Is life real or an illusion?
There is a lot of confusion about the nature of the reality of life. Christians base their perception and understanding of life on an invisible Creator-Father God who loves his children and wants them to be happy. Buddhists believe that reality is an illusion, a dream filled with distorted perceptions based on one’s karma. Neuroscientists state that life is a “figment of our imagination” with the brain creating its own sense of reality as the visual illusion. And now astrophysicists are declaring that the universe and everything in it is just one big hologram.
I have struggled with all of these concepts. Faith in something you cannot see can be impossible when faced with painful challenges. At the same time, how could life not be real? If life is an illusion, or a 3-D movie hologram, or just neurons firing in the brain, then what would be the purpose of living? Why would I want to be in a world with so much suffering just to be told that none of it is real?
In my search for the understanding of the reality of life, I found what I call puzzle pieces or clues. First, in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Indiana struggles with the third of three challenges to gain entrance to the temple where the Holy Grail is hidden. As Indiana fearfully stands at the edge of a deep canyon, he repeats the words of the clue “Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.” As he peers down into the abyss, he says to himself, “Impossible. Nobody can jump this.” But in his need to save his father, he takes another look and says, “It’s a leap of faith.” With these words, Indiana Jones puts his hand to his heart, closes his eyes, and, while trembling, takes one step forward into the nothingness of the canyon. To his amazement, Indiana steps on a solid rock path. The path was always there. It was hidden in an illusion… his perception of the canyon.
Then I recently watched a video called “Marriage Proposal in Virtual Reality.” In this video, a couple, along with a few of their friends, strapped on backpacks, grabbed laser-tag rifles, and donned on virtual reality goggles. In an instant, everyone was “transported” to a creepy world where their mission was to fend off bloodthirsty zombies. Through the vision of their VR goggles, they saw each other all buffed up and dressed in military camouflage combat uniforms. Soon they started calling out, “Here, zombie, zombie, zombie!” They were having so much fun shooting at and running away from these zombies. At one point in the video, the girlfriend saw herself walking on a beam that was between two high-rise buildings. As she is walking on this beam, she cries out, “It’s not real! It’s not real!” In another point of the video, the girlfriend screams, “God! I’ve never been more alive!” Suddenly the virtual reality system reboots and she becomes lost as she looks around and sees trees, grass, and sky. One of the employees of the game center goes to the boyfriend and takes off his goggles. The boyfriend then takes the laser-tag gun from his girlfriend. The girlfriend is confused because her “world” has instantly changed. As she walks hand-in-hand with her boyfriend, she finds herself in front of her grandmother’s home. The boyfriend then gets down one knee and virtually proposes to the love of his life. The girlfriend takes off her goggles and to her amazement, her friends and family are in the room with her in real life.
Is life a physical reality or is life based on some type of illusion? From the two examples I have given above, I can confidently say that it is both. In my next column, I will explain why a simulation model was needed to create the illusion of time and space upon our reality on this Earth. And I will discuss how you, like God, also process simulation models in your mind’s eye to create and manifest things into your world. Until next time.
Mother Owl
