Getting Out of the Matrix

Spirituality and the Matrix

by Sujantra McKeever

Using Meditation to Get Out of the Matrix  

Our pure Being, the Self, radiating through the lens of our mind, generates a reality to fulfill our desires. Through this process, our sense of reality becomes bound by time, space, and causation into a dualistic, physical, egocentric reality. We become intertwined in a limited existence. We can extricate ourselves from this limited awareness, the matrix. 

Spiritual liberation–illumination, satori, nirvana, samadhi, heaven, etc., is becoming conscious of pure Being before the lens of our mind generates our egocentric reality.  

The matrix of mind is powerful, yet a vague awareness of our pure Being is always within sight. 

In achieving liberation, we become conscious of the workings of the mind. The 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume brilliantly illustrated some of the underlying structures and workings of the mind. His work had a profound impact on both Immanuel Kant and Albert Einstein. Through Hume’s analysis of our experience of causation, he illustrated how the mind generates our limited understanding of reality.

Many philosophers and religious leaders make the mistake of taking the limitations of the mind as an absolute reality. By doing this, they limit their ability to experience the pure Light, the Self, which animates the mind. We cannot grasp and experience the Self through thought. We must feel the Self; it is an intuitive feeling of Being. 

Achieving Pre-Thought Awareness

Trying to think oneself out of the mind-thought-complex is futile. Clear thinking can get you out of many of the limiting belief structures which bind us. Yet, new sequences of thought, new theories, and philosophies, which invariably become increasingly abstract, are futile for liberation because the essence of the limitation is not in the method of thinking but rather the limit is in the very structure of mind and thought. Only in pre-thought awareness do we grasp the underlying reality. 

This pre-thought awareness occurs in deep meditation. For a split second, usually completely unconsciously, we pass through this pre-thought awareness each day as we go from waking to sleep; in our deepest sleep, and as we pass from dream to waking. 

Consider the Self as the sunlight before it passes through a magnifying glass. The magnifying glass is the mind; it focuses the incoming light on a single point. This point of light is our mind-born experience of life. The lens limits the light and the Self and generates a reality bound in time, space, and causation. 

How to Observe the Mind

I suggest exploring the limitations of the mind, and the fastest way is by observing your mind and perceiving the inherent structures of the mind: time, space, and causation. This exploration will expand your awareness wherein you can begin to feel the pre-thought reality that the mind filters into our experience of reality. 

Imagine being in a movie theatre, engrossed in the images projected on the screen. While engaged in the story, we forget that it is only an appearance of light on the screen. We consider it real. If we pull our attention away from the images, we can look up and see the pure, white light before it hits the screen. That experience of pure light is illumination.  

In the same way, we can step back from the appearances generated by the mind, including our thoughts and ego, and see and experience them in a new way. It is akin to awakening from an unpleasant dream and the delightful feeling of realizing that it was only a dream. In the same way, we can awaken from the imagination of our life to the delightful sense of that pure, white Light. 

The methods I have found most helpful for this exploration are meditation and self-inquiry. Explore my library of writings and videos to learn more about these techniques.