November 12th, 2016
Guest writer for Wake Up World
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” ~ Albert Einstein
We are so conditioned to routine and habit, swimming in the safety cocoon of expectations and life situations which we are all equipped to handle within the conscious frame of our being.
What if I were to say that this is an illusion? Well, so many writers who came before me have said that, and so many who will come after me, would say that too. Because, as one tries to think deeper, and deeper, and tries to tap into these subconscious realms of energy dimensions within ourselves, we envision these glimmers of “something” which is so far from our own perceived understanding of life, Universe, and the Nature of things.
What you are reading on your computer or mobile phone or tablet is an article written by me. But is that the reality as you think it to be? It is more than that. This is a manifestation of my feelings, which were triggered by recent experiences. These thoughts germinated, when I was made to feel in certain ways, which was not regular, which was not the norm, and which made my mind to take a tangent and explore certain neural pathways which have never been traversed before, and voilà, here are my thoughts — in the form of an article. So, reality is not contained to an article of about thousand words. Reality is perhaps those millions of neurons being fired for the first time in a specific neural pathway.
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But what if I were to go one step further, and say that reality is neither the new neural pathway. Reality is deeper than that. It is more profound than a mere cerebration. My experiences of recent days, could not be a product of thoughts, or my mind, could it be? No! My feelings, my joys, my inspirations, are definitely not mentation. How can I use my mind to become happy? Happiness, just comes! It comes, it rises deep from within my soul, because … well just because of … my feelings and experiences.
So what if I were to say illusion and reality go much further than what we even give them credit for, they are different from what we think them to be – that they are not two polar opposites of certain suppositions? Illusion and Reality are not what we consider them to be – not black as opposed to white. Rather, I “think” (there goes the word again) Illusion and Reality are two constructs which should be broken, at some point in our lives, because they have been created by our mental projections of what we believe them to be. This article is definitely not the reality that you think it is to be. Like I said earlier, this article could be a collection of thoughts which are produced here because certain neurons fired for the first time in a certain neural pathway, which again was because of a fresh new, never before felt experience I felt.
And this is the reality, as much as I can trace it back. But when I try to trace it back further, this pales too.
It is good to listen to one’s own subconscious or superconscious, which could reveal layers of reality. Mere conscious thinking would never lead to finding answers to existential questions.
And as human beings, we always have question, then we think further, and we have these mental constructs created by our own culture, society, morals, ethics — created by mere humans like you and me. We have shaped our identity from these very comfortable and easy fabrications.
However, are we contained to this?
Have you read the “Foundation Series” by Issac Asimov? That quote by Golan Trevize, a character in the series, is my all time favorite statement:
“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right”.
That statement in the context of what was happening in the story, makes a powerful impact in the mind. Yes, it fires zillions of neurons, if you would allow it to, to create a lot of unknown neural pathways, it makes one think so many different ideas, realities, it peels away layers of perceptions as we have come to idolize them. Yes, you should definitely read the Foundation series. But that is in a different context altogether.
We live within the walls of the comfortable ideas of our society and its boundaries of morals and ethics, and these have contributed significantly to create our “realities”, our own best practices of what humanity has evolved into.
My son: “Mom, I want an icecream.”
Me: “No dear, you will catch a cold.”
My husband (who is a pulmonologist): “In none of my MD books or papers, did I ever come across that you get common cold by eating an ice cream.”
Me: “Oh? Then …?”
My husband: “By a virus…”
Me: “Yes, I know.. I know.. I know .. But you see, he always catches a cold when he eats an ice-cream”
My husband: “Then he has to eat an apple, which would boost his immunity, and then continue to eat an ice-cream…”
So, the reality is … Does ice cream give you a cold? Does an apple drive away a cold? Is your immunity lower? Are the ice creams made of unpasteurized milk? Is there enough stress in the world that our immunity is getting lower overall? Oh sigh… !!!
This continues… Probabilities extending into conclusions, and generalizations, thus creating a vast labyrinth of x-dimensional “reality” as we believe it to be.
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Break these thought patterns. Explore the unexplored.
Tap into those realms of your own persona (see, I am not using words like mind, brain, heart, whatever… I leave it to you to figure out your reality)!
Break your illusions, discover your realities, and Experience those experiences that are vital for your existence.
Experience and feelings are very important markers for delving further into uncharted realms of our own infinite dimensions.
Embrace the new! They are gifts, they are blessings!
Discovery yourself, everyday anew, see the richness of the beauty of the Self in these.
Be in the present moment, in all its dimensions! Take the first step, to understand – the – “Here and Now”.
Meditate a few minutes every day. Meditate a few hours, every day. Perhaps, it could help you unlock deeper layers of consciousness, deeper layers of realities, maybe help in breaking free from the superficial.
And perhaps beyond all these different levels of consciousness, one may discover something so still, so profound, that defies words, meanings and explanations. Or perhaps there wouldn’t be anything left to discover, like the core of a seed. Oh, well, Surprise me, my Higher Self!
In recent times, my regular practice of Heartfulness Meditation has created a lot of different perspectives for me in life, has helped me in creating a sense of cheerful acceptance, allowed me to be patient, be still, and delve deeper into that, which would give me an awareness and understanding of things, which is more real, more profound, than before.
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Also by Purnima Ramakrishnan:
About the author:
Purnima Ramakrishnan is a UN award winning writer and blogger. She is the editor of World Moms Blog which writes from 30 countries about motherhood, culture and social good. She was once a tech savvy Electronics Engineer designing fancy car electronics, but decided to quit it and follow her dreams of writing and discovering the joys of her heart. She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation and through this has learned to find balance, peace and contentment in her everyday life.
You can follow Purnima online via:
- www.facebook.com/purnima.ramakrishnan.7
- www.twitter.com/puma_vinod
- www.pinterest.com/rpurnima
- www.plus.google.com/u/0/+PurnimaRamakrishnan/posts/p/pub
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