This is something of a response to Dom's post from last week, in which he discusses the question of why or how we can create change when reality is an illusion. His thought, as I understood it, was that persons' experiences and actions within the illusion can have parallel effects in Reality on their Selves. My initial response was to suggest, in addition, that the fact that our actions can affect or change the illusion of reality is part of the reason that the illusion is so convincing.
That, however, got me thinking further about why it is necessary for the illusion to be convincing. I would theorize that, in Hindu philosophy, it is actually vital for one to accept and embrace reality despite its illusory nature, at least for a certain period of time. If a person were to reject it as an illusion right off the bat, it could engender the idea that their actions do not actually matter, and thereby lead them in a direction opposite the ideal.
Well said. I think your last paragraph has implications for many schools of thought, in theological and secular context. For example, even a philosopher that shared in the illusionist theory of our present reality (Plato, Descartes) would say that actions certainly matter. Whether or not one subscribes to any form of illusionist lens of reality should still operate on the assumption that their actions still matter. In my opinion, these theories should remain an intellectually skeptical thought experiment, and should not be logically (or illogically) applied to daily action.
ReplyDeleteMuch hinges on in what sense we understand the material world as illusory. We don't mean there is no such thing; rather we mean that it is derivative from, or parasitic on, a more fundamental reality, and so we must take it seriously, but not mistake it for all there is.
ReplyDeleteAh, I see. So the risk would then lie in a person assuming that the material world does not really exist, rather than understanding that it is derived from, but not as real as, fundamental Reality
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