You know, hundreds of years ago people believed the world was flat. They also believed we were the center of the universe. Were their beliefs reality or an illusion?

But then, a few years later here we are with the firm belief that the Earth is round, not flat. That we are only a small dot in our galaxy. We discover we are not the center of the Universe, in fact we are just a small dot in one galaxy of millions of other galaxies.

Is this reality or is it illusion? What will thinkers of future generations have to say? Will our reality seem illusory to them?

Who knows — it’s all illusion anyway, right?

In my own example — I used to believe my reality was that I was a strong individual who could do a multitude of tasks every day. That was my reality at that time. Now, I’m sitting at this computer as I wait for delivery of a motorized wheel chair so I can get around my house easier. Nothing stays the same — nothing is permanent. What you think in this moment could become something different in the next moment.

I just had a scientific thought — It’s about the concept we are all just a bunch of energy. So, if everything we see, touch, smell, taste and hear are just electrical impulses to our brain — are the those things real or are they just what they seem to be.

I don’t know — that’s too deep for me.

I meditate every day for about an hour. Sometimes I will do this more than once a day. During my meditation I am always pulling my mind away from all the thinking and into the nothingness of the present moment — a moment without thought. I believe those moments are “everything” and are true reality. Everything else is illusion — just figments of my imagination — stuff my brain dreams up.

Tim, this is way too complicated for me to go further — it makes me think and my thoughts are really just illusion.

Have a wonderful day, my friend.

Peace,

Ron

The illusion that I am important or unimportant?
The illusion that anything is permanent?
The illusion that there are rights and wrongs?
The illusion that reality is what we percieve it to be?

others?
tim

In the Hindu concept there are three distinct levels of reality, the lowest being the reality at the personal level which is a product of our mental projections. This is known as Samsara and may or may not conform to the reality as accepted by others. My mental world is my private one which constitutes my opinions. This realm also takes into account ‘the illusion of a snake found in a rope’ in twilight. This basic mental creation is what is to be discarded at the primary level. This is known in philosophical parlance as Pratibhasika satya. Once this is done away with, the peace and tranquility descends. But that is not all. The collective world which is more permanent than the private one is also relatively real. This is made up of the world around us consisting of physical entities. But this can also be, and should be, transcended and then you end up in Absolute Reality, where everything merges into a continuum and is a partless indescribable, uncomparable entity. This is what is called enlightenment. Unfortunately just by suppressing the first level of Samsara the mental projections, many present Gurus in India claim that they have attained enlightenment which is a wrong and unjustified. The collective world is called ‘Vyahvaarika Satya’ (true only for the convenience of attending to the daily chores). The third Absolute Reality is what is the summum bonum of our lives, which sages like the Buddha, Adi Shankara have attained.

PS: This explanation is also an illusion.

I personally do not follow any religion, so I hope you don’t mind if I make a comment…

I do not believe anything actually exists, but is only a temporary manifestation of the one thing that truly exists.

I use dreams to explain my understanding of so-called reality. In a dream, you temporarily forget who you (the waking world you) are, and you accept all the ‘facts’ of the dream. It is only once you wake up from the dream that you remember who you are again and realise you had a dream, no matter how real it felt.

This waking world in comparison to what happens after Death is like waking up to Absolute Reality. In a sense, Death does not truly exist…yet it does in a temporal way.

Buddhism was based on Hinduism and shares concepts such as Maya, which I feel is a good description of what humans regard reality to be. It is REAL but only in terms of the temporal world. In relationship to the Absolute Reality, nothing is real.

A typical human John Smith will think he really is John Smith, a male of a certain age etc. That is an illusion as the you that you think you are, does not actually exist.

That does not mean that you do not exist. You do…but what we call the Ego is the you that doesn’t. You are everything. You are everyone. You are me. In terms of Absolute Reality. Upon Death, you will remember who you are.

This is why everything does and does not exist at the same time.

Anyway, hope that doesn’t confuse you more!