Existential Question
Most people setting out on the spiritual path tend to ask the question, “Does God exist?“ This question has three possible answers: (1) Yes; (2) Maybe; (3) No. Since no one can prove or disprove the existence of God, all three answers may be right -for respective followers. We should instead ask, “Does the world really exist?“ The reason is we can't quite perceive God; so questions about God will remain unanswered. But we can see the world. However, just because we can see the world and experience it with our bodily senses, can we say it `exists'?
What is the definition of existence? Are our bodily senses so completely reliable for us to say that the world `exists'?
When we are seeing a dream, the dream world does seem real for the duration of the dream. We can see it and our senses experience it as if it is `real'. But when we wake up, we say the dream wasn't real! It seems everything is relative to a certain state of consciousness we are in. So, even the so-called real world exists only in the kind of consciousness we have in our waking state.
Most people setting out on the spiritual path tend to ask the question, “Does God exist?“ This question has three possible answers: (1) Yes; (2) Maybe; (3) No. Since no one can prove or disprove the existence of God, all three answers may be right -for respective followers. We should instead ask, “Does the world really exist?“ The reason is we can't quite perceive God; so questions about God will remain unanswered. But we can see the world. However, just because we can see the world and experience it with our bodily senses, can we say it `exists'?
What is the definition of existence? Are our bodily senses so completely reliable for us to say that the world `exists'?
When we are seeing a dream, the dream world does seem real for the duration of the dream. We can see it and our senses experience it as if it is `real'. But when we wake up, we say the dream wasn't real! It seems everything is relative to a certain state of consciousness we are in. So, even the so-called real world exists only in the kind of consciousness we have in our waking state.
If and when that consciousness changes to another state, the `real' world would be gone up in smoke just like the dream world vanishes in an instant! Then, perhaps, as seekers, we need to take the `real world' and our life in it with a pinch of salt.
