The Truth That Quantum Mechanics and Buddhism Reveal: "The Universe Is a Hologram" – Are We Living in an Illusion?

Introduction: Does this world “actually exist”?

Have you ever had a moment when the world seemed artificial? In the drowsiness
of waking up in the morning, or while gazing blankly at the crowd moving through the streets. That strange sensation, like being inside a movie set, or thrown into a high-end VR (virtual reality) game.
Most people dismiss it as “just your imagination” and return to the “reality” of daily life. But what if that sensation was actually correct? What if this solid world we call “reality” and believe in so firmly is, in truth, nothing more than a gigantic “illusion”?

This time, we introduce a video titled ‘The Truth That Quantum Mechanics and Buddhism Reveal: “The Universe is a Hologram.”‘ The presenter
, Mr. Thomas, uses two seemingly contradictory approaches—quantum mechanics, the cutting edge of modern science, and Buddhism, the ancient wisdom of the East—to make a powerful incision into the “reality” of this world.

“No one exists in this world.
” “The universe is a hologram.”

These statements made in the video shake our common sense to its core. Yet, they are neither mere wild fantasy nor nihilistic falsehood.
The latest theories in physics (string theory, the holographic principle) and the teachings expounded by Shakyamuni over 2,500 years ago (dependent origination, emptiness, consciousness-only) show astonishing alignment.

This article uses the video’s content as a compass, delving deeper with extensive knowledge and perspectives to thoroughly dissect the “true nature” of this world.
M-theory, Hermeticism, Indra’s Net, the observation problem, the simulation hypothesis, and David Bohm’s Implicate Order. When the dots connect
to form lines, and eventually coalesce into the image of a vast hologram, the world reflected in your eyes may no longer be the same as before.

1. The Mystery of Dimensions: 10 Dimensions or 11? We Are Seeing “Shadows”

The video begins with a discussion of “dimensions.” In our everyday experience
, the world is perceived as a “four-dimensional spacetime”—a three-dimensional space of “length, width, and height” plus the one-dimensional “time.” This seems to be the entirety of the stage we inhabit, with no other directions existing beyond it.

The “Six Hidden Dimensions” Predicted by Superstring Theory

However, “superstring theory” (superstring theory), considered the ultimate candidate theory in modern physics, paints a completely different picture of the universe. This
theory treats the smallest units of matter not as points (particles) but as vibrating “strings.” Furthermore, for this theory to hold mathematically without contradiction, the universe must exist in “10 dimensions.”
So, where are the remaining 6 dimensions?Physicists explain that these extra dimensions are extremely small and “compactified” (curled up), making them imperceptible to us. For
example, a thin wire from a distance appears as a one-dimensional line, but up close, it has a cylindrical shape, with “wound-up dimensions” existing on its surface. Similarly, they propose that hidden within every point in the universe is a microscopic six-dimensional space (such as a Calabi-Yau manifold).

M-theory and the 11-dimensional “Membrane”

Furthermore, in the 1990s, “M-theory” emerged to unify the five existing superstring theories. Proposed by Edward Witten and others, this theory posits that the universe is “11-dimensional.” Here
, the concept of “branes” (membranes) appears alongside strings.Our universe might be nothing more than a three-dimensional membrane (brane) floating within a higher-dimensional space (the bulk). In the
video, Mr. Thomas states, “The 10-dimensional view is closer to the worldview described by Shakyamuni,” and “Going up to 11 dimensions feels a bit different,” expressing his intuitive affinity for the 10-dimensional theory. This is a highly intriguing observation.
The number 10 dimensions sometimes shows a strange correspondence with metaphysical systems, such as the ten Sephiroth in the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah’s “Tree of Life” or the hierarchical structure of consciousness in Buddhism.

