, and the rest of us are mere automata. However, if you were truly the only conscious being, and I made the same claim—that I am the only conscious being—you would likely see a contradiction. We can’t be both the only conscious being… or can we?
We are one
We’ve seen throughout this article that the “I” is the only subjective standpoint that truly exists. From the perspective of consciousness itself, a conscious being is not wrong in saying they are the only conscious entity. After all, there is only one consciousness—the fundamental essence of reality. However, this doesn’t exclude the possibility that others are conscious too. Other people’s experiences arise within the same unified consciousness as your own. Just as we all exist in one universe shared by multiple individuals, there is only one consciousness, experiencing the world through each person’s unique perspective. Therefore, the validity of the idea that “I am the only one” depends on who says it—the individual person or consciousness.
The sense of individuality arises from localised perspectives within the same unified consciousness. The illusion of separateness is caused by the fact that conscious experiences are bound to individual brains. The brain functions like a lens through which consciousness observes the body and the world. Each of the countless “lenses” offers a distinct, subjective viewpoint to the one underlying consciousness. While consciousness experiences everything that these various bodies and brains perceive, the experiences remain distinct and don’t blend. Because each brain provides its own unique perceptions, the experiences within consciousness feel personal and private. We think we are separate, but that’s only because our perspective is tied to the brain we inhabit.
To understand how this works, consider the following thought experiment: imagine two people, John and Jane, swap bodies. Everything within their brains remains intact, including their personalities, memories, and neural patterns—only their conscious awareness, their “observer self”, moves. After the swap, will they notice any difference? The answer is no, they won’t. John will still feel like John, and Jane will still feel like Jane, even though their conscious selves have swapped bodies. Their sense of identity is maintained because consciousness is always experienced in the context of the individual brain’s phenomena. This demonstrates that what we consider our “self” is deeply tied to brain phenomena—like memories and personality—rather than consciousness itself. The conscious observer that experiences life from John’s perspective is the same observer that experiences life from Jane’s perspective, but it is localised to each brain’s context.
Now, if the observer switched back and forth between John and Jane, their sense of identity would still remain uninterrupted. Even if there were gaps in the presence of the conscious observer, the brain would still communicate the memory of continuous experience to the observer. The brain registers every perception that would result in experience, and even if, in a highly unlikely scenario, consciousness were absent, the brain could still reconstruct and present these events to the observer as though they had been consciously experienced. This creates the illusion that “I” was always present, even when the conscious self might not have been engaged, making the observer feel as though it experienced everything the brain remembers. If consciousness were to move between different identities, the brain’s ability to reconstruct events would create the feeling of continuous, uninterrupted experience for each individual.7
If consciousness can seamlessly “move” between identities, it raises an interesting question: if you are the one universal consciousness, why don’t you experience all individuals at once? Understanding this paradox becomes clearer when we examine the nature of perspectives and how consciousness experiences the world through each individual viewpoint.
Observation can happen only from one perspective at a time. Attempting to experience two perspectives simultaneously would simply merge them into a new, unified perspective, collapsing the distinction between them. However, such a unified perspective cannot exist at the level of conscious experience. Conscious experiences are direct manifestations of brain processes, and each experience is inherently tied to the physical system that generates it. Experience is also the final product of observation, one with the observer. Experiences can’t be observed, because they are already observations. Therefore, there is no higher perspective beyond the individual brain-generated viewpoints. The space of consciousness is simply the presence of experience. There is no space for a unifying perspective to exist beyond the physical system.
It is the brain that creates a perspective, and consciousness is that experiences through this perspective. Since experiences are tied to the brain, consciousness “sees” what the individual brain would see. Another brain, with its own processes, creates a separate perspective, and the same universal consciousness experiences that separate world from that brain’s viewpoint. The two brains don’t share or access each other’s internal processes, and this separation is reflected in their distinct conscious experiences.
