Andrew White6 said:We can think of the totality of existence—everything known and everything still waiting to be discovered—as being composed of two distinct parts: the objective universe and the subjective universe.
The objective universe represents the natural order, the fundamental laws that govern our world. It is essentially a combination of mechanical and organic systems ruled by predictable patterns. You could call this objective reality "Nature," or even "God" within the context of Judeo-Christian traditions. This is because both hard sciences and orthodox theology operate on a similar premise: that the laws governing the objective universe can either be understood through rational measurement and description, or grasped through "divine revelation." While theologians would likely push back and insist on a sharp distinction between the "Creator" and the "creation," a closer look suggests that what mainstream religions call "God" is actually functionally identical to what they call "creation"—that is, the natural, organic, and mechanical laws of the cosmos itself.
On the other hand, the subjective universe is the "world" experienced by every sentient being. There are as many subjective universes as there are conscious beings, each acting as an individual manifestation of awareness within the greater whole. Every perception we have of the objective universe is merely indirect information, because that data must first pass through the filter of the subjective universe. Interestingly, the subjective realm doesn't seem bound by the same rigid mechanical or organic laws that govern the objective side. This is the primary dividing line between the two. The subjective universe possesses the capacity for "unnatural" action; it isn't strictly confined to the three dimensions and five senses that define the physical world. It’s also important to clarify that this distinction isn't about "right versus wrong" or "accuracy versus inaccuracy," as people often imply in casual conversation. In fact, the subjective universe is capable of far more precise and diverse operations than the objective one—just look at how you are currently reading and processing this text using the unique faculties of your own subjective mind. To put it in simple grammatical terms: you, the reader, are the subject, and the text you are consuming is the object.
Because the subjective universe isn't tethered to the laws of nature, it holds a massive spectrum of possibilities, ranging from near-perfect precision to total illusion. At the very heart of this "unnatural" subjective realm lies human consciousness—the soul, or the "I." We see evidence of this non-natural aspect of the soul in humanity's innate drive to impose artificial structures upon the objective world. Whether it’s building the Pyramids, composing poetry, or establishing complex political institutions, we are constantly creating things that are, by definition, set apart from the natural world. Animals, even those with highly sophisticated social structures, are entirely bound by their biology and the dictates of nature. A wolf pack's social order remains fundamentally the same whether it exists in the forests of Maine or somewhere else entirely, thousands of years ago or today. But you will never find two human institutions that are perfectly identical. That is because anything birthed by the subjective universe—whether by an individual or a collective—is defined by variability. As far as we know, humans are the only species with this characteristic.
This brings us to the central question: how should a conscious, free soul interact with the objective universe?
The "Right-Hand Path" approach boils down to a single idea: the subjective universe must harmonize itself with the totality of the objective universe, viewed as God or Nature. From this perspective, humanity's task is to seek out the knowledge of these laws and submit to them, seeking unity or an alliance with the objective order. The Right-Hand Path is a journey toward merging with universal reality. When this union is fully realized, the individual "ego" is surrendered, and the person becomes one with the divine or cosmic order. In this state of heaven—or the state of being/non-being found in Nirvana—the ego ceases to exist, which is precisely the ultimate goal of all mainstream Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Buddhist orthodoxies.
The "left-hand path" represents a heterodox journey. It views the state of humanity through a very specific lens—one that acknowledges the deep-seated, fundamental hunger within every human being to be a free, empowered, and independent agent within their own reality. To those on this path, both the pleasures and the pains that come with being an independent entity are embraced as hallmarks of the highest and most noble human destiny, especially since such self-governing existence has historically been viewed as something divine.
Just as most people spend their ordinary, day-to-day lives chasing things that will grant them more knowledge, power, freedom, autonomy, and social standing within their world, those who practice the spiritual "left-hand path" logically extend those same ambitions to their inner selves. They do this without giving a second thought to the warnings from the "right-hand path," which labels such spiritual behavior as "evil" and insists that one should instead follow "the plan" (set by God and nature) to become a well-adjusted, conforming member of the collective.
In essence, the left-hand path is a path of inequality and non-conformity with the objective universe. It is about isolating consciousness within the objective cosmos, creating a state of self-imposed psychological solitude where the practitioner can refine their soul or psyche to more perfected levels. In this framework, the objective universe is forced to harmonize with the individual's will, rather than the other way around. While the right-hand path is theocentric (or at least focused on an external authority), the left-hand path is "psyche-centric"—it is ego-centric, centered entirely on the soul. Although definitions of the self, ego, or soul may vary within this tradition, the individual remains the undisputed epicenter. The ultimate goal is the eternal separation of the individual's intelligence from the objective universe, achieving a state of immortal, independent self-awareness that exists parallel to the cosmos and interacts with it only by its own volition.
I am not entirely sure where you gathered these ideas, or whether you have adopted them because they resonated logically after reading some specific text, or if you arrived at them through actual experiential practice.
I speak to you as someone who has tested both paths, and ultimately chose the left, finding it to be a simple, natural, and gentle route where it doesn't really matter where you started, because you are always home.
No spiritual path is truly objective.
Every spiritual experience is subjective; every practice occurs internally and begins with us—from the one thing we actually know (ourselves)—on a path where each person walks alone, where there is absolutely no one and nothing else except the single consciousness in which everything apparent is mirrored: OURS.
It is always this way, regardless of whether one seeks the immanent within matter (where everything is "God") or a transcendental "God" as the hidden primary mover of all things.
In my view, everything is actually the opposite of what you stated.
Seeking the immanent God is the left path—the path of the lover, the path of pulsating Shakti that touches us like electricity and casts us into bliss through all that exists; it is, for instance, the path of a magnificent Kashmiri Shaivism or Sufism.
...whereas seeking the transcendental, from which the apparent emerges, is the right path; it is the warrior's path, the path of yoga through austerity, renunciation, and meditation—a constant "neti neti" process of discarding until reality is stripped bare and dissolves into its own unreality, leaving only that which is within us: that which is always the same, unborn, uncreated, and primary, untouched by the illusion of this dreamlike life in this 3D world that has struck us.
