What is Reality to you?

Note: For this thread to work toss out any prior knowledge of your existing world. This is a thought provoking thread which will encompass the substance of our reality.





The reality we are in I sometimes wonder what it is. Is there really space out there will millions of stars? When I feel pain am I really feeling it? I want to provoke some discussion based on what your reality is and how you perceive it. Our various perceptions will help us see how our reality isn't truly reality but is a conscious that is varied upon that mind that is creating it.

-Time-
While I sit in class I ponder these things. My life as become a controlled schedule. Wake up at 8am, class until 5pm, go workout and come home to study at night. I have to make it to my classes and seminars on time. My papers have to be finished on an exact date with the proper guidelines and content. I have to get to work on time and leave when the pharmacy closes. When you let time dictate your life are you escaping reality? Time is man made, the notion of the hourly system was defined by man. So if hour's and minutes don't exist what dimension am I living in? Am I really experiencing the aspect of time in my reality?

-Control-
We lose the power of control the second our gender is picked by our parent's gene. From that moment our life is a down hill slide of losing our right to control our very own life. When you enter school, your uniforms may be decided for you. Your teachers are given and your subjects are chosen. Your are to sit in neat rows. Never being able to move your desk to where you want, you will be neatly placed into an organized array of desks. At this point the school takes away our individualism. Classes must be attended daily and on time. Eventually we graduate college (which I soon will be =]) and we enter the workforce. Many of you know how that is I have no need to explain it. Then we have the "idea" of marriage. What small control we have is given to our respective other to dictate our lives for us. Along our long road we come upon our final stop which we are unable to choose at which point we end.(Unless suicide of course)
Our entire life is controlled by the will of society. School, work, work, work, retire and die. That is the basis of our life to an extent.
So our life, is it really ours? Are we seeing this world through our own eyes or the eyes of the society in which we live? Since everything is controlled are we even seeing the truth in anything?

-Mannerism-
Since society wants a well mannered individual we give them that. We are quick to live up to the standards that society has set for us. Society would have as act as well mannered individuals. The feelings that we wish to express are tampered down. Instead of proclaiming a love for another by shouting it off the rooftops, we would rather send them an text : I luv u

-Perception- To conclude we all perceive many different things. What I may perceive to be true may be very different by another. How can we be living in a reality where one occurrence has a wide variety of interpretations? How I see someone can be construed because of the past I had with that person.
Whose to say the sun you see in the morning isn't unconsciously tampered with by the preconceptions of it that have been planted in your mind. Many of you will say this is false but think back to when your vision has failed. Every human being is beautiful but many of us will quickly jump to call another ugly because he/she doesn't fit the preconceptions of beauty we have in our mind.

To conclude we aren't living in a reality folks. Individually we are own in our own reality which is controlled by society's reality. Yet society's reality when projected on to humanity as a whole becomes to variant. At this point our lives as a collection, our thoughts are all just fiction. We live as we imagine in our heads and nothing can change that. Our beliefs no matter how wrong will always be right to us.

What are your thoughts fiction or reality in which do you exist and in which does humanity exist?

"Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration — that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."

Bill Hicks sums it up quite well.

Peace

wow, thats a cool statement, wouldn't that still mean we are answerable to ourselves though? If "God" is this all encompassing piece of matter, the "self-consciousness", and we are merely subsets of God and make up what God means, can we negatively affect what God means, is this how humanity falls into a self induced path of destruction? Very deep.

Your ability to understand my thinking is determined by your ability to understand how deep my argument really goes.

I agree with you about society controlling our reality.


I have a quote that I think is appropriate:
"You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world."
- Octave Mirbeau, "Torture Garden".


I think people don't talk about their individual perceptions because we are all expected to go along with the "norm" of society, and anyone who has an abtract idea on something that is collectively agreed upon is labelled as "crazy" or "eccentric" and they are usually not taken seriously. There are exceptions, of course, but there always are.

I suspect those most qualified to discuss 'reality' are those who work in homeless shelters -- police --- hospital emergency wards --- solicitors/lawyers --- animal shelters --- child service depts --- coroners --- homicide detetives and forensics

great post...way to put some of the things I have noticed out there.


I see life in multiple realities. There is the 3 dimensional reality in which I attempt to maintain a strong root in. Its the physical world that is divided into two opposing complimentary halves. Everything has its opposite in our dimension and there will always be an opposite.

I think thats what the big bang really was. Somehow, everything went from being connected to disconnected. We are all still connected in this 3 dimensional realm, but not on a physical level.

I see this reality as space time.

The other reality I see life in is a non physical reality. This reality is not the physical/''real'' reality for its like my own personal universe inside of myself.

I see this reality as something akin to the fourth dimension, in which time does not exist. Dreams are the common way to get to this part of the mind and explore, but most people never learn to control their dreams.

Many plants, trees, and fungi around the world also deliver access to this realm in which most people realize that we are truly all connected.

These are my two main realities that I keep separate and consciously discern between the two.

In both realities I experience separate realities.

To me a perception shapes a reality. So when you change a perception you change reality.

I experience separate realities when I change my perceptions in different ways, and these experiences help me grow as a spirit/human being/mind.

I see the reality that we all experience as a product of all of our perceptions. A mass consciousness that is able to manifest its own reality..


some people have said that time is natures way of making sure everything doesn't happen all at once.

