The World As Experience And Idea

The world is an illusion. This is a view held byand nebulas and galaxies. The universe, too, is mainly
Vedanta, Sikhism, Buddhism, Plato, Arthurempty space.
Schopenhauer, Christian Science, and A Course In5. The field of all possibilities.
Miracles.On the level of the consciousness that organizes all
Contradicting this view is your own sense experiencethings, this world is only another possibility out of an
of realness, the constancy of stimulus, the enduringinfinite choice. How many worlds with sentient beings
nature of time and events.exist? Is our universe only an electron in a cosmic
Which view is correct? The idea of the illusion oratom? Given a field of infinite choices, how much
your experience of the realness?weight does one choice hold?
This answer proposes an objective observer, oneThe idea that the world is real can be argued in the
who is not part of the system that is beingfollowing way.
observed. Newton held that time is absolute. Einstein1. What you are experiencing is real to you.
held that it is relative to the observer. Perhaps thatWhen you think of the world as an illusion, a sense
same paradigm shift can be applied to answering theof despair arises because it slights the beauty of
question of what is real and what is not.your realness. It is pleasurable to touch and hold, to
Those who propose that the world is an illusion aresee and hear, to act and change things. It is ennobling
correct.to see the vast sky above your head and feel the
Those who propose that the world is real are alsowind in your hair and hear the squawk of a passing
correct.bird. It means much for us to be here and to be alive
The idea that the world is an illusion can be argued inin this moment.
the following way.Neither science nor philosophy can deny the realness
1. You do not see the world as it is.of your experience.
You see the world as you are.And in this context, even your dreams are real
This happens in two ways:enough, because while you are in them, your entire
One, you can never escape your subjectivity. Youexperience is authentic enough for you. If you are
may claim that the world is objective, but this is abeing chased by a lion in your dream, it will feel as
claim made from the subjective state. Hence, if youreal to you as if you were being chased by one in
were to lose your mind, you would also lose thethe waking state.
world. Without an observer, there is no world. With2. Who you are is important to you.
your disappearance, the universe disappears. Does itYour life is important. You desire to be more than
exist despite you? If you are not there to ask oryou currently are because you can feel the vast
hear the answer to the question, it has no meaning.throb of life within you expanding ever forward to
Two, the world that you see is a direct result ofknow more, experience more, and touch a fullness
your experiences in it. A rock is not just a rock; it isnot yet known.
also your memory of all rocks seen by you. WhenYour past is not just useless memory but a
what you see is more complex and engaging, youscrapbook of struggle and change, triumph and
experience more emotions, sensations, and ideasadversity, risk and new learning. Your present is the
about it. Thus, you never really see anything as it is.vividness of your current experience. Your future is
You only see it through the lens of your ownyour promise, to yourself and to the world.
thoughts about it.Reality, then, is not fixed. It is an interpretation of
2. All forms will pass away.consciousness and how it is interpreted depends on
Entropy is built into the system. Nothing can escapethe inner and outer experiences of the observer. The
this iron law of nature. Neither beauty nor truth,world you live in is real enough to you as you live it.
wealth nor power, genius nor intent ever last. DeathIf this world is an illusion, does it mean that there is a
and decay is the lot of everything, from atoms toreally real world, as Plato conjectured. Probably not. If
stars, from our own sun to the universe itself.this world is an illusion, then so, too, are all worlds.
However, this collapse is a dissipation of energy, notAnd if this world is real, so, too, are all worlds.
an absence of it. According to the law ofAppreciating the miracle of having a consciousness to
conservation of energy, which has never beenlive in a world may be all we need to know to live
refuted, energy can neither be created norhappy, fulfilling lives, whether in this world or in other
destroyed. What dies, then, is the form of things, theworlds which we will transition into after this one.
structure the energy was supporting.Consciousness, like the law of conservation of
3. The microscopic.energy, can neither be created nor destroyed. Where
On the level of atoms, a vast space exists betweenyou find consciousness, you will also find energy
the electrons and the nucleus, and even thestructured into the form of a world. And since
subatomic particles are not solid bits of matter butconsciousness never dies but appears to only grow
transient energy forms that appear and disappearincreasingly more refined and sophisticated, worlds,
and reappear again. It is mainly empty space.too, probably evolve along similar lines. Are these
4. The macroscopic.worlds illusory or real? They are real enough to those
On the level of the cosmos, a vast space existswho live in them.
between stars and moons and planets, gas clouds