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The following Essay was written this morning for my Philosophy class at COS. It is in response to the following question: "Indian philosophy is often denigrated in the West as being "Illusionist," that is, as dismissing the reality of this world, and thus having a world-negating, other-worldly orientation. Based on the readings, is this an accurate assessment of Indian religion and philosophy? Explain why or why not." It seemed appropriate to put it here and since the time that is usually used to write the NTL Tidbit, was used to write an Essay for class... it serves for that :o))))
Illusionist
India
philosophy is often denigrated in the West because the West’s mentality depends
on material and physical form and senses and to not denigrate the awareness of
the world being an “illusion” would make every belief and everything they do
and work for meaningless (to those that would wish to keep it real). But just because you want to keep something
real, doesn’t make it real.
You have awoken from a dream at night and it can seem so
absolutely real, more real than the reality you are in right now, but shortly
there after it fades away and there is nothing you can do to keep it. This is how it is in reality. Just like all the dream characters fade when
you wake, including “you” (just like the “you” that you dreamt last night,
everything you currently “think” you are, when this “dream/illusion” is woken
from will fade).
The thing that scares most, is that they do not know who is
Dreaming. They have believed they are
the identity (an accumulation of ideas, opinions and beliefs accumulated since
birth) and in keeping the focus on the the identity, do not realize that they
are not the identity but what the identity is In. This is Truly one of the Great gifts of those
that experience “paranoia” because they are forced to know that they are always
being watched. If they are lucky they
begin to relax and allow that they are being watched and then may even begin to
question, “who is watching?” This is
probably where they idea of Santa Claus came from, because we are always truly
being watched, and it is by the Silent Witness, that is You. Like it says in the book, “you are not afraid
when you are alone in the dark of being alone in the dark, you are afraid of
who might be there with you.” Once you
realize that you are all alone, completely alone, who is there to be afraid
of? All that is left is the discovery of
who is There, yourSelf. However, this is
where a Teacher or Guru is invaluable in your discovery because they will continue
to point you away from the personality and towards the Truth of who you Are (a
personality that believes it is god is and becomes more and more insane, there
is only One without a second.)
You are watching you (yet it is all one, no separation), how
funny that one would become paranoid of itSelf (but don’t laugh a someone that
is paranoid, it will only scare them more), this whole world seems to be in a
sort of mass paranoia because everyone thinks (seemingly) that they are doing it,
that they are the one in control and they are doing something wrong and have to
get better. The good news is you can’t
do anything wrong in a dream/illusion.
Some may say “oh that just means that people will steal and kill and rape
and maim.” Well, you are in a Dream …
are you stealing, killing, raping and maiming?
See, those are just stories to keep one from discovering who they Are. And if you are, knock it off and begin to see
who it is that you are killing, raping, maiming and stealing from. :o)
One cannot think oneSelf back to who one Is. In one sense, there needs to be a bit of
Faith/Willingess that they are being led, because the tools one would use to
discover who they Are, are useless in this domain. The mind cannot help you to know what you are
In, but it can be used to being to point you towards it. It can be used to relax you into giving up
the beliefs that say it is not possible.
It can calm you from your fears of the miraculous. But it comes, in a sense, from unlearning
what you know. You know too much, and it
is like a prison around you (the
identity) keeping the world real.
Does it matter if you keep the world real, no, ultimately it
does not, but you would not be reading this if you were not ready to begin to
let go of some of those blocks around the prison that is you (identity). As they fall away (which will come
naturally), you will begin to see what you have always been IN. This is what the Indian culture points too,
and all religions will point to it also once one has seen it for oneSelf. Once you See it, it is Known and then all
things including yourself (who you think you are), begin to point towards it.
What you see in front of you right now as you read this, is
just a projection on the Light (there is no word that will describe this,
though words are used to point the mind in the direction of comprehending the
uncomprehend-able). What is before you
is a projection onto the Light that is You.
The only thing that can happen in a dream is that you are paying
attention to the projection and not what you are projected On. What you are projected on, is not in the
Dream/Illusion, the Dream/Illusion is in It (but it is not an “it”).
When you go to the movies, you pay attention to what is
projected onto the screen and you forget that the screen is there, but without
the screen you would not be watching the movie.
It is the same in what we call “reality.” As the mind (who you think you are) weakens
its stance that that is not true, you will begin to see “cracks” in the
Dream/Illusion of Light. The Light will
begin to shine through the “you” who “think” you are. Though even if this does not ever happen, you
can begin to relax and “Know” that it is True, and you know it because you KNOW
it, because you ARE it. Not because I or
anyone else told it too you, but because you are It and the only thing you are
ever capable of doing is denying it. So
the question is … are you in service to True Reality or the
dream/illusion? As you become more in Tune with yourSelf, you
will rely more and more on True Realty, the Light in You that has lead you
always.
If you should have a “break” in Reality, that frightens you,
because it cannot be understood by the mind, know that someone else
(apparently) has also had that experience and that it really is the most
amazing Gift one can receive in this life, to Know that the world/universe is
not real and yet gets to experience it fully.
Once all the trying to understand what one will not ever understand is
not held so tightly too … you will smile a lot more and will understand a lot
less. And may see in the eyes of others that
they also know, because they have smiling eyes too … even if outwardly you
don’t see a smile, you will see it in their eyes because they are still playing
their part, the actors still plays their roles, they are just aware that they
are not the role.
Works
Cited
The Best Guide to Eastern
Philogophy and Religion, Diane Morgan.
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