Ben Douglas

Reality is not Conceptual Reality

Absolute Reality is that which is on the other side of the conceptual description of infinity, eternity, god, tao, nirvana, brahman, oneness, non-duality, etc.

Like the metaphorical finger pointing to the moon, the finger is not the moon and is unimportant except as an expedient to show where one should direct their gaze to actually see the moon.. So it is with conceptual descriptions and thoughts pertaining to reality, they act as an expedient to 'point' to THAT which is real, but are not real in themselves (except as mental conceptual constructs).

The mortal ego is created when the spirit reincarnates and animates a human body and gives self awareness to the human mind. The spirit in the body is the metaphorical genie in the bottle, a differentiated aspect of the universal oneness that is temporarily separated (as subjectively experience by the ego mind during mortal life) from the ocean of which in fact it is an indivisible aspect. When the genie is in the bottle, ego identifies with the body and conceives of a duality of 'I' and all other reality as 'not I', ie. the true unity of reality has now been obscured by a concept of non-unity. When the genie is released from the bottle, the illusion of separation disappears and the self-awareness developed through the expediency of incarnation blends once more with the ocean in a state of true understanding of the true reality of non-duality. Thus the destiny of all souls is to ultimately transcend the human stage of cosmic existence, and exist as angels/bodhisattvas/etc., in a spiritual reality (heaven/nirvana).

The question of ultimate reality can't be considered in separation from its content which is everything, and since that which is doing the considering is the mind, then there lies the key to both true understanding (resulting from mind non-dual meditation/contemplation aimed at the realization that mind and reality is an integrated whole) and illusionary understanding (resulting from mind dualistic conceptual thinking aimed at creating descriptions, formulae, symbols, etc., to stand for the reality).