what is REAL?

thanks. i will look into those six factors, they seem like a logical way to deal with the topic of reality...

 

I'm sure we have all heard the saying, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?" Well, I respond by saying "What is a tree?"

Now you may not know where I am going with this, but it is simple. Nothing exists, until it is discovered. Exploration = Creation. If you think about before America was ever discovered and when they thought the world was flat. The other side of the world didn't exist. Then one day, it was discovered and thus, creation.
Same thing as we continue to find new science / technology advances.

You may say, well it always was there and was real / existed, we just hadn't found it yet.
I respond by saying, at that point in time, it didn't exist.

Basically, our minds / thoughts / actions, create the world / reality we live in.
Man was not made in God's image, but rather God was created in Man's image.
We believe what we want to see, not what is actually reality.

Until you can remove the constraints of society and learn to create, explore and think, you will be bound to a reality in which you are very limited.

 

You explore create and think regardless. Society does not constrain, it is an agreement. I will grant that you will experience resistance to the extent that you do not recognize or take responsibility for your own creations.

It is not useful to depreciate the power of your own mind.

 

So your saying society does not constrain? In my opinion, social media, common television stations meant to relay false information instead of actual unfiltered news, are good examples of how it can constrain. The pressures of growing up in a society where you are taught to love and adore a certain "image". Not to mention all of the horrible things that follow, i.e. anorexia, self doubt, being told you don't live up to the expectations of society, self mutilation and overall the damaging of your inner being.

Once you can break free of all of these and learn to love yourself and respect yourself as a spiritual being, then you can obtain true happiness and what I think (if followed with proper meditation and inner expansion and spiritual growth) will lead to spiritual enlightenment / ascension.

I meant explore, create and think without the limitations that are sometimes put on us / develop in us, due to social media and a controlled / censored media.
A. We are taught that we should try and make ourselves look "picture perfect" (More prevalent when younger; middle school, high school, maybe even later in life like a career field or business)
This can often lead to becoming more self conscious and living in constant worry that your skeletons / flaws will be discovered. (especially if you are affiliated / are more recognized figure in church, government, media, sports etc.)
B. That is an extremely horrible way to live, however, many people suffer from it now. Many more people are becoming depressed and developing sub conscious habits of belittling oneself. However, since our main goal here (at least mine is) is to obtain and achieve happiness and be at peace with our inner self, then we should want to expel those constrains, which have been either directly or indirectly placed in our lives.
C. These cause the mind / body and spirit to sense unhappiness, so the only natural thing to do, is to remove the thing which causes the unhappiness.

Hope this explains what I meant.

 

I have long hoped that this existence is just a long nightmare that one day I'll wake up from... Everything around us is real, for better or worse.

 

You could say you'll wake up from it someday, but I don't know if you'd enter something more or less real then

 

Yes, society is an agreement.

You are not limited now and to claim limitation is self depreciating. I hope this explains what I mean.

 

I could only hope it was less real, any more real, and I couldn't bear it! lol

 

I see you in the next world, don't be late! :biggrin:

 

How do you know you'll get there before me?

 

I don't, just don't be late for the meeting! I'll try my utter best as well

 

I have no idea why you'd wish to meet me in the next world, but I'll definitely try not to be late! lol xD

 

This bothers me a little bit and I would love for you to help me understand this. In my opinion, to claim that limitation doesn't exist within ourselves, is a bit Ignorant.
I listened to a Buddhist Monk talk once on the subject of ignorance. He was asked the question, "How does a person know if they are ignorant or not."
The Monk responded with the following, "If you question whether or not you are ignorant, then you are most likely ignorant. Why? Because a person who is in ignorance, doesn't realize that they are in ignorance."
The reason why I included that, was to point out this. If we claim that limitation cannot occur within our consciousness due to outside / negative energy and propaganda, at least for it to happen slowly over time, then are we being ignorant in not viewing the possibility?

While claiming limitation may seem self-depreciating, I think of it as a step forward, towards true inner happiness and peace. I do believe that social media and society plays a huge role on the development process of the inner being. Look at kids who grew up in horrible situations or experienced tragic events. While most cases seem to involve someone who experienced drastic, life altering events i.e. witness murder / get beaten / grow up in an abusive household, it seems that the opposite could still occur.

I simply mean that if you put all of the pressures put on people by society and all of the economic crisis / negative events that are happening and you sprinkle them constantly into someone's life over the course of a lengthy period of time, would that person not develop mental limitations? i.e. loss of motivation, losing the will to live, becoming close minded to questioning your own beliefs.

Limitations are not permanent and it doesn't mean you are any less of a intellectual / spiritual being, but rather means that if you want to find true happiness in your life, you need to get rid of the things which cause the unhappiness. i.e. limitations.

 

I am sorry you are bothered.
Simply you create either impression. All value lies in the capacity to evaluate. Every experience arises from conception.

 

Our perception of reality and the way we see things is based on our minds, but the system has us believing what they want us to believe. what, "normal" is, or what is attractive or isn't, whats real and isnt, who's sane, and isn't sane. that's why Acid heads and shroomers are called crazy and shot out. because they see the concepts that regular society is shielded from seeing. but to answer your question, nothing is real. it's all in our minds,

 

If nothing is real, and it's all in our mind, then is the mind real?

If the mind is real, then why does it create unreal things? And if only the mind is real, then it would follow that anything it does/conjures is only an expression. Why is the mind expressing that which is unreal?

 

"Nothing is real", eh. Would you put that to a test by standing in front of an on-coming locomotive? I had a long debate on this forum with a poster who said that material reality was an illusion. I suggested that he jump off the top of a high building. Haven't seen any posts from him since, and I worry he might have taken me seriously. The point is well-taken though that we're prisoners of our perceptions. Santayana suggested that the only way out is "animal faith", by which he means a willingness to act on a rudimentary hunch that there is an objective world out there, that when we're exchanging these thoughts on Hip Forums we're not just talking to ourselves, etc. But it's an act of faith, which I see as a bet. We're betting our lives on a hunch about reality, and we may all learn the hard way.

 

We don't step in front of a truck because, illusion or not, that would interfere with our purpose for this particular stage of reality.

However, some people do jump from buildings.

 

All those circumstance that seem to be pressing in from outside are allowed by you, not forced on you. Those are things about the world you learned and accepted as true. To be able to learn is not a limitation. You can change your mind. To the extent that you claim that you are victimized to any extent, to that extent you will feel limited. Since you claim that limitation is transient and you can free your mind, then you are not limited but self limiting.

I agree that for the most we are filled with superstition about our world and ourselves. The truth will set you free. One of those truths is that you are inherently free. Your mind is a kingdom that you alone can rule and your will is inviolate. The power to change your mind is the only power you have. It is not our physique that gives us ascendance on this planet, but our mind.