Is the World an Illusion? Rupert Spira 

SK57 Plato answered this question in the same way with “the allegory of the cave”. Thousands of years ago.

@@brendanramsey8311 I love the allegory of the cave

He explains nothing. Seems to be his forté.😅

Excellent comment.

Great input 😊

The key takeaway is knowing that no need to wait no matter what. Just make your living, live, love and be loved. ❤

I'm curious, "we don't know we are consciousness and eternal". " we do not know" , then u say "we are", that means we know. Exactly how dumb does someone have to be to preface what "we are" with "we don't know"?

Vernon Smithjr Jargon

Why would you call someone dumb who said something from the depth of their heart and as a result of the direct experienced truth. Not very compassionate comments here sometimes. This is not a competion. Maybe you should consider going back to school.

@@icanfartloud then why we say we are made of consciousness, but we are not conscious of it for most of the time, until someone points this out, moreover, most of us die unconscious/unaware of being consciousness, so it’s fair to say that we are consciousness and eternal, and at the same time don’t know about it, because even when we are lucky enough to wake up to these truths there is a good chance that you’ll “fall asleep” again and forget about it until the next stimulus

@@patrycjaspov It's just easier psychologically to live aware. Not that you would change anything in grant scheme of things. That's the way I see it anyhow.

BeautywithMadalina He's not that smart. Because at the end of the day. This world 🌎 is an illusion. Because this life is not real. Only as in so far as we are alive. This life is real in that regard. Other than that this world 🌎 isn't real man. Nothing you do on this earth 🌏 changes death 💀. Which is the ultimate truth for all human life. When you die. Life as you know it does with you. When you die. You will no longer uphold any form of memory upon this earth 🌏. Because you will be dead 💀 and gone. And no longer cease to exist. The only thing that counts within this universe is one's legacy. Bottom line. Contrary to what you may or may not want to believe. Life is real don't get it twisted. But life is meaningless. Which makes an illusion. In itself.

@@Kstretch271with your explanation doesn't clarify of your statement of " he's not that smart"

@@Kstretch271 what does ‘ones legacy’ mean?

You have understood correctly !!

I think that is why some say the universe is some kind of computer/simulation...just as the headset gives the impression of separate objects but really it's the headset doing the whole thing; just as physics/quantum physics says there isn't any objects which means it's an whole thing or one thing. So the question is... what is the source...and if there isn't any objects....then this universe cannot be of an intelligence from lets say another universe and you can then roll that back to a lets say first universe and also because there isn't any objects then the universe must be infinite. And you say yourself, that the brain builds everything around us; you must agree then if that is the case that there still cannot be any individual objects? And you which includes your brain has to be part of the whole thing...So we can see/understand it has an illusion; if we want to use the word illusion by looking or holding an object in the hand and then say to yourself...where does that object begin and end in space/time...Because there isn't any objects then that object/s must be disappearing and reforming just like an htc headset virtual reality programme/image or whatever it is the htc is showing...It is inescapable as a comparison that you have used. But your brain is not the headset because we too cannot be an individual/separate object. The collapse of the wave function is an whole collapse and not linear from you to it for example...So it's not the body/stroke body mind doing it...It's/it is doing the universe and you at the same time...So are we the source? Not the me the body! Are we really awareness/mind/consciousness. The metaphor I use is imagine a pair of eyes somewhere on the edge of the universe and it's mind that's really seeing/perceiving. And going back to that object in which we can say where does it begin and end!... can't really be 3 dimensions and must be a construct of mind. So what and where is our mind and another metaphor I can use is... physics/universe should be called biology because physics is a description of the workings of and not fundamental. We are within ourself and the self is not the body only...it's everything we perceive. I hope to understand one day

andrew judge “Aren’t” any objects. “Isn’t” would only indicate a single object or idea.

But in that case you can’t touch what you see

@@anllpp Everything is Consciousness.

Consciousness is still in the ego domain, the domain of "form". But we are formless, which is not understandable from our perspective.

As Ramana Maharshi said, The world is an illusion, only Brahman is real. Brahman is an illusion🤔🙄🤗🙏

Exactly, just as in a dream.

