| When spiritual teachers say that things are an "illusion," | | | | “castle.” The concept of “castle” only |
| what does that really mean? Hunger is an illusion, but | | | | exists in people’s minds. |
| we can certainly still experience it or die from it. How | | | | With hunger, it’s the same exact thing. Have you |
| does that help? | | | | noticed that by turning your attention to something |
| First off, pretend you’re driving a car. The car you | | | | which you become deeply involved in, you can keep |
| have is a tool. The tool is not you, but it still needs to be | | | | going on and on for hours without getting hungry? |
| filled with gas and taken care of to run effectively. | | | | Apparently our minds have something to do with |
| Don’t give it any gas and it’ll stop working. | | | | hunger and our bodies, which respond to our minds, |
| The car, however, is not you. It is clear that you are | | | | react accordingly. There’s certainly more to it than |
| the driver of the car, not the car itself. | | | | that which we can recognize by the fact that babies |
| The “illusion” would be that the car is you and | | | | can get hungry. Hunger is an instinctual capacity of the |
| that if the car dies, you die. | | | | body, even if it can be overridden by the mind. |
| People have a tendency to believe that their bodies | | | | Despite our ability to feel hunger and interact with it, it is |
| are them and if the body dies, they die. We can see | | | | ultimately no more real than the experiences we have |
| this reflected in the way we language things such as, | | | | at night when we dream. That is, it’s “all in our |
| “I’m don’t feel good” when they have a | | | | minds” (and our bodies, but neither are ultimately |
| stomach ache. The stomach you have may hurt, but | | | | Real). |
| the stomach is not you. The language is reflecting the | | | | There is no one there actually experiencing the hunger. |
| illusion. The first error is a case of mistaken identity. | | | | There is simply hunger being experienced. There is an |
| The first illusion is that the car is you. Seeing through | | | | imaginary body experiencing imaginary hunger. |
| the illusion gives you the realization that the car is not | | | | The whole concept of change depends upon the |
| you. | | | | illusion of time. That is, it takes time to go from stage A |
| By recognizing that the car is not you, that doesn’t | | | | to stage B. In the nondualistic realm, everything exists |
| mean that you should stop taking care of the car. | | | | all at once, Now. That which is linear and dualistic is |
| Similarly, by recognizing that the body is not you, that | | | | unreal. That which is non-linear and non-dualistic is real. |
| doesn’t imply that you should suddenly stop taking | | | | The third error is not seeing the Divine in All That Is. |
| care of the body. | | | | Finally when one no longer identifies with this and NOT |
| With respect to hunger, certainly hunger is a very | | | | that, ie. “I am me, but I am not you,” and truly |
| experiencable reality for all of us. There are stories of | | | | becomes Oneness, everything which is “unreal” |
| yogis in India who, though their connection to Source, | | | | is recognized as being an aspect of Divinity. |
| get all the energy they need and therefore don’t | | | | God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Unmoved |
| need to eat food. There’s also stories of people | | | | Mover, the Unchanging Change, the Full Emptiness, the |
| who are able to look into the sun and, almost like | | | | Flowing Stillness. God is the essence of the paradox. |
| plants, get the energy they need that way. I don’t | | | | Everything in the Universe is God, including the ego |
| know how much of this is true, but it’s interesting | | | | which allows us to experience separation from God in |
| food for thought… no pun intended. | | | | our sandbox we call earth. In the sandbox we get to |
| Interesting stories aside, with the realization that the | | | | pretend that we’re separated from God which is |
| body is not us, instead of saying “I am hungry,” | | | | really ironic considering we ARE God. |
| we could then change our language to reflect the | | | | Ultimately every aspect of Oneness is recognized as |
| disassociation and now say that “The body is | | | | God, INCLUDING every body, every mind, every |
| hungry.” It may sound weird because most people | | | | thought, every fear, every action, every creation, every |
| don’t talk that way, but it’s more accurate. | | | | destruction. |
| Now, even if we make the distinction between “I | | | | God is All That Is and there is no opposite to God, no |
| am hungry” and “The body is hungry,” that | | | | such thing as non-God. |
| doesn’t actually change the fact that the body is | | | | A little boy dressed up for Halloween as a vampire |
| hungry, nor is it actually intended to. | | | | can experience being a vampire, even if he temporarily |
| What happens is that this begins the unraveling of the | | | | forgets he is a little boy. We are all Gods experiencing |
| sense of a personal self. When one says “The | | | | what we call human existence, but we’re all still |
| body is hungry, but I’m not,” it certainly strikes | | | | Gods even if we temporarily have forgotten this is so. |
| them as odd. “I’m not hungry? I’m obviously | | | | Now, this statements comes with a disclaimer. |
| experiencing hunger and it feels very real. Who is it | | | | Don’t use this to try and rationalize the validity of |
| that’s experiencing this sense of hunger?” | | | | the ego. “Hey, if everything’s a part of God and |
| Then one begins to ask the dynamite question, | | | | the ego is a part of God, then the ego is alright and I |
| “Who/What am I?” | | | | don’t have to bother transcending it. Yippee!!” |
| One’s level of consciousness begins to increase | | | | No, don’t make that mistake. This identification with |
| until they begin to have “spiritual experiences” in | | | | Allness must happen AFTER when realizations that |
| which they have a brief taste of the Divine, total and | | | | they are not a separate being, disconnected from the |
| complete Oneness with the infinite nothingness. | | | | whole. It is the ego who makes this separation possible |
| However, as Tom Stine aptly points out, an encounter | | | | in the first place. |
| with the Absolute is not yet Enlightenment. It’s more | | | | Yes the ego is ultimately a part of God, just like all else, |
| like a taste of things to come, a sign that you’re on | | | | but it is involved with creating a sense of separation |
| the right track. Gradually the experiences become | | | | from Allness (which is actually impossible) and thus |
| more and more common until they become more | | | | creates an experience which is not real. |
| common than the sense of individualized separation | | | | To summarize, illusion can be recognized by the |
| and then ultimately the presence of the Absolute | | | | following attributes: |
| becomes permanent. | | | | - A feeling of separation from God |
| From this state of Oneness with the Divine and only | | | | - Thoughts and beliefs that spring from separation |
| from this state can one truly look at the material world | | | | from God |
| of form and recognize its complete illusory nature. All | | | | - Beliefs based in duality which state that there are |
| that changes, all that exists in the world of form is | | | | two diametric opposites |
| illusion. The second error is the belief that what we | | | | - Something which changes |
| experience must be actually real. | | | | - Any feeling other than the presence of Divine Love |
| That which changes is unreal. | | | | - Our physical reality including time and space |
| That which is unchanging is Real. | | | | (distance) |
| Yes the illusion can be experienced, just like we can | | | | Finally, one key point to recognize is that recognizing |
| observe and feel our own reactions to what we see | | | | Oneness does not need to stop bodily functions such |
| on TV, the illusion is still recognized to be illusion. | | | | as eating, drinking, or being in the world. |
| It’s like seeing sand castles everywhere and | | | | As the saying goes, “Before enlightenment, chop |
| thinking that they’re actually castles. The castles | | | | wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop |
| are simply structures that sand is temporarily taking the | | | | wood and carry water.” |
| shape of. The fundamental units, the grains of sand | | | | It is possible to recognize illusion as illusion and still |
| are real, but there is no castle that’s ACTUALLY | | | | interact with it, to pretend that it’s real and play with |
| there, despite the ability for people to see | | | | it without actually believing it’s real. |