An Inconstant
Reality?
In some cases, this form of doubt becomes so pervasive people not
only question the ability of others and the world to satisfy them in any lasting or deeply
significant way, they even come to doubt the substantial
existence of the outer world. Of a philosophical and intellectual
bent, they sense that the world may be (or is) but an appearance, an inconstant reality
which their senses cannot adequately communicate to them and which their minds may be
falsely presuming to be as they think it is. To many Buddhists ¾
after years of spiritual exercises ¾ the world is seen as a
play of spirit, conscious energy, reaffirming itself every split second, but it is
essentially spirit and nothing else. Others say the world may be pure energy expressing
itself in combinations of atoms, but the world surely has a relative reality since
when you move your atomic head against the atomic wall, there will be an atomic pain and
perhaps even an atomic bruise.These "relativists" say whether you want to
call the world an atomic/molecular phenomenon or not, it is real. Relativists
further observe that however involved or non-material your philosophy may be, there are
commonly shared views of the world which enable vast possibilities of interrelationships,
whether each person's perceptions of reality are similar or amazingly divergent.
Culture, society, learning, and thousands of other areas establish that there are numerous
units of awareness shared in common each
moment.
For example, billions of people travel each...
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