Something to think about
Consider this: consciousness, thoughts, philosophies, decisions, morals, love, hate, caring, cold bloodness, etc etc etc, are all elements of the universe. EVERYTHING is an element of the universe. Life and everything about it are properties of the universe as much as all the inorganic matter around us. The dualism you describe as the universe (object) and us living in it as something separate (subject) is Western philosophy at it's core, and that is the opposite of eastern philosophies like Zen.