Do We Live in a Simulation? My Journey Through Consciousness, Quantum Physics and the Fractal Holographic Universe
- Natasha Burton
- Jun 9
- 6 min read
One of the questions I am asked most frequently is whether I believe we live in a simulation. My answer is usually yes, but probably not in the way most people imagine.
When many people hear the word simulation, they immediately think of giant computers, artificial realities, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations running cosmic software, or a literal version of The Matrix. While those ideas make for entertaining movies and fascinating thought experiments, they are not actually what convinced me that reality may be far stranger than we have been taught.
My conclusion emerged from years of studying spirituality, consciousness, quantum physics, psychology, hypnosis, ancient wisdom traditions, near-death experiences, the Law of One, Dolores Cannon’s work, the Freedom Teachings, and countless other sources. What surprised me most was that the deeper I went into each subject, the more they seemed to converge toward a remarkably similar picture of reality.
The scientists were describing it one way.
The mystics were describing it another.
The philosophers had their own language.
The spiritual teachers had theirs.
Yet somehow they all seemed to be circling the same mystery.
Today, I personally believe that we live within a fractal holographic universe. I believe consciousness is fundamental and that the physical world emerges from consciousness rather than the other way around. In other words, I do not believe consciousness is something produced by the brain. I believe the brain is more likely a receiver, translator, or interface through which consciousness experiences physical reality.
This may sound radical at first, but some of the greatest scientific minds in history have entertained ideas that point in a similar direction.
Max Planck, the father of quantum theory, famously stated:
“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness.”
Think about that for a moment.
One of the most influential physicists in history was suggesting that matter may not be the foundation of reality. Consciousness might be.
Albert Einstein’s work on relativity introduced concepts that eventually gave rise to what many physicists call the Block Universe model. In this model, past, present and future all exist simultaneously. Time itself may not actually be flowing in the way we experience it. Instead, consciousness may be moving through a larger structure that already exists in its entirety.
Nikola Tesla repeatedly emphasized that if we wish to understand the universe, we should think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. Long before modern physics began discussing fields and quantum fluctuations, Tesla was encouraging people to move beyond a purely material understanding of reality.
As I explored these ideas, I began noticing something fascinating. The further modern science advanced, the more it seemed to be rediscovering principles that ancient traditions had been teaching for thousands of years.
One of the most important examples comes from the Hermetic teachings.
The Hermetic Principle of Correspondence is often summarized by the phrase:
“As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without.”
At its core, this principle suggests that reality is structured through repeating patterns. The same fundamental laws operate across different levels of existence. What occurs on one scale can often be observed on another.
When we examine nature, this idea becomes difficult to ignore.
The branching structure of trees resembles the branching structure of rivers.
River systems resemble blood vessels.
Blood vessels resemble lightning.
Neural networks resemble maps of galaxies.
Spirals appear in seashells, hurricanes, flowers and entire galaxies.
Patterns repeat endlessly across scale after scale.
Modern science refers to many of these structures as fractals. The Hermeticists recognized the same phenomenon thousands of years ago through direct observation and philosophical inquiry.
This is one of the primary reasons I personally resonate so strongly with the concept of a fractal universe. The universe appears to be self-similar. The patterns repeat. The microcosm mirrors the macrocosm. Every level reflects the whole.
The holographic model takes this concept even further.
A hologram contains information about the entire image within every piece of the image. If you break a hologram into smaller sections, each piece still contains information about the whole. Interestingly, several modern physicists have proposed versions of what is known as the Holographic Principle, suggesting that our three-dimensional reality may emerge from information encoded on a deeper level of existence.
At the same time, many spiritual traditions have long taught that every individual contains the entire universe within themselves. Mystics, yogis, Hermeticists and spiritual teachers across cultures have repeatedly suggested that the individual and the cosmos are reflections of one another.
Different language.
Same observation.
The further I explored consciousness, the more these two worlds appeared to overlap.
Quantum physics only deepens the mystery.
The famous double-slit experiment demonstrated that particles can behave like waves of probability until observation occurs. Quantum entanglement revealed connections between particles that appear to transcend conventional understandings of space and distance. Matter itself becomes increasingly strange the deeper we investigate it.