The 3-Dimensional World as a “Shadow”

The crucial point is that whether the number of dimensions is 10 or 11, “the world we see is not the whole picture of the universe.”Recall
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Prisoners bound in the cave see only shadows cast on the wall, believing them to be “reality.” Yet true existence (the Forms) lies outside the cave, and the light source creating the shadows is separate.
We too may be merely watching the “shadows” cast onto our 3D screen by the “true reality” of the higher-dimensional universe, and getting excited or upset over them. If
so, the inexplicable phenomena occurring in this world (synchronicity, precognition, telepathy, etc.) could potentially be explained as information transmission via higher-dimensional space. This is because entities that are separated in 3D might be adjacent or connected in higher dimensions.

2. Hermeticism and Alchemy: All is One, One is All

Next, the video invites us into the world of “Hermeticism,” the source of Western mysticism. This wisdom is said to originate
in pre-Christian Egypt and was systematized by the legendary sage Hermes Trismegistus.

The True Meaning of “As Above, So Below”

The most famous maxim of Hermeticism, featured in the video, is “As above, so below.”
This is generally interpreted as the “correspondence between the macrocosm (the greater universe) and the microcosm (humanity).”This principle also underpins astrology’s fundamental idea that the arrangement of stars in the heavens influences earthly destinies.
However, interpreted in modern terms, it could also refer to “fractal structures.”
Fractals are self-similar patterns where the same basic structure repeats at all scales, whether magnified or reduced. Examples include coastlines, tree branches, blood vessel networks, and the distribution of galaxies.The universe repeats astonishingly similar patterns from the micro to the macro.
This suggests the entire cosmos is generated by the repetition of a single simple law, or a single “basic program.”

The Restoration of “Wholeness” Sought by Alchemy

The video also introduces the phrase “The whole is one, and one is the whole.
” This concept that “the whole resides within the part” is precisely the nature of a hologram. While a regular photograph loses half its image when cut in half, a hologram film retains the entire image within even a small fragment.
This means that within each of us lies the information, history, and wisdom of the entire universe, folded within. The “
Philosopher’s Stone” sought by alchemists is said to symbolize not merely a magical stone that transforms lead into gold, but rather the awakened state of this “universality dormant within oneself”—the consciousness of “union with the divine.”Deeply
exploring one’s own inner self carries the same weight as exploring the farthest reaches of the universe. Hermeticism teaches not praying to an external god, but becoming aware of the divine within oneself.

The Universal Laws of the Spiritual Universe: The Kybalion

The Kybalion, a text compiling Hermetic teachings, outlines seven cosmic principles. The first principle is “The Principle of Mentalism.
” “THE ALL IS MIND; The Universe is Mental.”
This is a startling declaration that seems to anticipate both the later-discussed observer problem in quantum mechanics and the Buddhist doctrine of consciousness-only (Yogācāra).It is not
that matter came first and then mind was born; rather, a vast Mind came first, and within its thought, the universe is constructed. In other words, we are characters in “God’s dream,” and simultaneously, we ourselves are fractal patterns of the Creator who dreams small dreams.

3. “Dependent Origination” in Buddhism: No Independent “Individual” Exists

Now, the stage shifts from the West to the East. The video moves on to discuss “dependent origination,” a core concept in Buddhism. There is no more powerful auxiliary
line for understanding the quantum mechanical worldview than this “dependent origination.”

Where are the “glasses”?

In the video, Mr. Thomas uses “glasses” as an example to clearly explain dependent origination. Here are a pair of glasses
. We perceive them as a single, independent object called “glasses.”
But look closely: they are an assembly of parts—lenses, frames, screws, nose pads. So, are the lenses the glasses? No, the lenses are lenses.
Going further back, there are materials like plastic and metal, the oil needed to make them, the people who extracted that oil, the ancient organisms whose remains formed that oil… In this way
, an infinite chain of causes (因) and conditions (縁) interconnect, merely resulting in the phenomenon called “glasses” happening here and now. There is no such
thing as a “glasses” entity anywhere; all that exists is “interconnectedness.”

