Consciousness created the world - not the other way around

Today, I would like to invite you to reflect on consciousness — to look at it in a way you might not have heard before. Consciousness is, on one hand, something incredibly fascinating, and on the other, so obvious and omnipresent that we almost don’t notice it—much like we don’t notice the passing of time. Rarely do we truly wonder what it really is. What about you? Have you ever asked yourself what it truly means to be conscious?

In this text, I will suggest a few simple thought experiments to help you better feel and understand what consciousness is, how it manifests in you, and how it relates to living in the present. In spiritual and philosophical traditions, consciousness is often described as the foundation of the universe, from which everything emerges. I will try to show you that perhaps there really is something to this.

The Daisy Experiment

Psychology defines consciousness as a basic mental state in which a person recognizes their own thoughts and perceives stimuli from the environment, responding to them through bodily actions or automatic bodily processes. At first glance, this seems clear and logical. Surely, as you read these words, you can easily say that you are aware of what you are doing.

Science describes the emergence of consciousness like this: first, matter appeared, from it life emerged, and then complex arrangements of matter—like the brain—began to generate consciousness. Sounds rational. But is it really so?

Let’s examine this step by step. Imagine this situation: a white room with a table, and on the table lies a daisy. A person sits in front of the table, looking at it. According to science, the person and the daisy are two separate elements of reality, made up of atoms, existing independently in space.

Light reflected from the daisy reaches the person’s eyes, and then the image of the flower forms in their brain. And here comes the question: where exactly is the daisy? On the table—where it was placed? Or maybe in the brain of the person who perceives it? Does this mean there are two daisies—one on the table and another in the observer’s mind?

A certain chain of events arises: daisy → space between daisy and eyes → eyes → image in the brain → consciousness recognizing the image. But where, in all this, is the real daisy?

According to the commonly accepted theory, consciousness appears at the very end of this process—as a product of the brain. But how is it possible that the world supposedly exists “outside,” and consciousness that perceives it appears only at the end? Doesn’t that seem strange to you? After all, to see the daisy lying on the table at all, consciousness must be present right away.

Does the flower exist independently of consciousness, or only within it?Science cannot yet clearly answer this question, although quantum physics offers approaches that lead in a completely new direction. I believe this discovery—if fully understood—will be groundbreaking, comparable to recognizing that the Earth is a sphere or that it orbits the Sun rather than the other way around. I write this because when you honestly enter the experience, you will see it is not a theory but your own direct knowing.

The situation with the daisy remains the same: a person looks at the flower lying on the table. However, I propose a different, reversed model: consciousness → daisy → space between daisy and eyes → eyes → image in the brain.Consciousness must appear first for anything to be perceived at all. Consciousness is primary. Because of it, you can even notice the daisy on the table. 

Why do I need that?

You’re probably asking yourself: what does all this have to do with me and my life? Well, if this model is true, it means that matter did not create consciousness, but the other way around—consciousness created matter, and only from matter did the brain emerge. What does this change? Everything. Because it means you yourself are consciousness that has a body—not a body that happens to have consciousness. You are a field of consciousness in which everything you call your life appears: emotions, events, successes, and failures. Your whole life is like a movie constantly playing in the NOW moment—and you are the consciousness that sees and experiences it.

More and more scientists are beginning to share this view, claiming that consciousness is the primary building block of the universe—an omnipresent and all-permeating reality. Different organisms simply have different levels of access to it. What Buddha spoke about thousands of years ago is slowly becoming part of modern science and our everyday reality.

In the next text, I will focus on how to directly feel this consciousness within yourself and how to experience it in everyday life.