Madan Prasad Singh
What is reality? Is the universe truly what it appears to be, or is our experience merely an illusion? These questions have occupied philosophers, scientists, and spiritual seekers for millennia. While modern science explores reality through experimentation and mathematics, spiritual philosophy approaches it through introspection and direct experience. Remarkably, both traditions suggest that reality is richer and more layered than our everyday perception.
Shri P.R. Sarkar (Ananda Murti) encapsulated this profound insight in the Sanskrit aphorism: “Brahma Satyam, Jagadapi Satyamapeksikam.” It means: Brahman is the Absolute Truth; the universe is also true, but its truth is relative. This interpretation differs significantly from the notion that the world is merely an illusion. Instead, it proposes that reality exists at many levels, and what we perceive depends on our capacity to observe and understand.
Reality Depends on the Observer
Every observation is shaped by the observer. Two people may witness the same event yet derive entirely different meanings from it. The event remains unchanged, but the depth of perception varies.
The story of Isaac Newton illustrates this beautifully. Millions had watched apples fall from trees before him. Newton observed the same phenomenon but perceived an underlying universal principle—the law of gravitation. The apple did not become different; the observer did.
Science repeatedly demonstrates that observation is not passive. In psychology, perception is influenced by prior knowledge, expectations, attention, and context. The brain does not simply record reality like a camera; it actively constructs an internal model of the world from sensory inputs.
Modern cognitive science describes perception as a process of predictive processing. The brain constantly generates predictions about the external world and updates them using incoming sensory information. Consequently, what we experience is not reality in its entirety but the brain’s best interpretation of it.
Expanding the Window of Perception
Imagine observing a magnificent landscape through a tiny keyhole. Only a fragment is visible. The limitation lies not in the landscape but in the narrow opening.
Human perception works similarly. Our senses detect only a tiny fraction of reality. The human eye perceives only visible light, while radio waves, infrared radiation, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and gamma rays remain invisible without instruments. Likewise, our ears detect only a limited range of sound frequencies.
Scientific instruments dramatically extend our perception. Telescopes reveal galaxies billions of light-years away. Microscopes expose intricate cellular worlds invisible to the naked eye. Particle accelerators probe matter at scales far beyond ordinary experience.
The lesson is clear: expanding our instruments expands our reality. Spiritual disciplines similarly propose that disciplined introspection refines the “inner instrument” of perception, enabling awareness of subtler dimensions of existence. While such inner experiences belong to the domain of philosophy and contemplative practice rather than established empirical science, they share with science the recognition that ordinary perception is incomplete.
The Relative Nature of Physical Reality
Modern physics has profoundly altered humanity’s understanding of reality.
Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity demonstrated that measurements of time and space depend upon the observer’s frame of reference. Time flows differently under different gravitational conditions and at different velocities. There is no single universal clock governing every observer.
Quantum physics presents another challenge to common intuition. At atomic scales, particles exhibit behaviour unlike anything in ordinary experience. Quantum theory does not imply that consciousness creates reality, but it does show that the microscopic world often defies classical notions of definite properties
