How is Reality an Illusion?
The answer is in your perception
“We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.”
― Buddha
Most of us have heard this statement that life is an illusion or a reality is an illusion, but what exactly does it mean? Because everything we experience is as real as it could ever be, and that is what we call reality on which we don’t even dare question it unless we have schizophrenia.
Let’s get the definition out of the way first so we know we are on the same side.
What is reality?
According to the oxford dictionary, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. So, the definition is straightforward, there are no ambiguities. That is the way things are or the way things exist.
What is an illusion?
According to the Oxford dictionary, again, an illusion is: an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience. Simply put is that an illusion is the opposite of reality.
The third factor on all these conundrums is the observer, if we revisit the first definition of reality, we will notice that there has to be an identifier or an observer who decides what is real or an illusion. With this statement, we then determine that there is a mechanism that aids this individual to navigate what they have decided is their reality, and this is perception.
What is perception?
Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. So perception is a subset of awareness, hence consciousness. This would conclude that the determining factor of what is real or illusion is our awareness.
We become aware of something through brain interpretation. This means when your senses give your brain electrical signals, there is a part of you that decides this is my dog, this is my Mother, my home, etc.
The fact is all these brain interpretations are something that we learn and not something we are born with. If you have been around newborn babies you must have learned that they usually don’t see anything for the first few days of their lives. This is not because they don’t have the capacity to see, but because they don’t know what to look for. And that as we grow we are taught to narrow down our ability to experience life.
Where does illusion come from?
I have already explained how everything we experience is a vibration, and how our consciousness perceives our reality. The fact that the things our brains interpret to us are not the actual reality is mind-boggling.
Think about this for a moment; If we use a microscope to look at you, we won’t see you, but a cluster of whatever types of microscopic particles that microscope is focused on, but again if we use something like an x-ray we recognize you either, the same could be said about infrared vision. This is because these other realities are filtered out.
Dogs and other animals can sense and see things that humans can’t. We can’t see radio waves yet we send and receive these electromagnetic signals through our electronic devices without even thinking about it.
If you think about it all, that means what we see is not even the tip of the iceberg, but something infinitely minute compared to what is out there. For this reason, we cannot simply claim that what we perceive is real, we only see what we want to see. What we see is the impermanence of what might be the actual reality, and therefore an illusion.
How is Reality an Illusion?
The answer is in your perception
“We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.”
― Buddha
Most of us have heard this statement that life is an illusion or a reality is an illusion, but what exactly does it mean? Because everything we experience is as real as it could ever be, and that is what we call reality on which we don’t even dare question it unless we have schizophrenia.
Let’s get the definition out of the way first so we know we are on the same side.
What is reality?
According to the oxford dictionary, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. So, the definition is straightforward, there are no ambiguities. That is the way things are or the way things exist.
What is an illusion?
According to the Oxford dictionary, again, an illusion is: an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience. Simply put is that an illusion is the opposite of reality.
The third factor on all these conundrums is the observer, if we revisit the first definition of reality, we will notice that there has to be an identifier or an observer who decides what is real or an illusion. With this statement, we then determine that there is a mechanism that aids this individual to navigate what they have decided is their reality, and this is perception.
What is perception?
Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. So perception is a subset of awareness, hence consciousness. This would conclude that the determining factor of what is real or illusion is our awareness.
We become aware of something through brain interpretation. This means when your senses give your brain electrical signals, there is a part of you that decides this is my dog, this is my Mother, my home, etc.
The fact is all these brain interpretations are something that we learn and not something we are born with. If you have been around newborn babies you must have learned that they usually don’t see anything for the first few days of their lives. This is not because they don’t have the capacity to see, but because they don’t know what to look for. And that as we grow we are taught to narrow down our ability to experience life.
Where does illusion come from?
I have already explained how everything we experience is a vibration, and how our consciousness perceives our reality. The fact that the things our brains interpret to us are not the actual reality is mind-boggling.
Think about this for a moment; If we use a microscope to look at you, we won’t see you, but a cluster of whatever types of microscopic particles that microscope is focused on, but again if we use something like an x-ray we recognize you either, the same could be said about infrared vision. This is because these other realities are filtered out.
Dogs and other animals can sense and see things that humans can’t. We can’t see radio waves yet we send and receive these electromagnetic signals through our electronic devices without even thinking about it.
If you think about it all, that means what we see is not even the tip of the iceberg, but something infinitely minute compared to what is out there. For this reason, we cannot simply claim that what we perceive is real, we only see what we want to see. What we see is the impermanence of what might be the actual reality, and therefore an illusion.
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