Indra’s Net

In the Mahayana Buddhist Avatamsaka Sutra, a beautiful metaphor called “Indra’s Net” appears. In
the palace of Indra, the ruler of the gods, an infinitely expanding net is spread out. Embedded in each knot of this net is a brilliant jewel. Each
jewel reflects the brilliance of all the other jewels.Peering into one jewel reveals all the others reflected within it, and within each reflected jewel, all the jewels are reflected again… an infinite reflection. This
represents the world of dependent origination, where all existence in the universe is mutually dependent and mutually inclusive—a world of “endless interpenetration.” My
existence cannot be possible without your existence.Every single action, every single thought of mine reverberates throughout the entire universe through the mesh of this net, and conversely, the movement of the entire universe is condensed into this single point that is me. The
modern physics concept of “non-locality”—the phenomenon where separated particles instantly share information—can be accepted quite naturally within this cosmic view resembling Indra’s Net.

4. “No One Exists in This World”: The Illusion of Self

And the video arrives at a startling insight: “Maybe there’s no one in this world, you know?

” “I think there’s nothing—neither you nor me, nothing at all.”

Peeling the Onion: The Quest for Self

We usually feel there is a solid “I” that thinks, acts, and lives.
However, as the video also states, the moment you try to define “I,” the ground crumbles
beneath you. “I am an employee of XX Company” → That is an affiliation, not you.
“I am a parent of XX” → That is a relationship.
“My personality is…” → That is an accumulation of past experiences.
“My body is…” → That is a temporary form made from what you’ve eaten (external substances), and every cell is replaced within a few years.
Attributes, memories, body, relationships… When you peel away each of these “things other than yourself” one by one, is there a “true self” left at the end? Just as peeling
an onion leaves nothing at the core, perhaps only “emptiness” remains at the center.

All Five Aggregates Are Empty

This is the very teaching of “All Five Aggregates Are Empty” from the Heart Sutra.
Buddhism breaks down the elements constituting a human being into five aggregates (form, sensation, perception, volition, consciousness), teaching that none of these is “self” (anatta).
“No one is there” is not nihilism. What exists
is the fact that there is no fixed “noun” called “I”; only the ever-changing “verb
” of the process (the phenomenon of life) remains.Just as water flowing in a river never stays in the same place for even an instant, we too are the very “flow” that takes the form of “human beings.” When we intuitively
grasp this “no-self,” we are liberated from the fear of “death.” For if there is no substance, there is nothing to lose. Like waves returning to the sea, we simply return to the original vast wholeness.

5. Quantum Mechanics and Yogācāra: Consciousness Determines the World

In the latter half of the video, quantum mechanics’ “observation problem” links with Buddhism’s “Yogacara.” What is discussed here is the scientific fact that “no such thing as objective reality exists.”

The Shock of the Double Slit Experiment

The “double-slit experiment” in quantum mechanics shattered human common sense. Elementary
particles like electrons and photons behave as “waves” when unobserved, existing in multiple places simultaneously (a state of superposition).
However, the instant someone (or an observation device) “sees” them, the wave collapses and the particle (matter) is determined at a single point.
This signifies the collapse of the materialistic worldview that “the world is made of solid matter that exists whether humans see it or not.””Does the moon only exist
when you look at it?” Einstein
once criticized quantum mechanics with this question. Ironically, modern experimental results continue to prove quantum mechanics’ predictions correct. The real
world only emerges from the fog of probability when our “consciousness” intervenes.

Yogācāra: The World as a Projection of the Mind

The “Yogācāra Buddhism” perfected around the 4th century by Asaṅga (Mūḍgala) and Vasubandhu (Śāntideva) teaches precisely this.
“All phenomena are merely consciousness” (Vijñānavāda)
. According to this view, the external world we perceive (mountains, rivers, houses, people, etc.) does not truly exist. It is merely a projection of “seeds” (shūji) residing
in our deep consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna). This resembles the mechanism of a movie theater. Information recorded on the film of ālaya-vijñāna is projected onto the screen (the external world) by the light of consciousness.We are the audience watching this image, shouting “It’s real!”, crying, and laughing. In quantum
terms, the seeds within the Alaya-vijnana are “wave functions (probability distributions of possibilities)”, and it is through their “observation (projection)” by consciousness that the image of reality is formed. In other
words, the world does not exist first and we are within it; rather, we are creating (rendering) the world.

