Wysdomly

Are we living in a simulation?

Across many spiritual traditions, there’s a deep understanding that what we perceive as reality is not the ultimate truth. In Hinduism, this is known as maya – the illusion or veil that makes the ever-changing 3d world appear solid, separate, and real.

It is not false in the sense of being nonexistent, but deceptive in the sense that it hides the true nature of reality: the undivided field of consciousness in which all forms appear – including you.

Alongside maya is the concept of leela – the ‘divine play’. It invites us to participate in this world without attachment, to move through the illusion – knowing it is an illusion – without fear, but with curiosity, creativity, and freedom.

In many spiritual teachings, we are not passive beings reacting to a pre-made world. We are co-creators of the dream, architects of the simulation. And it’s not just a metaphor. Whether you view this world as a quantum field responding to vibration, or a dream projection from the inner to the outer, or a soul-generated experience field – one truth remains central:

Your innerverse becomes your outerverse.

The mirror of reality: When the inner becomes the outer

To truly understand the nature of this dreamlike world, we need to explore a simple but powerful metaphor: the mirror.

Reality is a mirror.
Not metaphorically – but energetically.
The world around you reflects your inner state with unnerving precision, not always in form, but always in frequency.

Think of how you look into a mirror. If you’re frowning, the reflection frowns back. If your hair is a mess, the mirror shows it exactly as it is.

Now imagine trying to change that reflection by wiping the mirror, yelling at it, or trying to brush the hair in the reflection. Obviously it wouldn’t change.
Because the mirror is not the source-you are.

This is the essence of maya and of simulation thinking:

What you see “out there” is simply a projection of what you are “in here.”

If we don’t like the way life is showing up, we often try to change the mirror. We try to fix the job, the person, the external situation-believing that if we manage it just right, the reflection will improve.

The mirror cannot lead; it can only follow. The mirror cannot change until we do.

This doesn’t mean we are to blame for every experience. But it does mean we are the vibrational source of how we move through life-and the simulation responds accordingly.

When we shift our inner beliefs, raise our frequency, or dissolve old identity patterns, we start seeing different outcomes-not because the mirror has changed, but because we are showing up differently within it.

The mirror reflects more than our thoughts

It’s tempting to think that if we just “do our inner work,” things will shift quickly. But the mirror of reality doesn’t only reflect our conscious thoughts or affirmations-it reflects our entire energetic field, including:

• Unconscious beliefs
• Early life conditioning
• Ancestral patterns
• Cultural programming
• Karmic imprints and soul blueprints

This is why change isn’t always instant. Because what’s being mirrored is not just what we want-it’s also what we unknowingly carry.

And this is where self-awareness becomes essential. Without it, we may believe we’re operating with clarity and intention, while deeper programs -unexamined fears, inherited shame, unresolved trauma – are actually directing the simulation.

The simulation exists to reveal.
It brings to life the hidden code so we can see it, feel it, meet it-and ultimately, rewrite and resolve it.

This is the sacred function of the mirror. It simply offers us a perfect, vibrational feedback loop of who we are being in this moment of time.

The world as dream: Ancient wisdom meets modern science

This idea that reality is a projection – not solid, not fixed – has echoed through mystical teachings for millennia. Long before simulation theory became popularised in science fiction, sages, seers, and shamans described this world as a dream within consciousness, a temporary play of forms through which the soul awakens to its true nature.

In Hinduism, this is encapsulated in the concept of maya – the illusion of separateness and form that veils the eternal, unified reality (Brahman).
Maya isn’t bad-it’s the divine stage on which we learn, evolve, and remember ourselves. And within that, the Vedas describe the soul (Atman) as never truly touched by the illusion-it is the eternal observer, the dreamer of the dream.

Then there’s leela, or divine play-the idea that this illusion is a cosmic theatre of joy, sorrow, challenge, and growth, orchestrated for the soul’s unfolding.

“This whole world is a play of the Supreme. Enjoy it without attachment.”

Bhagavata Purana

In Tibetan Dream Yoga, advanced practitioners train to recognise the dreamlike nature of all experiences, even while asleep. The goal? To remain lucid – aware that one is dreaming – so that the dream can be navigated with wisdom, rather than unconscious reactivity.

This is the very same practice we are called to in waking life. To wake up inside the dream and realize that we are both player and creator.

Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.

Carl Jung

Quantum physics theories involving the observer effect and the quantum fiel appear to echo these truths. The quantum field responds not just to physical input, but to our consciousness itself: particles behave differently depending on whether or not they are being observed by us.

In other words: reality responds to concsiousness – our awareness. What we observe and expect, begins to collapse into form. Consciousness creates reality.

Real-world simulations: How the dream projects into daily life

If this world is a dream-an intelligent simulation generated by consciousnes-then every moment, every encounter, every pattern is a reflection of what’s inside us. The outer world becomes our mirror… or perhaps more accurately, our projection screen.