I like that.

does he? where is the compassion?

What compassion, he just told you he is not, real your family is not real you are forever alone?

Great comment thank you❤️❤️

Good job. I know you are giving all that is more love

For what?

cybergeal - Great quote! ~♥~

Interesting. I have heard and use the focus on "who/what" we are that non dualists like vs. the "why/how" that mystics tend to focus on. This of what, in what is different, im not sure I get the meaning. Could you explain a bit please.

This was a long time ago, but I just saw your good question in my gmail account for the first time. The world is an appearance, says Shankara rightly. The question then arises: What is it that appears in this appearance, i.e. "of what is the world an appearance"? And also the question: in what does this appearance take place, i.e. in what does it appear? My answer is that it appears in the medium of consciousness, as perception/experience of the world, and that what appears in this medium of consciousness (which is experience through and through), is that of which this experienced world is an appearance, or image, namely the physical universe (with which we - as Kant already recognized - have no direct acquaintance, and of which we know only indirectly, through the image-appearance it makes in the medium of our consciousness, our experience). That, at least, is the conclusion to which a lifetime in neuroscience has led me, and it is gratifying to find myself in full agreement with Shankara. For the only Western philosopher who has plumbed the full depth of this issue, see Arthur Schopenhauer's immortal The World as Will and Representation (easily accessible in the Dover Edition, with the superb translation by E.F.J. Payne). Thank you for your question, and I hope you come across my belated answer.

I would be grateful if you could share a few more thoughts on consciousness and creativity. Can ones creativity be more closely aligned to consciousness in any way and if so, how do we bring this forth into the world?

Yes... :)

I'm new to Tolle pls explain the park bench thing

Yes,as Nisagradatta maharaj says,"awareness z absolute,however consciousness is relative to itz content"...In Buddhism,vijanana or consciousness just refers to the reactionary interface which z generated when sense perception takes place....!...but there z another term for nirvanic consciousness called vijnana annidassam or Unconditioned consciousness....in Tibetan literature diz z called Buddha nature or Rigpa,in Zen it z called Original mind,in Hinduism and Advaita,it z called Brahman....!..

K F: The definition of words and terns are according to the given teaching. There is no universal definition

Are you saying everyone my mother father brother and everything they are all my mind playing tricks on me they are an illusion (not real) and im forever alone? I want to commit suicide now!

Zita Ani clam down everyone is real I’m real

Scientists like definitions, but the spiritual trip is about direct experience. Even if a verbal explanation pertained directly to reality it can only ever be a matter of belief in the mind of the one that hears it.

Also real is that which has existence/being

Yes. belief is one thing and knowing is completely different.

When you see a dream at night everything in that dream is made out of the stuff of your subconsciousness. Out of yourself. But it doesnt appear like that in a dream.

You know awareness when thinking stops!

How blessed I feel to understand English and Rupert's clear loving sharing which I receive without interference of a single thought. Thank you, Rupert. With a prayer from Serbia that all may be enlightened.

Yes, just like ring appears ring until you really see that it is goldring

The question is ambiguous as to which perspective you are asking from so the answer can vary depending on the perspective. From Pure Awareness matter doesn't exist, so if you ask a question that doesn't make sense the answer doesn't make sense. From the point of view of the Mind matter is made of perceptions and sensations, yes a projection of the mind.

All you know of an object is the experience you have of it. You don't hear a bird, you only experience the hearing of what your mind assumes is a sound. And that is pure awareness, it's only experience. You're not a guy watching a screen, you're an aware screen who's experiencing a movie. The movie, isn't really experienced by the screen, the movie IS the screen, it arises from it's pixels. When you think about it philosophically this is true, but it gets very interesting when it's something you manage to experience and understand on a deeper level.

What are you afraid of

Im not scared per say, im more confused and looking for truth, ive grown up to learn about god but i feel there is more to the universe than just one answer

He is deluded and just have the hate for the acceptated scientific reality. Saying everything is conseousness is no different from saying everything is matter or gaga. You just changed the name but really no difference. His teaching is too mental and traps you instead of setting you free.