Even the concept of solidity begins to dissolve.
The chair beneath you appears solid. The floor beneath your feet appears solid. Your body appears solid. Yet at the atomic level, these structures are mostly empty space. What creates the sensation of solidity is not tiny billiard-ball particles packed tightly together. Rather, it is the interaction of electromagnetic fields. Electrons repel one another, creating the experience we interpret as physical matter.
This realization fascinated me because it means that the world we perceive is not necessarily the world as it truly exists. What we experience is an interpretation generated through our senses and nervous system.
This brings us to the work of Donald Hoffman, whose theory of Conscious Realism proposes that evolution did not shape our senses to perceive objective reality. Instead, our senses evolved to provide a useful interface that helps us survive. Hoffman often uses the analogy of a computer desktop. The icon on your screen is not the actual file. It is a simplified symbol that allows you to interact with something much more complex.
According to this perspective, the physical world may function similarly.
What we perceive may be an interface.
A representation.
A useful symbolic environment.
Not the deepest layer of reality itself.
The more I explored these ideas, the more I found myself returning to the Law of One material. While many people focus on the extraterrestrial aspects of the Ra Contact, what resonated most deeply with me was its central message: all consciousness ultimately emerges from a single Source.
Everything is connected.
Everything is One.
Everything is an expression of the Infinite Creator experiencing itself through infinite perspectives.
When viewed through the lens of a fractal holographic universe, this becomes incredibly elegant. Every part contains the whole. Every consciousness contains the Source. Every soul is a unique perspective through which the universe experiences itself.
This realization dramatically changed the way I view human identity.
A soul is a soul is a soul.
Human.
Angel.
Extraterrestrial.
Higher-dimensional being.
Different costumes.
Same actor.
Different avatars.
Same player.
Different worlds.
Same Source.
Dolores Cannon’s Convoluted Universe series expanded these ideas even further for me. Across five books, she explored concepts such as simultaneous lives, parallel realities, multiple dimensions, timelines, oversouls and the non-linear nature of time. While her information emerged through hypnosis rather than physics, I found it fascinating how often her material echoed concepts being explored elsewhere.
The Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics proposes that countless possible realities may exist simultaneously. The Block Universe model suggests all moments in time coexist. Multiverse theories propose the existence of multiple realities beyond our observable universe.
Meanwhile Dolores was documenting clients describing parallel lifetimes, alternate realities and simultaneous incarnations decades before many of these ideas became widely discussed.
Whether one accepts her conclusions or not, the similarities are intriguing.
This is one reason I find it difficult to maintain a rigid distinction between science and spirituality. Both appear to be attempting to understand the same mystery from different directions.
The Freedom Teachings added another layer to this picture through their cosmology of founder races, multidimensional reality and the evolution of consciousness. As I have written previously, I personally resonate with the idea that humanity’s origins are far older and more expansive than conventional history suggests. I believe humanity was originally created through the Elohim founder races and carries extraordinary dormant potential. While these ideas sit outside mainstream scientific consensus, they form an important part of my personal worldview and help explain many aspects of consciousness, spiritual evolution and human development.
Ultimately, when people ask me whether we live in a simulation, I think we may be asking the wrong question.
The more important question is:
What is generating reality?
If consciousness is fundamental, then reality may not be a simulation running on a machine. It may be a living field of consciousness exploring itself through infinite forms. The universe may not be a computer program. It may be a cosmic mirror through which Source comes to know itself.
Perhaps this is why spiritual awakening feels so profound. We spend most of our lives identifying with the character, the personality, the body, the story and the circumstances. Then something happens. A crisis. A loss. A Dark Night of the Soul. A mystical experience. A moment of profound insight. Suddenly we begin to realize that we are not merely the character moving through reality.
We are the awareness experiencing the character.
We are the consciousness behind the story.
We are the observer behind the experience.
And perhaps that is the greatest cosmic joke of all.
We spend our entire lives searching for God, Source, truth, enlightenment, higher consciousness and the meaning of existence, only to eventually discover that the very awareness conducting the search was never separate from what it was seeking.
The creator was not hiding somewhere out there.
The creator was looking through our eyes the entire time.
Comments