A conversation with a friend
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Friend: What do u think of Einstein?
Reply: A scientific genius who discovered the theory of relativity. Great scientific mind.
Friend: But i wanted to ask u something. .he is a genius ..but he did not grab the truth about everything being an illusion…
Reply: The realization of the Self is a different matter and goes beyond such genius.
Friend: My question is: Could everything be an illusion?
Reply: The reality of the Self is not an illusion
Friend: vast space..stars..planets..solar systems…galaxies
Reply: Yes. Vast space..stars..planets..galaxies… are aspects of the mind. They are mind events. Illusion. Dream events.
Friend: i agree… Really i understand
Reply: But the reality of being aware is not illusion. The images on the screen are illusion. But the screen is not
Friend: how come? if everything is an illusion, so must that be
Reply: The reality of your experience is beyond the appearance, beyond all mind impressions. There is a reality to experience. That is not an illusion.
Reality does not belong to the seen, does not belong to the visible, does not belong to the perceived. It belongs to the perceiving. The reality of experience lies beyond the experienced.
Friend: Whatever i see or love or hate or build is an illusion. .my kids, my life. my wife..my profession.
Reply: The dream can be a sweet dream
Friend: I’m aging…im suffering. .im joyful. .all is an illusion. .
Reply: It can be a sweet dream.
It is a sweet dream once you know your true Self and cease to mistake yourself to be what you are not
Friend: is there a small possibility that its not a dream but a reality magdi.. although a huge part in me believes its all a dream..an illusion..
Reply: Reality does not belong to the impermanent, does not refer to the changing. There is a reality to experience but it does not belong to the changing but rather to the changeless.
Reality does not change. Contemplate the reality of your experience.
Your experience is not nothing.
The dream refers to the dreamer. The impermanent refers to the eternal.
Friend: how can i contemplate my experience when my experience is an illusion?
Reply: The images on the screen may be an illusion. Being aware is not an illusion and does not come and go. The screen does not come and go. Give credit to where its due.
Friend: pls bear with me magdi..im trying to understand it..
Reply: You know you are aware
Don’t you?
Friend: yes..i know i am not my name or my titles or my bank account..
im aware that i exist
Reply: How do you know that? Did your teacher tell you? Did your neighbor tell you?
Friend: no. i know this ..because i experience it
Reply: Yes. You know you are aware because your experience says so. You do not need to go check with the mind to find out if you are aware. There is a directness to your knowing that you are aware.
Every experience refers to awareness. To being aware.
Friend. Yes.
Reply: The reality of your experience is not the image. It is the unchanging that is real. Is it not so?
Friend: absolutely
Reply: Stay with the reality of your experience.
Cater to the dream images with grace and tenderness. Light handed with loving care Celebrate the dream and know yourself to be beyond.
In knowing yourself, the dream comes home.
