Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Physical "Reality" Is Not Real


Most people still believe physical “reality” is real. This belief accounts for the enormous pain and suffering we seem to experience each time we incarnate.

Even after countless incarnations, we continue to hold onto the most astonishing beliefs about physical "reality." For example, we continue to believe not only that is it real but also that it exists in a way that is both external to us and and independent of us and we have very little influence over it. We believe we are born into it as if by biological accident. And we believe God, nature, or other beings created it eons ago. But the truth is: It's just an illusion we ourselves created. After creating it, we began to immerse ourselves into it over and over in repeated incarnations, believing we could accelerate our spiritual evolution by doing so. We soon forgot we created it, and we began to believe it is real. Now we do everything we can to sustain it, because we think we still need to experience it.

Each time we incarnate, we become completely caught up in the illusion of physicality, just like we do when watching a movie or having a dream. The illusion is totally convincing. We perceive it as a life and death struggle. We take it very seriously.

Some physicists describe physical “reality” as a hologram or virtual reality, much like a computer simulation. They tell us that it is held together by consciousness, not physical laws. Their description of physical “reality” reminds me of the movie The Matrix which depicts the world as a simulation. It also reminds me of the holodeck on the Starship Enterprise where the crew creates simulations for training and recreation.

Despite our beliefs and perceptions, physical “reality” simply is not real. It seems to be real only because we believe it is and it most definitely appears to be. But we have been deceiving ourselves all along.

Our five physical senses and our physical brain seem to provide us “convincing proof" of the existence of physical “reality.” But in fact, our five senses — seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching — are actually filters that allow us to perceive only a scant portion of All-That-Is. In particular, we are unable to see beyond the physical illusion into other dimensions. Our brain interprets the filtered data it receives and then presents us with an image of “reality” shaped by our prior experience, our beliefs, and our expectations. It sustains the illusion.

Perhaps the most important questions are: Can we see and experience what lies beyond the physical illusion? If so, how? And why would we want to?

One time while sitting at a traffic light, I suddenly thought to myself: What would happen right now if I tried to see beyond the physical illusion surrounding me? Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to try to do this in congested traffic. In any case, it didn’t work. I discovered that I couldn’t see beyond the physical illusion. My physical eyes simply weren’t equipped to do so. 

Nonetheless, I am convinced that we can experience the greater reality that lies beyond the physical illusion. We just need to raise our level of consciousness in order to do so. And to raise our level of consciousness, we need to change our thoughts, beliefs, and expectations. When we finally can do that, we will begin to experience a different kind of reality. We will know we are experiencing a new reality by the way we feel. We will feel liberated from the illusion. We will experience a permanent state of gentle bliss.

Spiritual studies and practices can help you “see” beyond the physical illusion. The consistent practice of meditation is especially useful. Sit in meditation 20 or 30 minutes a day. Imagine yourself being where you want to be. This will take you into a new reality. You will change. And as you change, the kind of world you see around you will seem to change as well. The fear-based illusions of the physical world will begin to disappear.

How can we benefit from all of this? Well, if we so choose, our experience here in the physical illusion can continue to be as wretched and fearful as it has always been. Or we can change at long last, and our experience in life will change as a result. In the movie Groundhog Day, the character played by Bill Murray keeps having the same experiences over and over, day after day, until he decides to change. As we change, we will discover that we are not the victims of physical “reality” after all. Instead, we will come to understand that we create our reality along with all that we experience here in the physical illusion. The illusion will become much more pliant to our wants and needs, similar to what occurs in lucid dreams. We will begin to experience calmness, peace, and joy. We won't have to stay bogged down in  the swamp of ignorance and fear any longer; rather, we will be able to accelerate our spiritual evolution to glorious levels, and that's what we came here to do.

Eventually, we will no longer need the physical illusion. It will simply fade away. In fact, it is already fading away.


2 comments:

  1. great read. Thank you. You opened "my mind" a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so sorry I was unable to join you last night, but reading this blog has been a great enlightenment.

    ReplyDelete