Perception and the Nature of Reality: A Personal Journey

What is reality?  Throughout the history of mankind it seems that we have all been searching for the answer to this question.  The nature of reality cannot be explained in a way that will satisfy us all.  I believe that the nature of reality is lies within the mind of each of us.  What is reality for one person is not reality for another.  Reality is based on individual perception, and the evolution of each person.  What I mean by this is that each person goes through a type of evolution in his/her life where the mind begins to develop a higher awareness.

Most of us begin to realize that there is more to the process of life than being born, aging, and dying.  Greek philosopher, Thales thought that “beneath the world of life and death there must be some basic substance which explained and made possible everything else,” (The Ionian School, undated website article). Many of us begin to believe that we are much more than our physical bodies.

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  And that leaving our bodies through death is not the end of our existence. Our life force, energy, or soul will continue to live on a different level or dimension.

            Of course, believing in a sort of ‘life’ after death is a major topic of debate.  Philosophers continue to ponder if this could be reality, Christians structure their lives around this belief, and scientist argue that reality is only that which can be proven. “Clearly, the mere fact that one believes in and lives by something is not of itself sufficient evidence that that something has real, as distinct from fictional, existence; that, intellectually, it makes sense, as distinct from nonsense,” (Somerville, 1967).

            I believe that just because we can’t prove something through science does not mean that something can’t exist.   For example, well-know psychics seem to be able to communicate with the dead, and predict future events often with amazing accuracy.   Even ordinary people who have had near-death experiences insist that there is something more, and often claim to have seen the other side of physical life.  Therefore, I believe that the nature of reality is different for everyone.  And the secret to reality is in our own minds.  I believe that what will be real in our lives, will be that which is real in our minds.

References

Somerville, J. (1967).  The Nature of Reality: Dialectical Materialism.  In The Philosophy of Marxism: An Exposition (pp.3-32).  Minneapolis: Marxist Educational Press.

The Ionian School.  Retrieved February 24, 2007, from http://www.hol.gr/greece/texts/aristo.1txt.