Originally posted by Dock6
I suspect those most qualified to discuss 'reality' are those who work in homeless shelters -- police --- hospital emergency wards --- solicitors/lawyers --- animal shelters --- child service depts --- coroners --- homicide detetives and forensics

And I believe everyone is qualified to discuss reality. Some people do suffer more than others in this era of time. People throughout history have suffered and human beings will continue to suffer because most peoples suffering is derived from change. Change is the only constant in this duality.


everyone has a choice. Some people don't, but here in America, every citizen has a choice, and the choices they make in life lead them to where they are. Some people deserve suffering at the hands of karma because actions have consequences. And some people do no harm and suffer anyways.
Some people say that these people may have done horrible things in past lives, and that could be possible, but regardless, in this reality everyone suffers. Yet another thing we all have in common.

great post, this all goes back to Yin and Yang doesn't it

For me, reality can be summed up in one word. I don't have to complicate it. That word is TRUTH.

It's really that simple. If I know the truth I have reality.

reply to post by seejanerun

Truth.
I would agree, but I shall diverge from this and add my own content if you please.
Truth as it were, is not so easily come by, believe it or not.

The only Provable truth I have ever come to know, and can claim to have discovered for myself, and that no one can refute, is very simple.

CHANGE!!

My reality consists of Change.

The universe is always changing.
From the smallest of subatomic particles, to the largest universal scope, and inside and out of both to the point of meeting together on some other causal reality.
Change is the only definable constant in the universe.




[edit on 23/10/2008 by reticledc]

Reality is realization of things that are not actual. And they may or may not turn actual.

The key is to know to actualize and interact with actual things.

Whatever you realize that you dont want actual, just actually do something so that it is sure that that realization can not come into actually leaning on your actuality at all.

Perceive actuality vs perceive reality.

We are simply Holons within the Holarchy of All That Is in the Universe

reply to post by reticledc


Infinite love is the Truth, everything else is illusion.
-David Icke.

Hence illusions change and have many forms of varying facets and many multiple levels of awarenesses and understandings.
Infinite love(Truth) is constant and never changes, as it is complete and indomitable being omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent it then gives of itself willingly, being the closest expression of happiness and joy.

[edit on 23-10-2008 by Epsillion70]

To me reality is pain. When you dream you can feel pain, but not real gut wrenching pass out and get nauseous pain.(at least not me) You can also feel sorrow and abandonment pains while dreaming but nothing compared to what you feel while in waking life. I truly believe that pain is the one singular event that ties Evey human being together. Because not all of us have felt the warm embrace of love but every one of us has felt the sting of emotional/physical pain at some point in life.

No one says "kiss me lovingly i must be dreaming" They say "pinch me"

To me, reality describes things and concepts that are proven/real. These concepts are accepted by the general population as facts. I call this known or hard reality.

The reality in our minds is very much another thing. I believe each individual has a unique reality.

Time was of great importance to me from the age of 5 until 18 months ago. It is no longer my guide. I allow others to use time to get me to an appointment when they want me there. Other than that I do not live my life any longer by time constraints. It drives my family and SO mad. I do as I please when I please and not at any set time. I despise clocks. My reality changed.

A tree is a tree is a tree is a tree. Or is it a tree to others? Some may look at a tree and in their reality the tree is lumber to build with. To others a tree may be a home for animals. We have tree farms in Georgia and they may be perceived as money.

Some people stay in the reality they were taught as children. They never change. How mundane and boring it seems to me.

I never did enjoy doing what I was supposed to do. Society telling me I should do this or should not do that doesn't work for me and many others.
I am a rebellious and sometimes eccentric person. I break the rules of normality.

My reality is what I create for myself. I have shed the reality that was forced on me for many years. The great thing is that if I tire of this reality I will create a new one.

I may sound like a blooming idiot but I'm a happy idiot.

reply to post by Retikx


On the contrary all humans feel and know the heartfelt sincerity of a kind friendly smile.

reply to post by dizziedame


You are assuredly referring to something along the lines of the old phrase "Everyone lives in their own little universe of which they are the center."

Interesting concept to say the least. For who are we if we are not the focus of our own world?





[edit on 23/10/2008 by reticledc]

The extent to which time effects us always interested me when I was younger. Time seems to hardly be for your benefit, it helps society. Imagine how different living in a era where clocks and time didn't exist. I'm sure you'd be much more in touch with yourself and nature.

Society is one of the biggest hurdles on the path to "enlightenment" or whatever you want to call it. It is sort of shocking when you realize how much is dictated by them. The problem is they don't have any clue on what reality is, so we fall into that perception as well. Conventional wisdom is basically opposite to true wisdom.

[edit on 23-10-2008 by ghaleon12]

We are mini universes inside our head, staring at the bigger universe outside our head.

Sometimes we stare into other universes via the eyes, or see those universes reflected out by actions or hear them via song or voice.

Sometimes those smaller universes create bigger universes, they create a society of universes, that follow a similar path via actions and cooperation. These creations technically live outside of time, as the essencerof ideas is something intangible....

Conflicts arise when some universes spin in one direction and meet others that spin in another....

The bigger universe (the exterior beyond our skulls) is the the experience, whilst our inner universe is the experiencer, what if it was the OTHER way round? What if the universe is experiencing us???

The question is.... Which one relies on the other?

Would the external universe exist if our nerve endings couldn't detect cold or heat? What if we couldn't detect minute changes in pressure, we would lose sound.... What if all external light was dimmed....

Our universe would still exist, but its existence would be worth nothing...

We have to appreciate everything, for better and for worse.... For eventually there will be a time, when 'something' will experience everything and the final experience would be to 'experience' nothing....

Nothing is death.... Everything is taken from you...

But does your energy die? Was it all for nothing?

On a personal basis, yes... but your descendants carry the 'idea' and yet you still live in memories and words and examples, but the universe has a big laugh because it has just experienced 'you'.

Peace