re Everything is imagined. [posted above]

[Ian Gardner]

Here are two extracts from my book The Milk Is White plus a comment relating to the book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.

ONE

Here is a relevant extract from my book The Milk Is White. 
CHAPTER 8 - REALISATIONS
Realisation is revelation - it is as if the dust and debris of time are swept away and the shining Truth is revealed. What is 'seen', 'known', 'identified with' in a transcendent state cannot adequately be conveyed by the written or spoken word.
The Illusion - 1.
"What we perceive as matter in its various forms is a thought manifestation of the Creative Force from the purest form, or state, of energy which is the Creative Force Itself. Using that same creative ability given to us at our 'birth' we, through thought entered this 'world' and became attached to the pleasures it gave us. With this came pain, the opposite of pleasure, because the law of this phenomenal world is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Thus, it is only in thought that we are here. We are standing outside looking in so to speak. It is an illusion; perhaps, dreamlike is a better word, as dreams are very real to us at the time of dreaming."
The Illusion - 2.
Everything is impermanent. Everything is in a state of flux. The entire biosphere is in motion in a cyclical state of matter being broken down and re-constituted from one form to another. All matter - energy - is in a state of flux ......... the whole universe of matter.
Everything we can see, feel and possess is in a state of flux, of motion, and is transient - even our thoughts. Our mind creates, and can be observed by us creating; creating thoughts of pleasure, pain, sadness and joy, fear and anticipation and, as we observe thoughts being created, we can still the creation, and, there- fore, the world it creates. The world is of the mind and is impermanent - even our bodies are in a constant state of flux, of constant destruction and re-creation. Even the soul, the self, is in a state of constant change, evolving through experience and choices. The only unchanging aspect is the Light itself, the absolute being, that which is timeless, always was and always will be, that which simply IS. This absolute self is of the Crea- tive Forces, it is like a water droplet touched to a vast drop, it merges completely yet retains its identity. That is our true state of being.
Thus, all is a creation only of the mind - an illusion, and we must enjoy all aspects of this illusion, whether they appear to be good or bad, as it presents itself; with joy because it is through this that we evolve; through meditation and applying the right principles; through the realisation of our true identity and, thereby, to at-oneness with the Creative Forces - the Great Spirit .......... The beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, and we are unaffected by what appears to be."
Note regarding the Illusion.
To misunderstand this may lead to delusion. The unwise, or those whose conscience is subdued or
subjugated by worldly desires, may easily assume that, because nothing in the phenomenal world is real, they may freely, with impunity, put a knife into another, wage war, steal, rape, and harm others in the many ways possible, and in other ways eschew love in all its manifestations. However," thoughts are things" as the Cayce Readings say. Thought is a force, energy, a field, as evidenced by experiments conducted by Russian scientist in the early half of the twentieth century. It 'travels' instantaneously31and is not impeded by distance or any known substance.
In this context, the saying "It is the thought that counts" is absolutely true because, as has been stated before, action is created by thought (except where it comes from instinct) and it is the thought that counts, and it is thought that attracts karma, negative or positive as the case may be.
It is understandable that the illusion is difficult to comprehend and the following may go some way to helping in this regard. If we are shown a green leaf and asked what its colour is, we will reply that it is green. However, it is not green. It only appears to be green because it absorbs all but that part of the light spectrum that makes green, and that is the part that is reflected to our eyes. A beautiful butterfly wing is not beautiful at all; it only looks that way because the tiny scales on the wings are angled in different ways to create different colours. Likewise, materials we take to be solid are not solid - glass flows slowly in response to gravity, the hardest diamond has space between its atoms and molecules; and energy particles are passing right through all seemingly solid bodies, including our own. Nothing is as it appears.
A parallel similarity to the illusion, and the way in which it manifests, is our current activity of creating Virtual Reality. In doing this we are using thought to create a perceived reality, an illusion, through the medium of technology.

☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨ ☨

TWO

One of the two lasting points, for me, from the Tibetan book was the statement that what we perceived as the reality was and illusion. I could no quite comprehend this although I "knew" it to be correct. Years later*, I saw another Tibetan quote on the same subject but like this: "like an illusion - dreamlike." Then, the penny dropped and it became clear to me! That is when one is dreaming what is happening seems very real but on awakening one becomes aware that it was an illusion.

*After I wrote The Milk Is White, I think.