Think Krishna showing all aspects of himself to Arjuna in The Bhagavad Gita. That big.

In yoga, the word sat describes reality, truth, or being-ness. Like most Sanskrit words, you could go into the depth of meaning contained in sat for a very long time.

Which brings me to the point of this article: reality is a whole lot more expansive than we think. When you head down the rabbit hole, reality encompasses all that exists in creation. It is, in truth, universal consciousness and everything in the universe at once.

In general, society’s accepted idea of reality is a very, very narrow slice of the pie. The predominant outlook that is publically set as “the real world” is focused on the outer world, not the inner world. And it’s a very small portion of the outer world at that.

This conditioned idea of reality also can make things somewhat uncomfortable when you expand your idea of what is real, by placing doubt where none is necessarily needed.  If you’ve ever wondered about “supernatural” subjects, and then just as quickly asked yourself if you’ve still got a grasp on reality, you may know what I’m talking about here.

There are a few things going on that need re-assessment if reality is to be more fully understood—and therefore present you with the opportunity to shift your perspective if you so choose—in order to come closer to accepting what is really “real.”

First, our senses take in a very small percentage of the information they’re actually receiving.

For instance, our eyes process only a part of the spectrum of light, our ears pick up a small range of the vibrations of sound, and our brains are, well, not running on full power. There’s a lot more there than what we’re using to compose our varying ideas of reality.

Many people see, hear, know, or otherwise pick up on information that isn’t coming through the five senses. Some call these psychic abilities, but the truth is that everyone has intuitive abilities that are simply not developed or widely encouraged. For most people these natural abilities have actually been discouraged from an early age by the way our cultures and school systems have been designed. Fortunately, there is a huge increase in people cultivating these other senses (if you’d like to call them that), and many children who are being raised in ways that help them retain and grow these inherent aspects of who they are.

Thus, for these people at least, reality expands. And it ripples out.

Second, the human drama is only a small part of life.

Though we tend to be totally caught up in our relationships with each other and the world around us through human eyes and human-centric culture, there’s a lot more to the world than just people.

When you allow your field of awareness to expand in meditation, you tune in to this truth—that reality is only partially concerned with people. When you do yoga, connect with nature or spirit guides, explore intellectual avenues, dance or enjoy creating in your own way, these are all reminders that reality does not necessarily revolve around people.

However, you could say that reality is based on each persons’ individual perspective, and then it really depends, doesn’t it? Your reality may not revolve around the human drama, but you probably know a few people for whom it does, eh?

Third, there is a lot we’re not being told by mainstream sources such as the educational system and the media (sure, you already knew that).

Once you tap into some of these subjects, reality starts getting really big really fast.

For instance, we are absolutely not the only race in the universe. There have been so many ancient and modern instances, archeological discoveries, documents, testimonials, videos, and other examples of disclosure that it is a well known fact that “We are not alone.” But you won’t learn that in school, and the media in general doesn’t seem comfortable letting the whole “alien” discussion out of the bag yet, so you’ve got to find alternative sources for this and other subjects such as interdimensionality, ancient cultures, sacred sites, and ways to access subtle energies for harmony and healing (Gaiam TV is a good resource for this and “normal” stuff too).

Part of the risk here is once disclosure of these subjects is widely known, so too are the many technologies that we have for free, clean energy. But since big oil and big pharma would lose out on a lot of profit, these technologies have been stifled, confiscated, and otherwise undermined since the days of Tesla and probably long before.

Which makes our reality more limited doesn’t it? I mean, the cosmos is a tremendously big place that many people hardly think about. Or, perhaps if you’re already discovering or even teaching these ideas, it further expands what is real for you.

So what if you already know all of this?

Well, then the challenge often becomes integrating your expanded view of reality into the world as a whole, and finding the balance of knowing what is real for you without creating delusion or feeling like you’re going crazy. It is a practice unto itself to simply live with the knowing that your perspective of reality is very different than most others’.

Of course, technically speaking, everyone’s perspective is totally different, so reality could look like anything to anyone. Which means there is no need to struggle with what reality means to you, so long as you are at peace with your own perspective.

Gets a bit complicated doesn’t it?

I think it’s fascinating, though, to contemplate reality as something that is more infinite and vast than our wildest imagination. Because, when you look at it that way, the world becomes even more mysterious and beautiful as you realize how reality is truly a thing of limitless possibilities.

If you’re having an 11^th chapter of The Bhagavad Gita moment, where you’re overwhelmed by the idea of infinity, don’t worry. Just breathe. Maybe repeat sat nam a few times (a mantra which honors truth and acknowledges that truth is the essence of being).  In short, trust yourself as you are right now.

When you get down to it, reality simply is. And we don’t actually need to understand its totality to interact and thrive within that which is real.

Images courtesy of NASA and Hubble.