The Grandest Illusion

The great obstacle is always the representation and never the reality

- Etty Hillesum

Preconceptions and misconceptions have engulfed the concept of meditation. Some people believe it's tied to Buddhism and cannot be detached from archaic supernatural beliefs. Others believe it's simply a tool to relax and reduce rampant stress levels in the mind and body. Still others who ponder it a bit more deeply - though still erroneously - argue that it detracts from our very human ability to experience the full spectrum of emotions. One common theme seems to unite the people who believe any or all of these things however - none of them have ever truly meditated. So what is it really about then?

It is about dispelling an illusion - the illusion that our subjective experiences are equivalent to objective reality.  

Say what?

First, some context
Meditation has begun to inform our understanding of psychology and neuroscience. It has penetrated the psychological concepts of emotion, happiness, relationships, goals, and meaning in life, more deeply and expansively than any science we have in the west. Most of us were taught how to superficially understand these complex phenomena as children, but we've since tucked this understanding away in a deep recess of our minds and never bothered to give it a second thought. It's like never questioning your parents' devout belief in the Easter Bunny, even in old age. Through meditation however, we are led to question these phenomena again, giving them a sorely needed second thought.

This time around, the hidden relationship we have with our thoughts, emotions, and ultimately, with reality, is gradually revealed. Prior to our first meditation session or other form of deep introspection, it's impossible to see that a relationship exists at all. We typically see ourselves and subjective phenomena as one, instead of seeing them as 2 distinct entities conjoined by a very specific relationship. Let me repeat, this relationship is nearly invisible prior to a considerable amount of introspection. 

On the bright side, none of us need to attend countless lectures on Eastern philosophy, read the latest biography on the Buddha, or visit this blog in order to perceive this relationship. You don't need to believe in reincarnation, karma, gods, goddesses, fairies, unicorns, or flying spaghetti monsters. All you have to do is meditate. By yourself. In your bedroom, in your bathroom, on a mountain, on a boat, on a camel, wherever. Nothing more. And you will learn about this relationship and many other aspects of yourself that had previously resided way outside the radar of consciousness. It's kind of like attending a lecture where you are the student as well as the teacher. For the past couple of weeks, I experienced this at a 2nd vipassana meditation retreat that lasted for 10 days.

Back to fantasy land
Buddhist philosophy states that we are all delusional. Why? Because we drastically misjudge the nature of reality. This may come off as offensive - who are they to make such a bold generalization? But Buddhists have a sound and valid reason to believe this. Being delusional means being incapable of differentiating what's real from what's not real. And because we confuse our subjective experience with objective reality without knowing it, we are literally hallucinating through life, and therefore, delusional, even by our standards. Here is a definition of these 2 terms:

Subjectivity: thoughts, emotions, beliefs, sensations, preferences and other phenomena that exist solely in the mind (i.e. not real and hence, the illusion).
Objectivity:  what remains true whether you believe in it or not. A bird, a rock, the sky, a breath, the feel of our foot touching the ground, etc. Basically, everything that exists independent of our mind's perception of it.

By exploring the core foundations of our subjective experiences - primarily thoughts and emotions - we find that they are baseless and irrational, at times shockingly so. Meditation provides a time-tested and meticulously designed psychological tour of our thoughts, emotions, and sensations, with the aim of understanding how our subjective experience manipulates and often replaces objective reality.

Here are some examples of the interplay between subjectivity (false) and objectivity (actual):

• A racist white man fears black people and becomes uneasy when a black person is standing nearby. 
• Subjectively, he thinks his uneasiness is caused by black people. Objectively, his uneasiness is caused by fear produced independently in his mind - not by the black person.

• A 5'9" anorexic girl weighs 82 pounds.  
• Subjectively, she thinks she's still fat. Objectively, she is so thin that it's putting her physical health at risk.

• You feel a common house fly land on the top of your hand.  
• Subjectively, you feel disgust and imagine it's contaminating you with feces. Objectively, you feel a slight tickling sensation on the top of your hand.

• Your significant other breaks off your long-term relationship.
• Subjectively, you feel that life is not worth living and you'll never find anyone else. Objectively, nothing has really changed - you're back in the same place you were before the relationship.

Subjectivity causes most of our suffering. In fact, it probably causes about 99.9% of it. French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal actually thought it caused all 100%. He said, "All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone." Someone that cannot sit in a quiet room alone, can't do it because they give in to subjective experience - boredom, loneliness, fear, anger, anxiety, etc. These prevent us from sitting calmly and patiently. The objective reality (sitting) is not irritating, but the subjective phenomena is. We succumb to the same subjectivity through guilt when we feel (are) less productive than we "should have been" on a certain day. The illusion of subjective experience is the source of all our pain, but thankfully, it is not the source of all our joy. In fact, our greatest joy can arise from realizing that we are not shackled to random whims, desires, fears, insecurities, and other psychological beasts that inhabit the world of illusion.

Sure, subjective reality can make life sweeter in many cases (a diamond has great value in the subjective world and practically none in the objective world; a compliment feels good because we feel it increases our subjective self-worth), but unfortunately, our nature as human beings is much more sensitive to and affected by negative effects rather than positive effects. Therefore, in the world of subjective illusion, our potential for happiness is always at a disadvantage (bad is stronger than good).

To briefly tie these concepts in at the societal level, certain socioeconomic systems like capitalism, with its narrow focus on the significance of the individual and the relentless encouragement to acquire more of everything, can really exacerbate the illusion of subjectivity as well as aggravate the level of psychological stress we feel throughout our lives.

Taking Off the Sunglasses

Numerous people have approached me and asked, "how can I stop thinking so much?", "how can I stop worrying all the time?", "how can I stop hurting myself/others?", "how can I forgive someone who has done me so much wrong?", "how do I find peace?" All of these scenarios are caused by the grand illusion of subjectivity. You'd be hard-pressed to find an effective remedy to any of them in the western world because western methods of psychological alleviation typically rely on conscious thought (or pills). Meditation works precisely because it leverages our intuition to access the deeper regions of our mind, regions where conscious thought has little or no jurisdiction whatsoever. This concept is currently being explored in psychology and neuroscience as we speak.

Meditation can be confusing, difficult, painful, and weird at first, but if you have even the slightest hunch that we may not be experiencing reality as it truly is, or that we may not really be appreciating the totality of our mind-boggling existence, then you have already begun the process of taking off the sunglasses. I wish you the best of luck, as the journey ultimately makes us happier and less anxious, more generous and less selfish, more insightful and less ignorant, more compassionate and less hurtful, more accepting and less fearful... and that's just the beginning..

A final thought below by a fan of subjective experience from "The Matrix." If you ever wondered what the film was really pointing at, you have just read an entire post on it.

Listen out for the dreamy harp :)




Cypher and Agent Smith from William Christofferson on Vimeo.