Our world is imaginary. Again, it is simple but there is still a lot to explore there.
My world is imaginary. The world I relate to and function within is imaginary. It is my mental field creation.
There are sense impressions – sound, sight, smell, taste, sensation and even thought itself – and then a mental field overlay of images. Interpretations. Questions. Stories.
It is essential for our human self to function in the world. And it is – quite literally – the world my human self functions within.
If these overlays are taken as real and substantial, there is stress and drama. And when they are recognized as overlays, as they happen, they are revealed as simple tools. The drama falls away.
It is simple. And there is also no end to the complexity I find when I explore it in more detail.
I may explore how the different sense fields combine to create gestalts, and what happens when these are taken as real and substantial, and when they are seen as just gestalts. I can explore the dynamics of samsara and what happens to the extent these are noticed or not.
Also, I find that when my imaginations align with the imaginations of others (or rather the images I have of others), they tend to be labeled “true”. And the same if they are functional, if they help my human self to function and operate in the world. If others disagree, and/or they are less functional, they tend to be labeled “false”.
When I do tong len practice, pray for myself or others, or visualize the healing of myself or others, I am healing images in my mental field. The effect may go beyond this, but that is where the shifts are focused.
When there is a sense of an I relating to something else, it all happens within the mental field. Images relate to images.
And all of these imaginations are really questions. Is it true? What happens if I use any particular imagination as a guideline for functioning in the world? What feedback do I get? Is it functional? Is there another imagination that seems more functional?
As so often, this is completely compatible with our conventional views on these things. There is still the use of stories and imagination as pointers and guides for action, and a receptivity (or not) to feedback. The only difference is to the extent this is recognized in an immediate way.