This concept is admittedly perplexing because we are so deeply conditioned to think of ourselves as separate individuals. The idea of consciousness observing life through multiple bodies at once can feel as difficult to grasp as visualising a five-dimensional cube. When you think, it is your individual, physical brain performing the thinking. When you try to imagine being consciousness itself, it is still the brain generating abstract models of this idea. But consciousness is what experiences the entire process. The brain appears to be doing the thinking, and yet consciousness is perceiving itself as the thinker. The brain, in a sense, believes it is doing the experiencing, while consciousness perceives itself as the one doing the thinking. In fact, both are correct, because there is no true separation between them. The physical universe, including your brain, is one with consciousness. So, when the brain thinks, consciousness is thinking. And when consciousness feels, the brain is, in a sense, feeling too—because the brain is part of consciousness. Every living being and their brains exist within the same ocean of consciousness, generating waves of experiences. While consciousness experiences all these waves simultaneously, each experience remains tied to the individual brain that generates it. Since each brain perceives reality from its own private perspective, it creates experiences that reflect this identity and separateness.
Without experience, there is no existence, and thus it is the very nature of consciousness to experience. Experience can only happen from a particular perspective, and the brain has evolved to provide this subjective vantage point, through which consciousness “interacts” with reality. Each brain offers a unique perspective for the one unified consciousness to observe the world in diverse ways. From these vantage points, consciousness seems separate and individual—John feels like John, and Jane feels like Jane—but in reality, it is the same universal consciousness perceiving through different lenses. If you were to “switch” to another brain’s perspective, you would still experience existence seamlessly, because your essential self—the universal consciousness—remains unchanged.
This view of consciousness opens the way to understanding the nature of death. When the body dies, the unique perspective provided by that body disappears, but consciousness remains, continually experiencing through countless other perspectives. The traits that make us feel like individuals—our personalities, skills and memories—are tied to the brain and vanish with it. However, the observer—the conscious “I”—transcends these localised traits. The observer is shared across all beings and remains unchanged regardless of which brain it experiences life through, because it is the same consciousness that flows through every individual. Even if the last conscious being in the universe were to die, consciousness itself would persist, and as soon as life and awareness re-emerged, conscious experience would arise again.8
In this minimalist view, there are no individual souls moving between bodies or to other realms, as there is no evidence of an individual soul persisting after death. Substantial evidence shows that everything defining our individual selves—our DNA, personality, memories, and physical and mental abilities—is stored in the body and brain, all of which perish with the death of the body. What remains is consciousness and its physical world, along with our “footprints”—the legacy we leave behind.
A word about our future
As consciousness continues to experience the universe through the perspectives of myriad other beings—living or yet to be born—you will remain in this world, living these countless lives through their viewpoints. Therefore, the impact you make in your life matters deeply, because it shapes your own future experiences. The only reality you have is the ever-changing conscious experience of the present moment. You are here for the experience—that is the essence of your existence. And you are constantly shaping these experiences through your choices and actions, defining the quality of your life in the next moment, the next day, the next year, and in future lives.
It is crucial to recognise the immense richness and potential of the world we inhabit. Our planet is a marvel of life, beauty, and possibilities. With its vast ecosystems and countless lifeforms, including our advanced human body, our home is an extraordinary gift that offers us everything we need not only to live richly and fully but also to continue developing toward our potential. Thanks to our highly evolved bodies and minds, we possess remarkable abilities, enabling us to explore our planet and outer space, solve complex problems, think abstractly, and create diverse forms of expression, including stories, art, and advanced technology. Most importantly, through collaboration, we harness our collective intelligence to make exponential progress in all areas of life. These abilities have allowed us to achieve incredible feats: we’ve amassed vast bodies of knowledge, developed sophisticated sciences and technologies, created agriculture to sustain billions, and fostered educational systems and societal structures that nurture innovation, exploration, and creativity—continually pushing the boundaries of human potential and opening unimaginable opportunities for a prosperous and meaningful future.
Yet, despite all this, we find ourselves on a path that threatens to undermine the very foundations of this future. For short-term enjoyments and selfish goals, we are eroding the environment that sustains us, through consumerism, pollution, and the destruction of ecosystems leading to irreversible changes. The spectre of nuclear conflict, the rise of populism, and the decay of democratic institutions further endanger the shared reality we will continue to experience. Misinformation—perhaps the most insidious threat—hijacks the minds of billions, bending their collective power toward the selfish interests of a few. Meanwhile, corruption undermines institutions and allows these selfish goals to flourish unchecked, eroding trust and justice across societies.
