Who Am I? Reflections on Identity in a Virtual Reality

This post comes from a recent meditation, part of my ongoing investigation into the most essential spiritual question: Who am I?

Like many seekers, I return often to this question—not for an answer that satisfies the mind, but for a knowing that transcends it. As Nisargadatta Maharaj so brilliantly explored in I Am That, the answer cannot be spoken, but it can be known.

A life changing book

Here, I offer some of my thoughts.

The Virtual Reality Thesis

I’ve become fairly certain that we are living inside a virtual reality, a simulation designed for training consciousness—much like the simulators pilots use to practise flying, only far more immersive. We are not in “base reality.” We're in an avatar-driven learning environment, fully immersed in the experience.

Seen through this lens, many previously puzzling questions suddenly make sense—especially those from Zen, like koans, which function as paradoxes to disrupt linear thinking.

You Are Not What You Think

I’ve been working with the question “Who am I?” for years. When you start, it’s not hard to realise you are not your name. You are not your job title, not your social roles - like father or mother. Those are all costumes worn by the avatar in this lifetime.

You’re not your body—after all, you say “my body,” as if it were something you possess. Nor are you your mind, which you refer to as “my mind.”

This path of neti neti—not this, not that—leads to something deeper. The recognition that behind all the shifting forms and thoughts is simply the presence of I AM.

For me, this comes through as: "I AM a nobody, living a temporary mortal existence as Ocean on Earth in 2025 with a deeper identity is the Being operating this avatar, writing this blog".

And here’s where things get really interesting: that Being doesn’t know separation. It is the generator of the entire simulation. It is everything. The creator and the created are one. This is the essence of the Heart Sutra (one of my favourite teachings by Buddha).

From Tharpa publications

"Form is empty; Emptiness is form; Emptiness is not other than form and form also is not other than Emptiness"

The One Mind

This Being—the one behind all avatars, all forms—is known by many names. I often refer to it as Source or the I Am Presence, as the term “God” is weighed down by conflicting narratives and cultural baggage.

For instance, the God of the Bible—Elohim, a plural term—was translated in ways that masked its origins. As Paul Wallis explores in The Eden Conspiracy, Yahweh may have been one of the Elohim—possibly an Anunnaki prince named Enlil or Prince Yu, if you follow the Sumerian tablets.

These are threads worth pulling on, but always with discernment.

Spirit, Breath, and the Final Initiation

Synchronistically, today’s reflection from Father Dave Pivonka on the Hallow app centred on the Holy Spirit. He asked: Who are you in relationship to the Holy Spirit?

He speaks of the original word for Spirit (Ruach) can mean “breath.” He offers the image of God breathing life into Adam—and it’s that breath that gives us life.

That breath is still within us. It is us.

I also happened to watch this video (likely AI-generated) from the Galactic Federation of Light today—questionable source, yes, but some of the material resonated. It spoke of the final initiation in the ascension process: to recognise yourself as the I Am That I Am.

Not intellectually—but deeply, energetically, experientially.

Breath, Heart, and the Silicon Mind

Breath is not just oxygen—it is spirit. And that breath is intimately connected with the Heart.

This is one thing AI doesn’t have: it doesn’t breathe, and it doesn’t have a heart. That distinction is crucial.

If you want to dive deeper into this, see my other blog post: Conversations with the Silicon Mind.

Ultimately, it is through your breath, through the heart, and through stillness that you can come to know who you truly are

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And that, perhaps, is the point of the Simulation - this Virtual Reality - to find out who you are?

Final Reflection

You are not your roles. You are not your story. You are not even your body or mind. You are the breath. You are the awareness. You are the I AM - the I AM that I AM.

And perhaps the most sacred act in this world is to remember that.