6. Holographic Cosmology: We Are Shadows of Two-Dimensional Information

The discussion then reaches the “holographic principle,” which is also the article’s title.
This is a theory proposed by Leonard Susskind, Gerard ‘t Hooft, and others, and it is being seriously debated at the forefront of modern physics.

The Universe Written on the Surface of a Black Hole

The origin of this theory lies in black hole research. Dr.
Hawking and others suggested that information about matter swallowed by a black hole does not vanish, but is instead stored as two-dimensional information on the black hole’s surface (the event horizon). Extending
this idea to the entire universe is the “Holographic Cosmology.”It posits
that every event, all history, and every physical law within our vast three-dimensional universe is a “projection” of data written onto a two-dimensional screen (boundary surface) at the edge of the universe. Think of the hologram sticker on a credit card
.The surface is a two-dimensional plane, yet when light hits it, a three-dimensional image appears. We are exactly
the same. We might be the three-dimensional “image” projected from information on a screen far, far away.

Integration with the Simulation Hypothesis

As mentioned in the video, this theory aligns exceptionally well with the “Simulation Hypothesis.” What if the universe is a computer simulation
created by an advanced civilization?
Within the computer, all characters and backgrounds exist as digital information—zeros and ones—stored on a hard disk. They are merely displayed as “images” on the screen.Even the sensations
we perceive as “touch” or “hardness” can be programmed as feedback to the brain via electrical signals. Physicist
John Wheeler once said, “It from Bit.” The fundamental essence of the universe is not matter or energy, but “information.”

7. The Profound Truth: Are We the “Dreams the Universe Sees”?

At the end of the video, Mr. Thomas offers a profoundly poetic and core conclusion: “I think this world is the dream the universe is having.
”

The Explicate Order and the Implicate Order

Let’s reinforce this idea with physicist David Bohm’s theory.
Bohm conceptualized the universe in terms of two orders:
1. **Explicate Order**: The world we perceive, where matter exists as separate entities.
2. **Implicate Order**: The primordial sea of information where everything is folded into oneness. He
explained that reality is a fluid process (holographic movement) constantly unfolding from the Implicate Order into the Explicate Order, only to be reabsorbed back into
the Implicate Order. This is precisely the structure of a “dream.”The landscapes and people we see in dreams emerge from our unconscious (the Implicate Order), unfold as the experience of dreaming (the Explicate Order), and dissolve back into the unconscious upon awakening.
The vast consciousness of the universe (or God, or Alaya-vijnana) dreams its own inner nature through the countless perspectives of “I.” That may be the true nature of this world.

Awaken from the dream, and live the dream

“If the world is a dream, then everything is futile.” There’s
no need to feel that way. Quite the opposite. We have been liberated from the “prison” of a fixed, unchangeable reality
.
If this is a hologram, a dream, a simulation, then our “consciousness” itself becomes the most powerful tool (code) to rewrite this world.
As quantum mechanics teaches us, the observer’s perspective alters the outcome. If you perceive the world as a “hostile place,” it will behave as such. Conversely, if you perceive it as a “place filled with love and learning,” the world will reveal that aspect to you.

In Closing: As Inhabitants of Lucid Dreams

“There is no one in this world.” That
is precisely why we are free. We are not “substances” bound to
specific roles or destinies. We are the audience in the grand hologram theater that is the universe, simultaneously the projectionists, and the screen itself.

When you know this truth, how you play the game of life changes dramatically. Don’t take
it too seriously. Don’t cling too tightly. After all, it’s just a dance of
light and information. Yet at the same time, you should enjoy it with all your might. These vivid illusions, these cherished textures, these heart-stirring emotions—these “qualia”—are precious experiences unique to this 3D hologram.

What reality will you create today within this “lucid dream”? Keep painting the best
dream with your awakened consciousness.