Reality

by Eduardo del Buey

Reality

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one”.

Albert Einstein

It may seem strange that one of history’s most brilliant scientists and the father of modern physics defined reality thus.

This quote delves into the spiritual notion that reality, as we perceive it, may not be an absolute or objective truth but, rather, a subjective construct shaped by our individual perceptions and interpretations.

Einstein went on to say that imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. He noted that humans are part of the universe, limited in time and space, and experience their thoughts and feelings individually rather than as part of the whole.

According to many spiritual and philosophical traditions throughout history, life is just a dream, an illusion that we create in our souls. This may sound like a radical idea, but it's one that can bring a deeper understanding and appreciation of the nature of reality.

Physicists at CalTech are exploring the potential of quantum science to transform our view of gravity and its connection to space and time.

Quantum science may even reveal how everything in the universe (or in multiple universes) is connected to everything else through higher dimensions that our senses cannot comprehend.

This is not illusion or blind mysticism.

It is science at work using empirical facts resulting from fact-based research.

The idea of different dimensions that we cannot physically touch or see has been around for eons in all spiritual schools in all societies.

Spiritual teachers have always taught that, through meditation and contemplation, or even prayer (that can be a form of meditation), we can touch other dimensions through our souls or intuition.

Our imaginations are our souls at work.

Recall that for millennia people believed the world to be flat and earth to be the center of the universe. When scientists like Galileo and Copernicus dared use their imaginations to conceive otherwise, they were persecuted by the authorities of the day.

When the apple fell on Isaac Newton’s head, he did not eat it. Rather, his imagination led him to discover the fundamental laws of gravity that are essential to our understanding of our relationship with the planet.

Their imaginations managed to connect with a reality within themselves that we can neither touch nor see. We can only reach it by quieting our thought processes that are a function of our intellect and listen to our feelings that are a function of our intuition or souls.

 You will note that I use intuition and souls together.

This is because many fear talk of spirituality for a variety of reason, beginning from a fear of being ridiculed to a fear of being wrong.

In my view both soul and intuition are the same and connected to the same creative force in the universe. You may call this energy source God or simply universal energy – in my view they are the same.

Not the anthropomorphic God that we have created in our image and likeness, but the creative force of the universe that we cannot understand at our level of existence.

Many will say that they don’t believe in anything that cannot be perceived sensorially.

To them I would say, can you touch your mind, your creativity, your personality, or your intuition with your senses?

No, and yet they not only exist but they define who you are.

And who you are exists on many different levels as the CalTech scientists claim through scientific research.

So, reality can be a perception of what is rather than a fact when subjected to the above views.

Reality, then, cannot be based on intellect only.

Rather, it must be perceived through our intuition in contact with the fundamental creative energy of the universe.

And that is why one of the most brilliant scientists of all time said what he said and perceived what he perceived.

Einstein was, indeed, a spiritualist.