Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Functional Illusions


There are many functional illusions that we operate from automatically and very seldom question. Unless you have tendencies toward philosophy or mysticism, it might never occur to you that the only existence you can be certain of is your own; everything else could be the product of your brain's output or the brain's five sense interpretation of some raw generic substance that, in combination with you as the observer, makes up existence.


We generally do not consider the functional illusions we operate from because it would pretty much drive us crazy. Can we conceive of no beginning and no end, or does everything require a cause for us to have it make sense? Causal reality is a functional illusion. Who is to say that cause and effect are absolutely necessary? Might something have always been and always will be? The human mind rejects the thought in a way similar to how it rejects the thought of a reality lacking the forward flow of time. No past, no present, no future...only a constant moment of 'Now'? For many a constant 'Now' is hard to conceive, let alone achieve.

We are provided from birth with our functional illusions and when they do not develop, we think of it as a problem or a disability. Curious then, how we strive as adults to recapture that moment before the illusions set in and call it a spiritual journey.

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