To me, the world seems like a dream.
It’s as if I can put my hand right through anything.
And I have some guesses of why it appears that way.
The world as it appears to me – this human self, the wider world, and anything else – happens within and as what I am. It happens within and as what a thought may label consciousness.
That’s the same with dreams. They too happen within and as consciousness.
Does it appear different when the mind identifies as a human self, as something particular within the content of experience? Does the world appear more solid? I almost can remember since the shift happened so long ago, but I assume so. I have heard from several in an awakening process that they notice this dreamlike quality of the world, and it seemed more solid before.
From inquiry, I am familiar with how the sense of solidity of physical objects is created by the mind.
Certain physical sensations combine with thoughts so the sensations lend a sense of reality, solidity, and truth to the thoughts, and the thoughts give meaning to the sensations.
This is how the mind creates anything that seems unquestionably true, including the solidity of physical objects. (This is not about the nature of the physical world, just how the mind is creating its experience.)
Note: This article is originally from one of the Brief Notes posts.
INITIAL DRAFT – FROM ONE OF THE “BRIEF NOTES” POSTS
THE DREAMLIKE QUALITY OF REALITY
To me, the world seems like a dream.
It’s as if I can put my hand right through anything.
And I have some guesses of why it appears that way.
The world as it appears to me – this human self, the wider world, and anything else – happens within and as what I am. It happens within and as what a thought may label consciousness.
That’s the same with dreams. They too happen within and as consciousness.
Does it appear different when the mind identifies as a human self, as something particular within the content of experience? Does the world appear more solid? I am not sure. It does seem that way since I have heard from several in an awakening process that they notice this dreamlike quality, and it seems different from how it was before.
From inquiry, I am familiar with how the sense of solidity of physical objects is created by the mind. Certain physical sensations combine with thoughts so the sensations lend a sense of reality, solidity, and truth to the thoughts, and the thoughts give meaning to the sensations. This is how the mind creates anything that seems unquestionably true, including the solidity of physical objects. (I am not saying anything about the nature of the physical world here, just how the mind is creating its experience of it.)