Illusion - Part 2

The world is said to be an ‘Illusion’.  – i.e. whatever we feel, do, act, and have a sense of attachment….is it to be considered “false”?!! How should we believe our own decisions that we take, if everything is false? 

One must understand this concept of ‘illusion’. My life and its meaning – is something that I have created – consciously or otherwise. At some stages of our lives, we create meanings without having full knowledge of it and at other times, we are aware of what we seem to create. The meaning is the net result of our thoughts and thoughts seem to be very real to us. Whether thoughts are in fact real or not, need not be considered a matter of debate, since this question will lead you to no answer. If thoughts are real, so is our projection of the Past, Present and the Future, or to our feelings, emotions, body, and anything that the mind generates. If thoughts are false, so is our belief in self and our lives! Thus, we are facing a paradox. 

Thoughts (and all projections that our mind creates from our birth to death) create an “impression” of life. The important thing to remember is that it is an “impression” – so it can be subjected to change. Since any thought has a potential to come into existence (out of a void or space) and make connections with other thoughts; it can only remain absolute to the extent that ‘I’ sustain it. So long as ‘I’ continue to sustain any thought, the impression of life will continuously be shaped by me. Thus, what is really required for us is to get a sense of the region from where the thoughts seem to originate. As this region or space gets more evident, thoughts start to lose a grip on ‘me’ and they are consequently placed in the required perspective – we therefore treat a thought as nothing more than a representation of an idea of life. Thoughts make us experience life, but they do not constitute the absolute truth. When I say this, I mean that no matter how profound or traumatic our experiences may have been – they are nevertheless, self created or self inflicted. And therefore, they can be regarded as notional or something that comes and goes like a cyclic phenomenon. 

Hence, if we realize what seems to be happening in our head, then the task which should be taken up by us is to settle our mind – let the thoughts settle. Watch the thoughts. “Rejection” of thoughts is not expected (and they will hit you in full force, if you try to reject any of the thoughts your mind creates). “Embracing” of thoughts is also not required, for they will only create more distortion. The skill required is of only witnessing your own thoughts. We learn the process of witnessing our thoughts by meditation or any kind of concentrated activity.  It is said, that witnessing may ease the flow of thoughts and may make our mind stable. 

If this sounds difficult, we may try to question our thoughts. Questioning does not mean doubting. It is asking “why”. By continuously being engrossed in “why”, we discover the connections that the thoughts create. If we discover the “connections” that constitute thoughts, we realize that these connections are malleable and can be changed, erased, generated or conceived in different ways. This ability to envision “connections” from Nothingness, may be a hallmark of a Liberated Mind – a mind not bounded by any self imposed constraints of time, body, or any thought. 

Thus, an “illusion” is a series of “connections” that we choose to create and the space/ void is a quality that each of us has, from where such connections are formed.

Realize the void.