Why Advaita Vedanta Says You've Been Playing Peekaboo with Reality All Wrong

You're here because you have questions, existential ones…

…the kinds that keep the mind in an endless spin cycle. Forget the wishy-washy spiritual platitudes and syrupy philosophies; we're about to unpack one of Advaita Vedanta's mind-benders: everything appears in consciousness, not to it.

And yes, you've been tripping over your own feet, thinking otherwise. It's not a conversation for the faint of heart or the intellectually lazy.

So buckle up.

The Deceptive Simplicity of the Question

"What's the basis for Advaita Vedanta claiming that everything appears in consciousness and not to it?" Sounds innocuous enough, right?

Wrong. This question is the vortex that pulls you into Advaita's radical redefinition of what you are. Forget Descartes. "I think, therefore I am" is kindergarten philosophy. That line of thought presupposes an 'I' that thinks. Advaita smirks at such simplicity. You're not a human having consciousness…

…you're the arena where this whole circus unfolds.

Advaita Vedanta’s Radical Standpoint

So you still think you're just a human, huh?

A bag of bones and meat, cruising through life like a spectator? That's not just naive; it's downright comical from an Advaita Vedanta viewpoint. Let's dig a bit deeper.

Think of the universe as a giant, cosmic theater. Most people walk around thinking they're the audience or, at best, a featured actor. That's child's play. In Advaita, you're not just part of the show; you're the theater, the set, the director, and yes, even the janitor sweeping up after everyone's gone. Take your ordinary experience. You see a tree, and you think, "That tree is outside of me." But ask yourself, where is that experience of the tree happening?

Within consciousness. And who or what is that consciousness? You. The tree, the bird flying past it, the sky framing it—they are not separate from you; they are modifications of you.

Let's amp this up with a nautical metaphor.

A wave might rise in the ocean, swirl around, and then crash back into it. At no point does it ever become separate from the ocean. It's water all the way through.

Similarly, your thoughts, emotions, experiences—they're you, appearing as something else for a brief moment in the grand scale of eternity. The notion that you're a separate entity is as ridiculous as a wave claiming it's not wet. Ever heard of a dream character claiming independence from the dreamer? Didn't think so. In the Advaita scheme of things, every experience, thought, or object is like a character in your dream.

They don't just appear to you; they appear in you. You're not a passive bystander to life; you're the main event, baby. So, ditch the spectator's seat. There's no 'outside' to step into.

You're the circus, and it's time to live like you own the tent.

Not 'To' but 'In': What This Means for You

Let's get practical.

How does this turn your everyday existence upside down? It tears down the scaffolding of subject-object duality you've been clinging to. No longer are you an actor on life's stage; you are the stage, the actor, and the script. Boom!

Liberation, or at least a radical shift in understanding, is right around the corner.

The Trap of Intellectual Understanding

If you're thinking, "Hey, I got it!"—you don't.

Intellectual understanding is the honey trap. It's like admiring a picture of the Himalayas and thinking you've been there. You need to take the trip. In Advaita, that trip is self-inquiry, a brutal self-examination that shreds every false identification.

Obliterating the Unreal: The Unvarnished Path

Lastly, let's talk about illusions, or as Advaita likes to call it, Maya.

You're a master illusionist, conjuring a world of objects, thoughts, and experiences. Time to switch off the magic show. Remember Neti Neti? Not this, Not that. Your true nature is a process of elimination. What remains after every label, every construct is dismantled?

That's you, or more precisely, the absence of you.

The Final Takeaway: Reality Isn't What You Think

Stop intellectualizing and start experiencing.

The only valid answer is found through direct, unmediated experience. You're not a drop in the ocean; you're the ocean in a drop. Stop playing peekaboo with reality; you're only fooling yourself. It's time to look in the mirror, not at it.

Get to work.