Perception Vs Reality – Part 2

People are always searching about the truth and what is real, but is there such a thing?

Have you have recalled an event in your memory, a place you’ve visited, an object or anything of the like only to see it again, this time in person, and then realise that it wasn’t like you remembered at all? Or on the flip side, have you ever thought about how something was going to be only to reach there and then think “this isn’t how I imagined it was going to be at all”.

I remember trying a piece of food and thinking “eugh, that tastes horrible” only to try it again a few years later and then think “ahhh, actually, that doesn’t take too bad” and now I love it!

What this tells me is that no matter how I see things, even right now, I’m not actually seeing them as they are. I’m seeing them through a series of filters that I’ve built up over my life time. You’ve all seen mind magicians like Derren Brown do tricks like convince someone who’s seeing something that we think is red but after a bit ‘abacadabra’ suddenly the subject is now seeing the object as yellow.

This suggests that it’s all a matter of programming. No matter what I believe to be real it’s all just simple series of constructs and filters that I’ve built up over time and without being conscious I will skew those memories with my own opinions of how I wanted them or thought of them to be.

So is perception more real that what we perceive to be real? (Yes I like confusing my readers! 😆 )

Even science is now teaching us that what we see if not really what we’re seeing. I may look down and see my hand and just think I’m seeing four fingers, a thumb and my palm but what I’m really seeing is a sea of particles, sub atomic particles and all sorts of other wonderful things that are vibrating, dancing, popping in and out of existence, flying perpetually, etc the list just goes on!

Great…so how does that help me?

Think back and try and remember a time when you thought you observed something a particular way only to return to it and realise it’s completely different to how you remembered? So understand you’ve constructed and obscured that memory. What else have you obscured?

Now that you know that what is real is truly limited by your perceptual experience you can then choose to change alter your perception. Look at your life right now and ask is this real, or just my perception of it? If you’re perception has been skewed by your filters how can you alter your perception in order to alter your experience?

A very simple exercise you can do right now is think about something which you consider to be a problem for you right now. It can be anything at all you choose. Now you have this in your mind, change your perception of the problem; instead of calling it a problem call it a challenge! What can you learn from this challenge? How is this challenge going to benefit you, your experience of life and others? (Send your answers on a postcard to… 😛 )

So lets take this up a scale and think about global issues and what we see as issues that don’t just affect us but the globe as a whole. Think about the environment, recycling, world poverty and nations at war. If all you know about these issues is what you’ve seen on T.V. then your perception, or your definition of what you think is real about those events and circumstances, is filtered through another medium and then also filtered again once your brain has stored the information. So you’ve now got two layers of filtration.

Think again now for a second about what you think it real…

Your reality is really and truly your perception of it. Or is that just my perception of what the difference between reality and percption is? :-p

My reality is my perception of reality. There is no right or wrong with my perceptions, no absolute truth except my truth through my learnings and experiential filters.