I went over what is reality and what is illusion in Understanding Reality and Illusion but I was thinking about this issue of how to live in a world that has so much illusion.
First though, if you missed it, the difference. Reality is how things are. Illusion is any label that people put on those things, any human constructs.
So there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – these are labels. If some people think something is ‘good’ and some people think it is ‘bad’ that is a sure sign that you are looking at an illusion.
For a while almost everyone thought Mother Theresa was a ‘good’ person. Now a growing number believe she was a ‘bad’ person. She was just a person, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are transient, open to change, so illusion.
Constructs and concepts, such as national borders, are an illusion. As humans we made them up. If we were gone they would not exist.
Now being self aware does not mean dropping the illusion and getting shot at the next border post you cross. It actually means being aware of the illusion. You can take a full an active part in the illusion – no problem.
While thinking about this I realised it was a bit like the theatre actor. Each night they go on stage pretending to be someone else and pretending to be in a situation that is not real.
But the actor remembers this and remembers who he really is.
In our day to day lives we can be exactly the same as that actor. As long as we know we are in the illusion, and what parts are reality, we can progress in the illusion and handle it without it affecting us mentally.