How did George Berkeley explain the difference between perceiving and being perceived?

For the Irish philosopher George Berkeley, the distinction between perceiving and being perceived is rooted in his division of reality into two distinct categories: active spirits and passive objects.1

• Perceiving (percipere): This is the activity of the mind or spirit. Berkeley defined spirits as simple, undivided, and active beings whose nature is to perceive, think, and will.12
• Being perceived (esse est percipi): This applies to all sensible objects, such as trees, books, or furniture. Berkeley argued that these physical objects are merely collections of "sensible ideas" or sense-data. Because these objects are passive, their existence is entirely dependent on being perceived by a mind.12

Berkeley rejected the existence of material substance "behind" these ideas. He argued that when we imagine an object, we cannot omit the perceiver, as the object is inherently perceivable. While he acknowledged that objects continue to exist even when not perceived by humans, he maintained they remain "with relation to perception" because they are continuously perceived by the mind of God, which keeps them in existence.12