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Is Reality What We Think It Is?
A mystic and a materialist will both stub their toes if they kick a rock. But the mystic believes that the rock is a projection of a deeper reality, whilst a materialist believes that the rock is all there is–reality doesn’t go deeper than things.
To a materialist, clouds and mountains are no more than things, their beauty being beside the point. A newborn baby is a thing, too, its humanity being equally beside the point. In a world of things, there is no room for a loving intelligence known as God who presides over creation and gives it meaning.
Yet on the path to joy you discover that meaning is the very basis of life. A baby is a thing only in the most superficial sense. In reality a baby is a field of infinite potential expressing the highest intelligence in Nature. I don’t think of this as a mystical belief, but as a truth that lies deeper than the surface picture; where life looks like a stream of random physical events.
Meaning is born deep within. Spiritual optimism is also an inner experience. It is based on the love, beauty, creativity, and truth that a person discovers at the level of the soul.
When you explore yourself on the inner plane, you are working with intuition. It’s a common misconception that intuition is at odds with science. In truth, science and spirituality both depend upon intuition, for the greatest scientific discoveries are made through creative leaps, rather than by following a linear trail of established facts.
Adapted from Why Is God Laughing? The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2008).
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13 comments
add your comment »Everything in the universe is comprised of matter. Dense matter, like the key's you are typing on or the table top is easy to see, touch and feel. Being 'plugged-in' to consciousness creates a new awareness that all things have matter. Our thoughts are matter. We can't see them but the power of thought alters our lives and daily existence. Reality is definitely NOT what most think it is. We are bound by the constructs of time, physical form and daily woes. Its our consciousness that we should attend to. Consciousness is reality and consciousness can cross in and out of reality. What a discovery! Reality isn't real! Hehe!
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Every second in all seven senses we plant seeds,which take roots.For every action their is an equal and opposite reaction.There is no way a person can concentrate on how there life is going to react one hour later.Except,if one accepts a higher power and lets Jesus Christ lead and guide them.By receiving Jesus Christ one comes to know that all things work out for good.
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I believe that North Americans (U.S. citizens in particular) have control and arrogance issues because no war has been waged on their soil and because it is in their genes to dominate. Look at the demise of the Natives and African Americans when white Europeans (English and German in particular) pushed their way onto the North American continent.
This attitude still trickles down into our very arrogant and domineering culture.
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Pragmatists have a lot to offer. So do aetheists. Apostles of reality as relative have yet to prove their point to the other 99% of the population, who might experience a different reality. But that reality is still there. Concretely, war is hardly a relative reality. You can choose to live that war and in that war as you wish, but the war is still there. However, if there is no higher spiritual functioning to the universe, that means we can change it. We have 'absolved' ourselves from following and can begin to lead. As I've heard, though, and agree, being able to put aside faith is indeed a luxury.
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I got an illusion of life as a stream, an outpouring like you said, and I saw the stream and I felt the way the earth feels when trees have been living there, are living there still, and are watching the baby who is awakening the world with a new breath. In a forest somewhere, a new reality is being born, has been born, is breathing these thoughts, but not this individualistic perceptionist model-- no, it's an outpouring model
the stream model and the tunnels from the sun are outpouring new breath into the collective conscious
radical reality shift internal possibilities limitless fearless, yes, I believe Deepok Chopra speaks with much wisdom and grace-- that he is "plugged in" and I would like a daily video now- HA!
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Nice article! Thank you!
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I trust my intuition; and it usually works for me
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I finally realized perception is reality back in my early twenties. It was a profound realization, which actually had layers of meaning below it.
One fun tip for all interested: For the rest of the day, see everything as if you were a child seeing it for the first time. Suddenly, everything becomes fascinating and interesting. A bump in the road, patterns in tree leaves, cars...everything is suddenly full of wonder. It's one of the most uplifting and rejuvinating gifts you can give yourself.
And at the end of the day, realize that all that joy was available to you yesterday, and the day before, and everyday... so why would you want to go back to perceiving life like you did previously? ;)
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Actually nothing is intelligent!
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Our reality is elusive at best. We are complex and we live in a mysterious illusion.We all seem to be reading the illusion with different comprehension. Sometimes the illusion is incomprehensible. Sometimes it is solid. It depends on where you are in life. Everybody is someplace else. If we, for a moment, find ouselves all looking at the illusion with the same peace or joy we have found nirvana.
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