Matter in it's physical form is different from Consciousness. However, all matter is only ever perceived in the mental space of mind, you cannot experience matter outside of the space of mind, objects of perception takes their form in the mental space of mind. So matter is Mind. Mind is the subtlest form of matter, and Mind arises from Consciousness.

The world is consciousness seen through the mind. İf you look at the world when your mind stopped then you would see it as it is. That is why it was the words Papaji always told to his students "Dont think". And Ramana Maharshi said when there is The Self there is no world. When there is world there is no Self.

+Seth Jones This is what I've been confused by. Does awareness exist prior to thought and emotions, which arrive in it? Yes, which proves, among other things, that this separate self or ego literally does not exist. And with that, aspects of dualism and division - which cut the world into bits, even if it doesn't come as bitten up - are also incorrect. But it seems the claims of nondualism for credibility definitively end there. The claims on it being beyond the body is what I get lost on often. No self? Sure, neurology can prove this. No separate, isolated things? Much more basic sciences can prove this. But we can't even get a consensus on what exactly *is* consciousness as mere phenomena. How can we make claims on what it is, and make claims about how it flows and goes with this cosmos? I can concede all innate phenomena happens of itself with no outsider to it, be if of a creator God or a separate self of the mind. I find it puzzling with this innate phenomena to add consciousness, for we can't even describe that in terms of a process observable by science. At *best* we can link it to a manifestation of processes and phenomena that make the human organism what it is. We're kind of left assuming this type of thing merely exists, with no model or method to show it having the properties some claim it has, like everything resulting from it. That is very much an additional layer to what we can prove and talk about that constitute "what is."

+Seth Jones Sorry for this block of random text, I was a bit inspired. Some define consciousness similarly to the quantum vacuum where particles pop in and out of existence in a cloud of probabilities. Consciousness in this sense is a limitless field of probabilities where anything can happen. If that's true how can a limited human mind know the limitless? It's impossible. From what the sages have said, the only way is to go to the source, beyond the mind. Since consciousness is subjective, you can get "there" only through experience of pure awareness - without the mind-to-physical matter interface which transforms the base reality into this human experience. This filtering or transformation is useful for us existing in physical reality in the same way how web sites are interfaces for data in the form of binary code, subatomic particles and so on. The brain is useless if it has to deal with such an amount of "low-level" information, even the binary representation means almost nothing to it. Here's something that I sometimes think about. Carl Sagan was talking about "The flatland" creatures, that existed in 2 dimensions, not percieving height. If a 3d being said something to them from above the flatland they would not be able to point to the source of the sound, it would appear to be coming from within. And similarly we cannot percieve 4d space. To be able to have 4d vision we would have to be able to see a cube from all angles at once. That would be like putting cameras all around a cube and plugging the cables into our mind. And again, it would feel like the cube is inside of us. And since you mentioned subtle energy bodies and misconceptions. I've read some books on "out of body" experiences or "astral travel", and I find that the most fascinating material on OBEs are presentations by William Buhlman (here on YT). He says he's had experiences where his energy body is released from the limits of human form, and he becomes like a drop of consciousness with 360° vision with a greater degree of clarity and "realness" of experience than in the normal waking state. He says the main trick to get these abilities is to get rid of the belief that we are just humans - physical beings with 2 eyes.. Again to get there you have to go within yourself, and experience the various states of consciousness, and most of them (well the interesting ones at least) require you to still your mind. Trying to quantify and objectify such experiences for proof is very hard. The closest thing to proof would be to meet another person in such a state of consciousness and then later verify it in the normal waking state. Reading, knowing and understanding stories such as these is not going to convince anyone unless they experience it themselves. But it's not that easy. I'm still trying to achieve such states but I've had some interesting experiences that are nudging me in this direction. I don't completely believe any of it but I assume reality is based on consciousness. To believe anything robs us of a chance for true knowledge.

See my reply to *Yes This, just above. In that reply I take it for granted that, as you say, consciousness is "created by our very own matter-based brains".

So desth is the cessation of the material and all realities ?