Seeing is Believing

What is real?

Does reality mean only external things - the happenings around us? Or does reality consist of what is without as well as within? Do we take into account our thoughts and ideas, our dreams and visions, our emotions? If yes, how are we to verify whether the spiritual experiences, for example as expressed by the mystics, are real? Many of us can relate to the testimonials of the mystics as if they are ours, especially pertaining to theme of the oneness of the universe, even though we come from different beliefs. However, we cannot subject these testimonies to scientific experimentation nor can we disapprove of them as untrue.

What if you take reality to be represented by a timeline? I was eating at a crowded mamak corner when this man whom I was sharing a table with opened up a conversation about his concept of reality being the here and now - this very moment. It seems from the Big Bang till many generations ahead of us, the only reality that matters is this very moment when I am breathing the air and holding the cup. He seems like a preacher full of fiery enthusiasm, and he was actually practising what he had preached, trying to convince me that this very second is the only reality - and if he were to squash my brain between the palm of his hands, I would (obviously) cease to exist. But we don't live for the moment. We are creatures that can reflect, dream, enjoy music, appreciate art, marvel at the Twin Towers, get angry when we miss a U turn, get frightened when we lost our way!

Here, I thought this man was probably one of the many frenzied individuals who believed in the familiar saying, 'eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die'. In other words, life is short. But this person is more neurotic than I thought because he actually believed in living only for that very moment whether he was breathing or eating or whatever. I was actually looking very hard for any sign of neurodermatitis in him!

If, as I have mentioned earlier, we are to take the universe as a whole, then the whole process of past, present and future should also be taken as a whole, as if they exist together in a way that only a Creator would know how. And the Creator would also have to exist outside that timeline in order to see through everything. It's like looking at a straight line ( a 2D object), in a 3D environment.

I remember watching The Polar Express, which was shown at the IMAX 3D theatre at Berjaya Times Square.It has a beautiful storyline about a little boy, along with a few other children still in their pyjamas, taking a magical train ride to the North Pole. During the show, I could see many children as well as adults sitting in front of me, actually reaching out to try to catch the falling snow. The hissing and squeking of the Polar Express were more real and scary. Even the artwork looked more outstanding. In future, we will all be watching movies like that. Would you like the feel of cobwebs dancing on your nose, water sprinkling on your face, or a canonball hitting you as you watch the Pirates of the Carribean ? And how about sitting in a computer controlled mechanical chair as you watch the Batmobile maneuvering a tight corner somewhere in Gotham City. If you are coming to KL during these long holidays with your children, you may want to bring them to IMAX for it is now Open Season!

Still on the topic of reality, the following excerpts from Margery Williams in her book The Velveteen Rabbit illustrates this beautifully (with apologies to plastic surgeons ) -

'What is real?' , asked the Rabbit one day when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender before Nana came to tidy the room. 'Does it mean having things that buzz inside you or a stickout handle?'

'Real isn't how you were made,' said the Skin Horse, 'It is a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with but really loves you, then you become real.'

'Does it hurt?', asked the Rabbit

'Sometimes', said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful, 'When you are real, you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once', said the Skin Horse, 'you become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hairs have been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are real, you can't be ugly except to people who don't understand.'