In this dream, others aren’t just “other.” They are players in your story, functioning like NPCs (non-player characters) whose sole purpose is to reflect something back to you. An unconscious belief. A fear. A karmic pattern. A part of you still unresolved.

The bossy controlling person in your life

Let’s say you keep encountering controlling, demanding people-at work, in relationships, even in friendships. It’s easy to point outward: They’re the problem. But what if they’re mirrors?

• Maybe they reflect your own inner tyrant-the part of you that pushes yourself relentlessly, that criticises and controls.
• Or maybe they mirror an old imprint from childhood: a parent who silenced your voice, making it a constant repeating theme in your adult life.
• Or perhaps they’re part of a karmic pattern, unresolved impressions from previous lifetimes your soul has chosed to heal in this lifetime.
• This person is a character you created to help you grow the spine to say no, to reclaim your voice, to break a soul pattern of submission.

This person then is your soul’s lovingly crafted simulation character and challenge, designed to wake you up to this stuck frequency. To help you grow the inner power to say no, to reclaim your voice, to break a soul pattern of submission.

The I’m not enough loop

Or maybe you keep being ghosted. Lovers disappear. Friends drift. Workplaces don’t value your contributions. It seems external-but what if the field is mirroring your internal relationship with self-worth?

Maybe deep inside there’s a wound of, I’m not enough, and the world responds like a cosmic echo: You’re right… let me show you. Not to punish-but to bring the wound to light.

But this pattern may also reveal itself in your dreams. The recurring dream of rejection, betrayal. Every dream-whether asleep or awake-is a self-projection from your inner field.

The recurring person mirroring I am not enough is a live broadcast from your innerverse, showing you the inner belief, the recurring inner dialogue of lack, that is needing to heal.

That’s why trying to fix the external reality-fighting with people, changing jobs, rearranging the set-is often futile. It can work for some things in your life (feel the fear and do it anyway etc,) but true lasting shift to recurring patterns of belief happens when you address the source code inside you.

Reprogramming the dream: How to change the simulation from within

Once you begin to see life as a simulation-not in a sci-fi sense, but in the ancient mystical sense of maya, leela, or dream-you start to reclaim authorship.

The first step is simple, just say to yourself: This is my simulation.
Everything I see is showing me… me.

That alone changes everything. Because now life isn’t happening to you.
It’s happening through you. It’s reflecting from you.

The dream is built on your source code-the old patterns, soul imprints, karmic stories, ancestral echoes, and unconscious beliefs that are still running in the background. It governs what shows up.

Trying to script a new reality without rewriting the code is like planting flowers on top of concrete. So what can we do?

Name the pattern (become the observer)

Half the magic is simply noticing. What are the repeating loops? Who are the recurring characters? Where do you always feel small, unseen, triggered, betrayed, hurt?

These are your simulation breadcrumbs. By seeing the pattern clearly, you begin to step out of it. Just like a dream, once you become lucid, you stop being a prisoner of the plot.

2. Feel the feeling (become the experiencer)

Beneath the pattern is a feeling you haven’t fully felt. A core wound or frozen emotion that the simulation is trying to help you meet. The dream isn’t trying to hurt you. It’s trying to wake you.

That boss who shuts you down? The lover who pulls away? The finances that seem to dry up? They’re the shape the code takes to show you what’s been hiding inside.

What you see “out there” is not random-it is form shaped by frequency, your vibration.
The code within you crystallizes into people, dynamics, events. They are the 3D embodiment of energy patterns-like sculptures made of feeling. They are energy given edges so you can see what has been invisible.

And if the message isn’t fully received -if the insight isn’t fully integrated or if you ignore it – the code will reappear in new forms. Not as punishment, but as part of the design: to bring the hidden into view.

Each new version is simply a variation on the same energy pattern, a new mirror offering the same core reflection from a different angle until you’re ready to meet it, understand it, and choose something new.

3. Rewrite the code (become the creator)

Once seen, once felt-now you can choose differently, from alignment.

Sometimes that means healing the inner child who believed love must be earned. Or stepping out of old roles you inherited from your family.
Sometimes its declaring new boundaries in the outer dream-because your inner code has shifted.

It’s not instant. The simulation often lags behind the shift in consciousness.
But it does catch up. Because when the projection changes, the reflection projected on the screen has to follow.

Working with the mirror

If this world is your mirror, your simulation, then the people, patterns, and problems around you are reflections of your own inner code.

Here are some reflection prompts you might sit with to open up your field of awareness:

• Where in my life do I keep encountering the same type of experience or dynamic, even in new settings or with different people?
  What if it’s not them but a program surfacing for review?
• What part of me keeps creating this storyline? What might this situation be revealing or asking to be seen?
  Is it a suppressed need? A limiting belief I inherited or have never questioned? A protective identity from a childhood experience that’s outlived its purpose?
• If this were a dream-what would the scene be trying to show me?
  Sometimes detaching from “real life” labels allows us to interpret the message beneath the moment.

Becoming aware of the code changes the code, and with each pattern revealed, you reclaim a little more authorship of the dream you’re in.