This essay began with a thoughtful question from one of my Facebook friends: “How do I create the world I see?” It’s a question that cuts to the heart of everything—our perceptions, our experiences, and our spiritual journey. It challenged me to pause and reflect deeply on what I’ve learned over the years through A Course in Miracles, The Universe Is a Dream by Alex Marchand, and even films like The Matrix. What follows is my attempt to respond—not with rigid doctrine, but with ideas that might stir your own inner knowing.
To truly understand how we create the world we see, we must step back from conventional thinking and consider an ancient but radical idea: the world is not happening to us — it is happening through us. This is not metaphorical; it is literal, according to a number of spiritual teachings that challenge the common belief in a fixed, external reality. Among the most profound of these teachings are A Course in Miracles and The Universe Is a Dream by Alex Marchand, both of which tell us that the world we see is a projection of the mind — a dream mistaken for reality.
In A Course in Miracles (ACIM), the foundation of this teaching is that perception is not passive. We are not blank slates reacting to the world. Rather, we look at the world and see what we expect to find. ACIM puts it this way: “Perception is a mirror, not a fact. What I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.” In other words, we see the world through the lens of our thoughts, beliefs, fears, and hidden guilt. If our inner state is one of fear and judgment, we will inevitably project those qualities onto the people, events, and situations around us.
Alex Marchand builds on this concept in The Universe Is a Dream, illustrating the idea with modern metaphors and visual storytelling. According to Marchand, our physical reality functions much like a movie projected on a screen. The film reel — our beliefs and mental programming — plays in the background, while we stare at the screen, convinced the images we see are real and autonomous. But they are not. They are effects, not causes. To change the movie, we must change the film, not the screen.
This is why efforts to “fix” the world by rearranging external circumstances often leave us frustrated and exhausted. We are trying to edit the dream without waking up. ACIM says the world we see is an outward picture of an inward condition. Therefore, to change what we see, we must shift our perception from fear to love — a process the Course calls forgiveness. Not forgiveness as the world understands it, but spiritual forgiveness: the quiet undoing of judgment and the release of illusions we’ve placed on others and ourselves.
Nowhere is this metaphor of illusion and awakening more vividly portrayed than in the 1999 film The Matrix. In a pivotal scene, the guide Morpheus offers Neo a choice: take the blue pill and remain in the illusion, or take the red pill and begin to see reality for what it truly is. Morpheus, whose name is borrowed from the Greek god of dreams, represents the teacher or inner guide — like the Holy Spirit in ACIM — gently inviting us to awaken, but never forcing us. Neo, the “One,” begins as Thomas Anderson (“son of man”) — lost in the illusion, yet intuitively aware that something is not right. The red pill is not just an awakening to a dystopian world; it is a metaphor for the decision to look inward and question everything we thought was true.
This choice — to awaken or remain asleep — isn’t limited to science fiction. It reflects the real spiritual decision each of us must face. Will we continue to believe in a world of separation, scarcity, attack, and death? Or will we begin to suspect that this world is not our true home — that we are, as ACIM says, “at home in God, dreaming of exile”?
Even the Bible hints at this dream state. In Genesis 2:21, it says, “The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept.” Notably, nowhere in scripture does it ever say that Adam woke up. This omission has fascinated metaphysical thinkers for generations. What if the entire story of human history — of conflict, suffering, and separation — is happening within that deep sleep? What if Adam, the symbolic first man, never truly woke up, and the world we see is merely the content of that dream?
A Course in Miracles confirms this view: the world of form was born the instant the mind entertained the “tiny, mad idea” of separation from God. But instead of dismissing it with laughter, the mind believed it, and the dream began. Yet the Course is also clear: the separation never truly occurred. It was a dream, nothing more. And the way back is simple — not always easy, but simple: choose again. Choose to see the world not through the lens of fear and judgment, but with true vision—the kind that sees beyond appearances to the innocence and unity behind all things.
So, how do we create the world we see?
We create it through projection. What we see is not the cause of our feelings; it is the effect of them. The world is a mirror, showing us what we believe — consciously or unconsciously — about ourselves. If we want to change the world, we must change the thoughts that made it. This is not about denial or blame, but empowerment. It is the realization that the world is not fixed, cruel, or chaotic — it is changeable, because it is not real in itself. It is a dream. And we, the dreamers, are slowly beginning to wake up.
So, the question is…
💊 Do you want the red pill or the blue?
🐇 How deeply do you want to go down the rabbit hole, Alice?
If you like articles and books of a spiritual nature, we have lots to offer. I have dozens of essays and am continually adding more. We also have an entire series of books on spirituality available on our website (dinojamesbooks.com).
We love engaging with our readers. For more information contact Robert@dinojamesbooks.com.
