“That’s when things got real.”
Things have taken a sudden turn for the worse. The exciting part of a story is about to begin.
And if you don’t believe that reality is entirely real, there can be a whole world to explore in that saying, like a story within a story.
Which kind of goes against most people’s understanding of the word “reality.” The root word of reality is “real.” So, if reality is not entirely real, how do people make sense of everything around them?
All aquarium fish know there is something outside their reality. They can see it. For us, it’s more complicated.
So, when, as a human species, did we first get our ideas about more than one reality? What was our aquarium moment? The answer might surprise you.
Religion. Of all things. This stuff about alternate realities has been going on for thousands of years.
So, if you question whether this life is “real,” you share your belief with many people who came before you!
But the fascinating part of investigating alternate realities is how people know this life is not everything there is to reality.
They describe a sense of incompleteness. They just know that something isn’t right. Or maybe things have happened that they can’t explain.
But is that all there is to it?
Why can’t someone prove something scientifically so everyone can believe that, for instance, there is life after death? That would be helpful.
We are starting to glimpse what a scientific alternate reality might look like in some of the latest research.
Subatomic particles behave differently when observed scientifically. As silly as this sounds, it’s as if they know they are being watched!
And that is not all. Cells have been cultured so that they evolve. These cells then begin to build structures that appear to be the rudiments of eyes. It is as if the cell tissue wants to “see” our reality. How does cell tissue know there is anything to see?
All of this is in the beginning stages. We aren’t close to proving that these phenomena might be related to another reality.
But what if there was something beyond our lives that was timeless, that could explain everything if we could reach it? Or if it reached out to us? What might this look like?
- An alternate reality would have its own story. As in, it doesn’t exist for us. It is busy being what it is.
- An alternative reality would have certain preconditions for our involvement, discovered by those who first experienced it.
- Exploration would be needed. The unveiling of an alternative reality is gradual, and it gets real only to the degree that we follow the path laid out already.
- This could mean it is a new experience and difficult to accept. People would require help to be a part of it.
- A decision is needed to believe without having absolute proof that this reality exists, which is somewhat disappointing.
But when you think of it, we do many things without knowing if what we hope for will be worth the energy and time we expend.
Nearly two thousand years ago, a man taught about an alternative reality. His teaching was so threatening to the powers that ruled at that time that he was put to death.
The people who believed in the reality he spoke of were convinced that something extraordinary happened after he died.
Jesus Christ didn’t simply die. He rose again in bodily form and appeared to the people who believed in his teaching.
The Roman Catholic Church has many things to say about this alternative reality, what it is, and what people must do to be a part of it; far too much to write about in this essay.
Would you like to investigate further? Please feel free to write to me, and I will reply.