How Useful is Reality?
It’s an unusual question because we’re all convinced that we know what reality is, aren’t we? How can there possibly be any kind of alternative? After all, real is real, isn’t it? Well, it might not make much sense to our conscious minds but recent research into the mysterious nature of human perception is overturning our understanding of the nature of reality.
We all agree that the world exists independently of our perception, don’t we? But what if it doesn’t? What if the world is not what we’ve always believed it to be? What really remains after we deduct the contribution of our own perception? The latest models consistently deliver the counter-intuitive conclusion that the answer is always zero. In other words, outside of the sphere of our minds, there is no objective reality. It’s a deeply disturbing concept yet hardly a new idea. This latest discovery echoes the conclusions of countless mystics who’ve explored the enigma of consciousness and arrived at very similar conclusions. The world that appears so real and solid and predictable to our senses is an illusion, a dream, a projection of our minds. According to the sages, it is this realisation that opens the gateway to enlightenment. But how does this intriguing possibility help us to develop a better relationship with ourselves and our hidden potential for happiness, wellbeing and fulfilment?
The moment we begin to work with the idea that our daily experiences fall into the category of a dream, we open up the possibility that we can escape the lifelong habit of always reacting to everything we encounter. We can introduce a sense of detachment that enables us to preserve our inner peace and maintain a state of calm, joyous wellbeing that exists beyond the confusion, fear and anxiety of daily life. Rooted in the present moment, we free ourselves from the past. We grant ourselves the freedom to lower our stress and take ourselves a little less seriously. When we understand life in terms of the seemingly real dreams we encounter each night during our sleep, everything changes. And, if the world is an imprint of whatever’s being projected from our minds, perhaps we can introduce some subtle adjustments to the landscape that will change our relationship with everything we encounter. It’s an incredibly powerful insight into the largely-unrecognised power we possess to shape so many of the events in our lives. It’s an invitation to raise our consciousness and understand the deeper nature of reality.
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