JOHN MCINTOSH
To the mind, the world, the universe and all the experiences within it … ‘are’ Real. However, in many sacred texts they are said to ‘NOT be Real’ … just a dream:
"Nothing Real can be threatened. Nothing un-Real exists" [meaning that which comes and goes] – ACIM
However, elsewhere it is ‘also’ said that they ARE Real:
"To the Self Realized ... ‘all’ is Real … and to the un-Realized - it all is a dream, although they take it to be real". - Shankaracharya
Both are correct! It’s a Divine Dichotomy.
The mind sees through the eyes of separation and therefore sees everything distorted. This makes what it sees a dream. The SELF however, is Aware of the ‘unicity’ of ALL THAT IS. It sees the projected universe/world/beings on the screen of Consciousness that IT ‘is’ and knows that these images are temporary [un-Real] but also KNOWS that ‘being’ within IT SELF they are ‘united’ with IT even in their transient state. Therefore, being ‘united … ONE’, they can be said to have a ‘kind’ of Reality. In this Realized state they are understood correctly as Perfect, despite how the shifting universe and all that is within it ‘seems’ in constant chaos and conflict.
This is how a fully Aware aspect of the SELF, still occupying a body, experiences the world as Divine and Exquisitely Beautiful.
-with thanks to Irina Isakov
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