Many of the problems we face today stem from unconscious instincts and ignorance. Too often, we are driven by automatic behaviours—short-term desires and self-serving goals—without considering the long-term consequences of our actions. Beliefs like “you live only once” or visions of an afterlife that present our current world as merely a temporary station can be harmful, as they devalue the responsibility we have for the environment and future generations. To rise above these limiting perspectives, we must sharpen our critical thinking skills, seek out knowledge that accurately reflects reality, and cultivate a deeper awareness of the big picture—recognising that our actions echo through time and affect not only ourselves but the shared consciousness of all beings. By moving beyond these ingrained patterns and living mindfully, we can break free from the destructive cycles that threaten our world and instead focus on building a strong, healthy, and wise society—one that deeply respects and protects the extraordinary gifts of our planet, our human form, and the knowledge that empower us to live great lives and thrive. This work begins with our own individual choices.
While our individual power may seem limited, even minuscule, every choice and action ripples through the cause-and-effect chain of the physical universe, potentially reverberating for millions of years. Thus, even the smallest decisions can lead to enormous changes. If the philosophy explored here is true, it is you and I who will experience these changes. Our actions today shape not only our present but the future reality of this shared consciousness, influencing every experience we will have going forward. We are responsible for each other and for the world we continue to create.
Summary
This philosophy may initially seem mystical, but it is grounded in careful exploration and logical reasoning. Rather than rejecting the physical world, it simply inverts the traditional view, recognising our conscious experiences as the most direct and undeniable reality. In doing so, consciousness is treated as fundamental to existence, rather than an emergent property of matter.
Although this may feel counterintuitive—since the physical world appears more solid and tangible—modern science reveals that the nature of matter is itself deeply mysterious. Consciousness, on the other hand, is our only direct reality. By making consciousness primary, this framework offers a more coherent understanding of reality, bridging gaps between Western physicalism and Eastern philosophies.
This is still the same world we already know, but with a shift in perspective that allows us to see consciousness as the core of existence. And we may be fundamentally consciousness, but we live our lives as physical beings in a physical world. By bridging the divide between mind and matter, we gain a clearer understanding of who we are, allowing us to live with greater awareness and a deeper connection to the reality we experience every day, while opening new ways to grow both as individuals and as a society.
This is still the same world we know, but with a shift in perspective that places consciousness at the core of existence. While we may be fundamentally consciousness, we live our lives as physical beings in a physical world. Bridging the divide between mind and matter gives us a clearer understanding of who we are, opening the way to greater awareness and a deeper connection to the reality we experience each day, along with new opportunities for growth, both as individuals and as a society.
Key insights
This overview distills the essential arguments and conclusions, highlighting the most important insights and logical foundations of this philosophical framework’s central ideas.
I experience
Our foundational premise is the undeniable fact that “I experience”. Although it is a subjective statement, every conscious being must agree with it because the very presence of experience defines what it means to be conscious.
Consciousness is your primary reality
You experience the world through your senses, nervous system, and brain, and therefore you never experience the “external world”, only a model of it from your subjective perspective as it appears within consciousness. When you perceive anything, you are engaging with consciousness itself. What you see, hear, or feel are mental phenomena, not external objects. The only direct reality you experience is consciousness.
You are consciousness
The sense of observing the world from a specific point (like your body) is itself a mental representation. Consciousness doesn’t observe experiences from a specific point, because experience is already the final product of observation. Conscious phenomena are not separate objects to observe, but the very fabric of the conscious observer. At the level of conscious experience the distinction between observer and observed dissolves. Therefore, you are essentially one with conscious experience, and with consciousness itself.
All experience is subjective
Everything we know and interact with is mediated through our conscious experiences. There is no way to access an objective reality independent of these experiences.
Existence is experience
Your whole existence manifests as experience, and therefore without experience there is no subjective existence. Practically, you don’t exist (for yourself) without experience.
Existence is inherently subjective
Since all existence can be known only through conscious experience, and experience is inherently subjective, existence itself is subjective. Physical objects do not exist independently of consciousness. Anything that exists does so only if there is an observer for whom it exists, either directly or indirectly. Since consciousness is the “medium” through which existence is realised, there is no experience of existence without consciousness.
Anything exists only if you exist
Existence is inherently subjective, and therefore if you don’t exist (as consciousness), nothing else exists.
