Is the world real or not?
The world’s unreal-reality has always been one of those major ongoing stumbling block spiritual questions, right? One of the biggest. The answers to this question actually do matter quite a lot, to all of us. Spiritual and non-spiritual alike.
So just to be clear...IS the world real?
Short answer: NO, it definitely isn’t.
But also YES, it definitely is.
Conundrum city, here we come.
The world isn’t real, as most of the world’s great spiritual teachings will tell you. But the sufferings and joys, the tragedies and triumphs experienced upon it ARE real. Meaning their effects are experienced as real. Realer than real. (Perhaps you have already noticed this phenomenon in your own life.) (Perhaps we’ve already talked about this more than once.)
But here’s the kicker: Not only are they experienced as real...our own inner and outer responses to these worldly events are precisely what creates the roadmap of our own awakening journey. And not only that. Our inner and outer responses also help create the worldly outcomes themselves, that we see outpictured in the world around us. Read on, for more about that.
The mind and the heart
Have you ever walked past a homeless person and (whether you gave money or not) thought uneasily to yourself, ‘well it’s a good thing the world isn’t real’? Or turned away from headline stories of tragedy and horror, with a similar remembrance of its unreality?
And then maybe (if you’re a super good spiritual student), you added a quick mental exercise or prayer, in which you reaffirmed the world’s oneness and our shared holiness? As if that’s all that’s needed to put things right?
I did all that for years. But hey, maybe I’m the only one who responded to the unreality of the world in that way.
Nah, just kidding.
Vast communities of spiritual believers the world over, cope with life on Earth in much the same way that I used to. And I do get it. I get why so many of us use our spiritual understandings in this self-protective way.
It’s because there is an underlying fear that, if I allow in the full magnitude of the sufferings I see, I will be crushed by the overwhelming weight of it.
There is an underlying fear that, if I allow in the full magnitude of the sufferings I see, I will be crushed by the overwhelming weight of it.
But actually the opposite is true.
That fear of being crushed originates from the dear old thinking mind, right? And because of that underlying fear, the mental-spiritual exercises of shared oneness and holiness that we’re offering to the world...well they contain very little juice. Because the oneness/holiness we’re embracing is just a mental idea. A thinking mind fantasy approximation. Never the real thing.
So this is where the heart comes in. The spiritual heart has unlimited capacity. It contains no fear, and it can’t be crushed by anything. When it allows in the full magnitude of worldly trauma and beauty in equal measure, the kick-ass knowings it emanates about our shared oneness and holiness...well that’s the stuff that moves mountains. Because it’s real.
That magnificent spiritual heart of yours automatically, intrinsically recognizes the shared oneness and holiness of all things real and (seemingly) unreal. Why? Because it, itself, is perpetually operating within the frequency field where divine love and oneness are a no-brainer.
Literally: No mental ideas are involved. The heart knows itself as that universal field, so it knows everybody and everything else as being included within it. Because they are. For real. Everything is part of the heart’s own one glorious self.
So what does all this mean for our experience of the world? It means what is done to another is done to yourself. Not as an intellectual idea, but as a true recognition of how reality works: You feel it. You know the divine truth of it firsthand. And that means a radically different approach to the unreal/real world we see.
So the opened heart, then, comes with a serious willingness to take responsibility for one’s own actions in the world. And at the same time, it also requires a release of the queasy, half-submerged ideas of personal guilt and culpability lurking deep within our own thinking mind.
Because of course, the mind is painfully aware of the blind eye we’ve been turning toward the combined sufferings of the world, all our lives. Right? After all, the mind itself is the one working to shield us from these worldly recognitions in the first place. It knows we’re pretending to be separate from all of that. Pretending the pain doesn’t touch us. So it knows we’re in hiding, and it scorns our cowardice, and pronounces us guilty.
The opened heart knows better. The frequency field it inhabits is one of love and oneness and shared innocence. Including yours. You want to talk about what’s real and unreal? That frequency field is real. Your guilt is not. (You are responsible, yes. But never guilty.)
So what’s my right response to all this unreal reality I see in the world?
