Spiritual Reality, Material Illusion

 "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." ~ Albert Einstein

 

When we speak of "reality", actual reality, we are essentially engaging in our relationship with truth.  An entire world can embrace utter illusion, but that doesn't change our personal relationship with truth.

"Reality" is far too often silently prefaced with the word "material".  

That's the assumption.  

That's the illusion. 

Those of us who have objectively witnessed and studied things that cannot be explained by the illusion of "material reality" know the truth goes deeper.  A materialist might say (and this is a hypothesis that fits for materialists) any evidence of a "non-material" reality must necessarily be evidence we are living in a material simulation.  Materialism is assumed, without question, and nothing else.  The simulation hypothesis contains the convenient aspect of necessarily negating verification of ANY observation.  After all, if you are living in a simulation, how can you objectively observe and verify anything?  Anything at all?  Thus it implicitly discourages the honest exploration of reality.  It's only a hypothesis, nothing more, and it arises out of materialism.

We spend a lot of time evading exploration.  We lack the courage to consider our paradigm may be collapsing.  We even deny that paradigms have regularly collapsed, those things we assumed were true.  No doubt we would dwell on intentional evasion even more intently should observation defy our presumed constructs.

Why is spiritual reality important?  Does spirituality exist because we can observe it?  Could it even be a part of a "material illusion" if it didn't have a foundation as a "concept"?  Spiritual Reality is such a profound discovery, even to observe it is to create it.  Love is at its Center.

How tragic it is to see just how much we have sacrificed at the altar of materialism.  We also sacrifice our authenticity daily.  We pretend the Real doesn't exist to "fit in", even when we know better.  We allow everyone and everything around us to pretend it doesn't exist as well, without question.  We even immerse our children in learning about what we know is a material illusion.  And then we are surprised when spirituality is mocked - and silenced.  

We participate in the silence.  We even silently participate in the mockery.  We appear to accept it.  And so we propagate it.  We project an illusion.  And we do know better.

This isn't going to work anymore.  The material world we live in is hanging in the balance.  The materialistic paradigm appears to be nearing its final gasp. 

This is an excellent day to share some videos demonstrating what happens when materialism fails - all of our centuries of "development" have brought us to this.  I hardly have room to share them all, but I will trust my inclination.  We aren't learning enough about this, lately.  We were schooled in it well long ago.  

 This particular scene was widely viewed on "network television" in 1983.

An astonishing number of people watched The Day After.  Back then, we would have "network television events" that reached a lot of people, and people surely paid attention to this one.  It depicted just one place, but people understood it was bigger than that - the counter-attack was referenced as well, but not shown. (See War Games, below, for a demonstration - RE: "mutually assured destruction", aka "MAD".). 

I was actually more moved at the time by the quieter movie Testament, as it better demonstrated the "slow motion" personal poignancy in intensely tragic ways.  It reminds me in a way of how a family member returning rather recently from a trip described the bottles of water people still leave as an offering in Nagasaki (because people who survived could find no water to drink).

Another 1983 movie was quite popular (and considered "lighter" entertainment).  WarGames even included AI in the equation.  This is a pivotal point in the film ("Spoiler Alert"), but worth viewing.

 

 

We had a lot to think about back then - at least back then, we were given something to think about, and thinking about it was considered totally OK.  Talking about how we felt about it was fine, too.

 

Here is one particular way we saw the future (from a film made in 1984, though the story is older).  2010 seemed far away (yet very close).  This series also happened to famously (or infamously) contain AI, though it's not relevant to the following scene.  Other things are.

 

 

 

Things have "progressed" since the early 1980's, materially.  How have we progressed spiritually?  Whatever has brought us to this insane level of material ignorance (and denial) - and it's taken centuries of it - I can tell you one thing - it isn't worth it.  

 

It will never be worth it.   It was just as "mad" then, as it is now.  

Is Spirituality itself capable of "winning"?  Hint: Spirituality is capable of ANYTHING.  It is, after all, about mutually assured survival (aka LOVE).  

Omnipresent.  Unconditional.  And even beyond our imaginations.  Sometimes we can glimpse it.

That's Reality.  It's no illusion.

("Spoiler Alert", below.)

It's time to be open and honest about how more and more of us truly feel about it.  

Why not today?

 

Nature photo by Susan Larison Danz.

A Spontaneous Return

 “It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

I hadn't really intended to return here today, though I must admit I had thought about it, recently.  How I will return is yet to be seen.  What I know is I'm here.  I kind of stumbled into it, while doing some online "housekeeping".  And so...here I am.

Have I changed?  We are always changing.  

 

My voice has not been silent.

 

There will be no more "daily writing exercises" here - my writing doesn't work that way.  I write when I write, and when I do write daily, it is not an exercise.

Given the continuing (and increasingly) unsettled state of the world, we don't always need to respond to it immediately, as if on demand.  That's what went wrong with this blog.  I started to feel like I was setting up an expectation to "write on demand", on the world's schedule, not mine, and worse yet, in alignment with whatever the "expectation of the day" happened to be.  That sort of an "exercise" does not lend itself either to authenticity or free exploration - or for that matter, to deep and honest reflection.  You will not find me echoing here "the thought of the day", whatever that happens to be, like an artificial flock of parrots. (Do uncaged parrots flock?  I really couldn't tell you.)

The blog looks the same.  It's a kind of a home.  The quote I chose for today isn't necessarily one I entirely agree with.  Usually "home", when you've been absent, does indeed change.  Some things may feel the same, but many things will be different.  And if we are noticing, we will find we too are changing.  That part of the quote is much more true.  And when we are changing, we may actually notice even "old things" in new ways - in fact, that is what we can expect, if we are noticing.

 

It feels good to return.  I may even be back tomorrow.

 

Nature photo by Susan Larison Danz.