Consciousness is fundamental
Anything exists only if you exist, and therefore your existence (as consciousness) is fundamental to the existence of anything. Since you are one with consciousness, we can state that consciousness is fundamental to the existence of reality.
Existence is eternal
The concept of absolute nothingness implies the absence of all things, including the conditions necessary to produce anything, and thus the absolute non-existence of reality is impossible. Existence is the very nature of reality. Therefore existence is eternal.
Your existence as consciousness is eternal
Since existence is eternal, and consciousness is fundamental, your existence as consciousness is eternal.
Reality is unified
Brain activity correlates with conscious experience, therefore a connection must exist between the physical world and consciousness. This implies that the two are complementary aspects of a single, unified system. Consciousness and the universe are one.
You are one with the conscious universe
Since you are consciousness, and reality is unified, you are one the conscious universe.
The physical universe can be understood as an informational system
Since we can never experience most of the physical universe directly (except for those processes that manifest as conscious phenomena), we are not confined to perceiving it as fundamentally concrete. Instead, we can conceptualise the physical world as system of data and processes. By doing so, the physical universe seems more compatible with the realm of conscious experiences. In fact, we have always known about the physical world only via our brains (through information and concepts), therefore this approach is fully reconcilable with our current scientific knowledge.
Conscious phenomena are manifestations of physical processes
Conscious experiences correlate directly with brain activity—specific patterns of neural activity result in the phenomena we experience. Thus, conscious phenomena are manifestations of physical processes. Since reality is a unified system, the chain of events from the physical world to conscious experience is continuous and seamless. Every step in this chain can be viewed as part of the same physical process, including those that manifest as conscious experiences. Therefore, when we experience something, we are directly encountering the physical processes of the universe in the form of conscious phenomena.
A one-way flow from brain to consciousness is sufficient to explain behaviour
Conscious experiences consistently correlate with specific patterns of brain activity, suggesting that the brain does not need to experience consciousness in order to produce behaviour that appears conscious. There is no compelling evidence that consciousness influences the brain or the physical world. Instead, the brain’s physical patterns, which correspond to conscious experiences, are enough to generate relevant behaviour. For example, when seeing a beautiful sunset, the brain patterns that generate the conscious experience of its beauty also lead to the decision to stay and enjoy the moment longer, without any additional influence from consciousness. These neural patterns can then be stored as memory, and when the memory is recalled, the brain recreates those patterns, reviving the corresponding conscious experience of the sunset’s beauty.
The purpose of consciousness is existence
The role of conscious experiences does not need to involve influencing our decisions and behaviours. Without conscious experiences, subjective existence would cease entirely, making consciousness essential to existence itself.
The flow of conscious experience is continuous
Even when gaps occur in the processes generating conscious experiences—such as during deep sleep, coma, or periods when no beings exist to generate conscious phenomena—your conscious experience remains continuous. From the perspective of consciousness, no gap in existence is perceived.
We can’t prove the existence of other minds, but there are strong evidences
Although we can’t definitively prove others are conscious, strong evidence suggests they are. Our shared emotional responses, appreciation of experiences, curiosity about existence, and the biological similarity of brain structures, which correlate with consciousness, all point to others having conscious experiences. These indicators make it highly likely that other minds exist, even without absolute proof.
Brains create distinct perspectives
Although consciousness is one and universal, the experience of individuality is tied to the distinct perspectives generated by individual brains. Since each brain perceives reality from its own private perspective, it creates experiences that reflect this identity and separateness.
Individuality is an illusion
Although multiple brains generate experiences within the same unified consciousness simultaneously, these experiences appear as distinct and individual. This illusion of separateness is created by each brain acting as a unique perspective, giving rise to a sense of personal identity.
No higher perspective exists beyond physical viewpoints
Conscious experience is direct manifestation of physical processes, and also the final product of observation, one with the observer. Experiences can’t be observed, because they are already observations. Therefore, there is no higher perspective beyond the physical viewpoints (e.g. our brains).
We are one
Though we each experience the world through distinct personal perspectives, we all share the same consciousness. The individuality we perceive is an illusion, and in reality, there is only one consciousness manifesting through multiple viewpoints. At the most fundamental level, we are all one.