It’s a good question to ask often. The answer...is an ongoing unfolding, and it’s different for each one of us. Nobody can supply it for you. The answer shows up in your moment-to-moment experience of living. And the choices and lessons you encounter along the way, are what your own spiritual journey is made up of.
For me, at this particular moment, I find my own journey of unreal reality cycling back around to the perception of Good Guys vs Bad Guys. Yet again.
I truly thought I’d worked that one out already. I thought I could pretty easily remember the holiness of a perceived enemy, regardless of the circumstance. After all, I’ve seen plenty of mindblowing, tangible firsthand miracles that result, every single time I’ve allowed this kind of corrected perception to blossom within my mind and heart. So I really thought I’d already nailed that one.
But y’see, there’s this incredible thing going on in Canada right now. Somewhere between 50,000 and 150,000 truckers (they’ve lost count), along with countless farmers in their tractors, and up to 1,000,000 ordinary citizens converging on the capitol to demand the restoration of human dignity.
They’ve been through a lot, these past two years. And despite the heavy-handed suppression they’ve faced, a very large number of folks (of all political, medical and social persuasions) have united together to stand up and say ‘Enough is enough.’
I’ve been watching the live footage all week, heartened by the many thousands of messages of love and support pouring in from all over the world. The 7+ million dollars raised (and counting). The food, the money pressed into the hands of strangers, the open, joyful hearts on all sides. The peaceful prayers, the courage and steely determination to do what’s right. This is humanity at its best. I’ve been crying tears of joy all week.
At first the information gatekeepers ignored it. Pretended it wasn’t happening. Then, as the momentum gathered, there was simply no ignoring it. So they’ve moved to their same old Plan B, dusting off the usual playbook: This group is full of dangerous ne’er-do-wells. Violence is expected.
All those citizens finally arrived at the capitol yesterday. It was a beautiful sight: A sea of humanity; peaceful solidarity as far as the eye could see.
Will the usual Plan B playbook be followed? Will hired thugs, posing as truckers, infiltrate the crowd to create violent disturbances? Which would then give the police or military reason to step in? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
As you can probably tell, I’m having a bit of a hard time remembering the unreal/reality of all this. And the open heart itself is what’s causing the conundrum here. My heart has been connecting with the waves of love and beauty pouring forth from this endeavor. I’ve fallen in love with humanity as a species again, for the first time in two years, and it’s such a welcome relief. I’ve missed us, sorely.
So I’m watching myself take sides. I find I can’t help but view them as the Good Guys. And the dark forces allied against them as the Bad Guys. I’m probably right in my assessment of the situation. But so what? My eagerness to judge and separate one group from the other is my undoing. Me, rooting for the White Hat team is on the exact same frequency as the thing I would fight against.
So that’s me, in other words, doing my bit to help the status quo stay stuck exactly where it is. That’s me, upholding separation and judgment. Me, voting for yet more ugliness and pain for all beings.
I know all this.
But I also know I will arrive, sooner or later, at a place where I can clearly see the realities of the situation, without getting myself entangled in yet more judgment and separation. Because that’s what I do. I’m not always good at it, but that’s where I’m focused. Because that’s the nature of my chosen spiritual journey.
And I also know that’s what it takes: To be willing to witness the full enchilada, turning away from nothing...but at the same time, perceiving no enemies. Helping where help is needed (like with that aforementioned homeless person) but making no one guilty or separate in the process.
Leading, in other words, with the heart. Between you and me, that’s not my strong suit. But I’m working on it. Because that way of being, is exactly what will help the love-based world (unreal though it may be) to take ever firmer root on this planet. For the benefit of all beings.
So yeah, today I’m struggling a little bit with having to let go of my favorite White Hat heroes. Today my heart is still too full of celebration for the truth and beauty of the human spirit itself. Today I like having Good Guys to root for.
But yes, I’ll open my heart to the Black Hats equally, thus removing the hats from both sides. I’ll do it because we all urgently need those very real miracles that arise, anytime one of us beholds some aspect of the world with corrected perception. I’ll do my part, I promise. Soon.