A shift in human consciousness – Part 1
What we imagine to be reality is really nothing more than multi-layered perceptions. These perceptions are not wrought from the clear mind, and therefore are delusional.
We perceive such things as matter, mass, time and space as being real, because there are intricately interconnected causes and conditions, which make them appear so to us. We also buy into certain cultural, religious or philosophic assumptions, place intrinsic value in certain emotions, and have specific “learned” responses to various phenomena – all of which combine and contribute to our layers of inaccurate perceptions.
Ralph Waldo Emerson grasped the metaphysical principles of a world created by Thought. He recognised that things are not always what they seem, and that we are often creating “new realities” without even knowing it. He once observed:
The influence of the senses has in most men overpowered the mind to that degree that the walls of time and space have come to look real and insurmountable, and to speak with levity of these limits is, in this world, the sign of insanity.
When we allow our minds to become still, through the practice of meditation, we quiet the chatter of these troublesome perceptions, and become aware of our indivisible oneness with all there is. Soon we realise that all there seems to be is an illusion; therefore “you” and “I” are illusions as well.
The mind which discovers this no longer sees the duality that gives rise to separation, pain, loss, anger, satisfaction, comfort or gain. It realises that true joy is not the absence of pain, but the absence of attachment.
This afternoon, my doctors were frantic and concerned that my t-cell count – used as a marker of the body’s immune function and progression of the AIDS virus – has dropped to half of what it was a month ago. The panic was caused by their belief that a drop of one more point will put me back into double-digit t-cells, and appears to mean that the medications are not working.
She seemed to be a little disturbed that I was not reacting to the news, and pressed me to promise I would make an appointment with the psychiatrist, because “suppressing those emotions is unhealthy”.
But I am not disturbed or distressed. These perceived limitations of “t-cell counts”, “viral loads” and other markers are points of reference which help the doctors do their jobs. I’m not a doctor. I am a monk. My job is be compassionate, mindful and relieve suffering. When I told the doctor that, she
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