The Reality of Illusion is Being Aware

Definition of an illusion:     something that exists, but is not what it appears to be.

First, for anything to exist, it must be experienced by an experiencer.  No one has ever experienced a square circle; therefore, a square circle does not exist, and is not an illusion.

Something that doesn’t exist is not an illusion.

Definition of Reality:    the non-objective, ever-present experience of being aware, and knowing this awareness as the only Reality there is.

Body, mind, or world are illusions; they exist, but are not what they seem to be.  The reality of these illusions are known in the objective experience of thoughts, images, concepts, beliefs, feelings, desires, sensations and perceptions.  Looking deeper, these illusions are known through the objective experience of thinking, sensing, feeling and perceiving.  And these illusions are known through the Direct Experience of being aware. All there is to illusion, then is the knowing of Being aware.

The body is simply a cluster of feelings and sensations, which are only experienced as feeling & sensing.

Mind is simply a cluster of thoughts and images, which are only experienced as thinking & imagining.

World is simply a cluster of perceptions (sights/sounds/tastes/textures/ & smells), which are only experienced as perceiving. (seeing/hearing/tasting/touching/smelling).

 

So, body, mind, world, thoughts, images, feelings, desires, sensations and perceptions are not what they seem to be.  They exist, but they are an illusion of an ‘objective experience’.  Their reality is not in their separate experiences, but from the one experience of being aware.  All illusion has its reality in being aware of being aware.

For example. 

The illusion is “A sound came from the sky”.

The illusion is ‘sound’.  It implies that it is some ‘thing’ separate and apart from experience.

The reality (of the illusion “sound”) is not the sound ‘itself’, but in the present experience of hearing; and the reality of the illusion “hearing” is found in the direct & present experience of BEING AWARE. There is no separate sound; that’s the illusion.

 

The illusion is ‘sky’. It implies that it is some ‘thing’ separate and apart from experience.

The reality (of the illusion “sky”) is not the sky ‘itself’, but in the present experience of seeing.

Now, because the event has passed, it is now a memory.

The reality (of the illusion “memory/image”) is in the present experience of imagining/remembering.

The reality (of the illusion “imagining/remembering”) is in the present experience of thinking, and the reality of the illusion “thinking”, is found in the present experience of BEING AWARE. There is no separate sky or memory of sky; that’s the illusion.

As Jesus said,

“Those who have eyes, let them see.”

“Those who have ears, let them hear.”

 

No one can come to Reality, except through the experience of Reality, through the direct experience of Being aware of being aware.

Be aware in the reality of things, not in their illusion.

 

The reality of the illusion of “suffering”, for example, is the experience of physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain and spiritual pain. (disease, depression, shame, guilt, loss, grief, fear, lack, envy, anger, desire, jealousy, boredom, loneliness, etc.)

These have existence; they are experienced.  But they are illusions, for they are not what they seem to be.

The reality of the illusion of pain is made of the experience of beliefs, concepts, ideas, images, feelings, sensations, and perceptions.  These objects of experience exist, but they are illusions too. They are not what they seem to be.

The reality of these illusory ‘objects of experience’ are made of the experience of thinking, imagining, sensing, feeling, & perceiving. These activities of mind exist, but they are illusions too.  They are not what they seem to be.

 

The reality of the illusion of thinking is made of the experience of knowing or being aware.

The reality of the illusion of imagining is made of the experience of knowing or being aware.

The reality of the illusion of sensing & feeling is made of the experience of knowing or being aware.

The reality of the illusion of perceiving is made of the experience of knowing or being aware.

 

The illusion of all ‘objective experience’ (everything above) has its Root Reality in the ‘non-objective’ ever-present experience of being aware.

 

All illusions have a reality.

 

Behind every illusion, is its Reality.

 

That reality is found in the primary element of all experience: Awareness being aware of ItSelf.

There is no such thing as experiencing an illusion without experiencing its Reality behind it. The Root of all Illusions is found in the direct experience of Being aware of being aware.

 

Another example:

“I am sitting in front of my computer, typing.”

Lets see what the reality of this illusion is.

The reality of “I am sitting in front of my computer typing”, is the objective experience of thinking, imagining, conceptualizing, sensing, feeling, & seeing/touching/hearing.

The reality of these illusions is made of the direct experience of knowing; being aware.

I am having the experience of being aware. If this is true, then I must be experiencing its reality. What is the reality of being aware?

The reality of being aware, (including what I am aware of) is being aware of being aware.

The Reality of ‘everything’ that is experienced in awareness is Being Aware of Awareness ItSelf. There is nothing that exists outside of being aware.  This is all there is to know; to know the Reality of one’s own aware Self.