Many humans ponder the question of what is the ultimate underlying reality of the universe. The current mainstream theory is that the universe is a vast dynamic spacetime continuum filled with energy and matter. But there are still a lot of open questions like, where did all this come from?, how far does it extend?, when did it all come into existence?, how long will it last?, and so on. There are hypotheses around all of these but no definitive answers which indicates a lack of understanding of the underlying reality. Let’s take a step back and see how the ultimate reality of the universe can actually be discovered through straightforward logic using a simple step-by-step process:
The first point to understand is that something cannot come into existence out of absolute nothingness nor can it dissolve into absolute nothingness (the term absolute nothingness here means that there is absolutely nothing, not even empty space as space is also something). Even the law of conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. This means that energy or something like that must have always existed and will continue to exist forever in some form or the other. Things might get transformed from one thing into another, but there must always be something or the other existing. This implies that existence cannot be time-bound and must be eternal i.e. without a beginning or an end.
The second point to understand is that it doesn’t make sense for things to exist only within a certain boundary with absolute nothingness beyond that boundary. A boundary separates one thing from another, but if there is absolutely nothing, i.e. not even empty space, beyond the boundary, then a boundary doesn’t make any sense. In other words, a boundary around existence can only separate it from something different from existence i.e. non-existence, but non-existence by definition is non-existent and hence such a boundary is meaningless. This implies that existence cannot be bounded by space either and must be infinite.
So far it is clear that something or the other must always be existing everywhere and existence must be extending through infinity in terms of both time and space. Now let’s figure out how many things can exist at any given time.
First let’s determine how many types of things can coexist. If two different types of things, say T1 and T2 coexist separately from each other, a third type T3 that is different from both T1 and T2 is needed between them, because there cannot be absolute nothingness in-between, as we have already determined that existence must be everywhere. Moreover, there cannot be a sudden transmutation from one type to another without a break in-between, hence the need for a third type. A fourth type T4 is then needed to separate T1 and T3, and T5 to separate T3 and T2, and so on ad infinitum. Another possibility is that T3 separates T1 and T2, T2 separates T1 and T3, and T1 separates T3 and T2. But even this kind of interleaving will go on ad infinitum. These are implausible scenarios as, even if they were possible, the complexity would be too enormous to last long. So it is not feasible for multiple types of things to coexist and hence only one type of thing can exist at any given time.
But can multiple things of the same type coexist? If there are multiple things of the same type, what will separate them from each other? A thing cannot separate two more things of the same type, as otherwise how will the boundaries get defined for such a separation? So it is not feasible for multiple things of the same type to coexist either and hence only one thing can exist at any given time.
This one thing cannot have any parts either, as otherwise the same problem of what separates these parts from each other would arise, so it has to be a continuous homogeneous entity not made up of parts or particles (which are just tiny parts). It would also be safe to claim that this entity cannot change, because change can either be caused externally by another thing, or internally by one part on another, and both of these scenarios have gotten ruled out.
Hence, our conclusion so far is that there is one and only one entity that actually exists which is infinite, eternal, continuous, homogeneous, partless and unchanging; and that must be the ultimate underlying reality of the universe. This implies that the multiplicity, variety and change observed across the universe doesn’t actually exist, and that the underlying reality falsely appears as the universe. One clear indication of this is that the underpinnings of the universe are becoming vaguer and vaguer as science is trying to peer deeper and deeper which is evident from the probabilistic theory and uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics — just like an illusion becomes vaguer and vaguer when looked at closer and closer, whereas a real thing becomes clearer and clearer.
So, instead of trying to explain the false appearance, it is better to find out more about the nature of the underlying reality. In general, whenever something falsely appears as something else, the appearance maintains certain characteristics of the real thing. For example, when a rope lying in a semi-dark room appears as a snake, certain characteristics of the rope like the length, thickness, orientation, etc. are maintained in the snake-appearance. Such is true with all appearances. This means that even the universe must be maintaining certain characteristics of the underlying reality. Since the reality is homogeneous throughout, any characteristic that consistently appears across the universe can be attributed to the underlying reality.
The most obvious characteristic is that things appear across the universe, which is a direct indication of the existence nature of the underlying reality because it not just exists itself but can also make things appear to exist.
Another universal characteristic is that nothing appears in isolation and everything, no matter how small or big, interacts with its surroundings in one way or the other — particles interact to form atoms, atoms interact to form molecules, molecules interact to form larger objects, which in turn interact to form groups of objects, and so on. A prerequisite for anything to interact with its surroundings is that it should somehow be aware of its surroundings first. This sense of awareness is quite evident in the case of living beings. But even in the case of nonliving things, a certain sense of awareness manifests in the form of fields around them that enable them to be aware of the presence of other things within their vicinity that they can interact with. These fields include the electromagnetic field, weak nuclear field, strong nuclear field, and the gravitational field. From the smallest of the particles to the largest of the galaxies, from the tiniest unicellular organisms to the most evolved ones, everything exhibits this characteristic of being aware of its surroundings. This is a strong indication that awareness or consciousness must belong to the underlying reality. Another simple reason why awareness or consciousness must belong to the underlying reality is that the reality would otherwise be unconscious, and it is not possible for an unconscious thing to appear as something conscious all by itself.
One more prerequisite for anything to interact with its surroundings is that there should be an underlying reason for the interaction — a motivation or a driving force. Without this factor the universe would just be a huge cloud of static particles that are only aware of other particles around them but not interacting with them. That is not the case though. Instead, interactions are universal and so there must be a factor belonging to the underlying reality responsible for these universal interactions; and the factor can be discovered by investigating these interactions. There are generally two types of interactions exhibited by anything in the universe irrespective of whether it is living or nonliving: attraction and repulsion. A thing either goes towards something in case of an attraction or goes away from something in case of a repulsion — both of which are indicative of a drive towards less conflict and more harmony, so this underlying factor is akin to bliss. These fundamental interactions also give rise to various laws that everything adheres to whenever the respective conditions are met. Adherence to these laws and always going with the flow and never against it brings systematism and orderliness in the universe, which is also indicative of the underlying bliss factor. In fact, in the case of living beings, experiencing bliss or happiness is always the motive behind all interactions.
Hence, through a purely objective analysis, we have deduced the nature of the underlying infinite reality of the universe to be existence-consciousness-bliss. The appear-aware-adhere formula can be easily applied to notice the existence-consciousness-bliss nature of the reality anytime anywhere. You only need to ask a simple question about anything: Does it appear and does it adhere to appropriate laws as per the surrounding conditions and thereby also aware of the surroundings? The answer will always be “yes” if you are attentive enough.
Also, it is important to note that the one reality is not appearing as many to something else but to itself, as nothing else exists apart from the nondual reality, and we are also none other than this ultimate reality of the universe — inseparably one with all. In fact, there is no all, there is only The One!
You can learn more about why the universe appears within the ultimate reality in the video titled “It is Impossible for the Brain to Know or Experience anything”.