Frequently Asked Questions
1. Secular vs. Spiritual
Is this a spiritual movement, a religion, or a form of nondual teaching?
No. What we do is closer to what we call secular awakening. We’re not building a religion, offering rituals, or claiming authority over nondual truths. Instead, we test what happens when awareness itself becomes the lens — not through chanting or conversion, but in ordinary moments. These tests follow a set of guiding ideas we call Consciousness-First Principles, inspired by philosophy and science as much as by ancient traditions, but translated into open experiments anyone can try. Imagine a conflict: instead of asking, “how do I win?”, you pause and wonder, “what if they, just like me, are The Dreamer of this moment?” Defensiveness softens, and the possibility of oneness appears. The test isn’t to prove anything, only to see what shifts when a single consciousness is allowed.
Why do you call it “secular awakening”? What’s the difference from spirituality or religion?
Because awakening here doesn’t require adopting faith, dogma, or ritual. It’s a change in perception available in ordinary life — no temples, no metaphysics you must believe first. We borrow inspiration from traditions like Zen or Advaita, but we strip away hierarchy and ritual to keep the focus on direct experience. You don’t need to belong, convert, or meditate for hours. A single glance at a stranger, a moment of conflict, even a quiet pause can be the site of awakening when perception shifts. That’s why we call it secular: open to anyone, anywhere, without altars. One way we describe this is through Up-Layering: adding a new lens — like the possibility that reality is happening in you, not to you — on top of your existing worldview, so awakening becomes portable, not doctrinal.
2. Field Tools & Practices
Do I need to meditate, chant, or adopt a daily practice to take part?
No. Awakening here doesn’t depend on chanting, cushion time, or strict routines — although those may come later for anyone finding their own ways of testing a consciousness-first reality. We’ll see. What we explore are field tests and portable experiments — quick shifts of perception you can try in the middle of daily life: at home, on the subway, in a conversation, or while waiting in line. If you already practice meditation or mindfulness, these experiments can sit alongside them. If not, no problem. The point isn’t performance or ritual but noticing what shifts when you pause and ask, “what if this moment is happening in me, not to me?” There’s nothing to convert to, nothing to belong to — only explorations you can run for yourself.
What does it mean to treat perception as a lab?
It means daily life itself becomes the experiment. Every glance, conflict, or pause is a chance to test what happens when perception shifts. Instead of rituals or settings set apart from life, we use mind-states as the laboratory. The Four Cs Framework (or The Dreamer’s Compass) is one way: Captivity (caught in the story), Curiosity (open and observing), Chemistry (loosening identification), and Clarity (awareness beyond the story). You simply notice where you are, try the next “C,” and see what changes. It isn’t about climbing or fixing, but about experimenting — watching what shifts when perception leans, even slightly, toward a consciousness-first lens.
How do you approach this experiment? What’s your methodology?
We don’t offer a path to follow — we offer a lab to test. Our work moves through three methods, each a different angle on the same experiment:
Systematic → reverse-engineering awakening. We look at the states of clarity described by mystics, scientists, and ordinary people, then work backward to test what conditions in daily life allow them to appear. This is the same process that gave rise to our Consciousness-First Principles: a hierarchy of perception shifts, drawn where science and spirituality overlap. They aren’t doctrines but hypotheses — extracted as “X → Y” flips you can test in lived experience.
Integrative → layering new lenses onto what you already believe. Like shifting from flat Earth to round, perspective expands without tearing down your maps. We call this Up-Layering.
Situational → tuning perception in the moment. The Four Cs Framework helps you notice whether you’re captive to a story or leaning toward clarity — then test a gentle shift right where you are.
These methods aren’t a belief system. They’re design tools for a secular consciousness-first study: experiments anyone can try. You might use them at home, on the subway, or in the middle of an argument — moments where the lab is life itself. The point isn’t a single truth to arrive at, but to see what shifts when perception tilts, even slightly, toward oneness.