Everything is an illusion. Yes, I know it sounds a little crazy and somewhat irresponsible, but it is. You may ask, how can what we see and experience be an illusion if they are there right in front of us? That may be true, until we die. Then what? People and things are real until they use up their life spans, then they become memories. Such is the fleeting nature of everything we experience in the world. The first step towards spirituality is to recognise that everything is an illusion.
It may sound defeatist and pessimistic to think that everything is just a dream but it is neither good not bad. Indeed, knowing that all nice things in life will one day come to an end is a bit discouraging. But if we look at the other side of the story, there are many people who would be delighted to put an end to their current situation. The world can be a mad place. People can do nasty things to one another and there is a great amount of suffering in this world. Isn’t it also very encouraging to know that all the suffering is also an illusion and won’t last forever?
So if everything is an illusion, what’s the point of life? What is the purpose of life if it all seems a bit illusional? Well, the purpose is to understand and recognise the fact that everything in this physical world is an illusion and that there is another dimension within us that is beyond form and is connected to a higher being. Some call this consciousness, the universe, the source, or God. It doesn’t matter how you want to call it, there is a spiritual aspect within each of us that is eternal and not an illusion. It’s the ‘inner being’ or ‘spirit’ that’s observing and experiencing life through our body. This is the dimension we need to recognise and connect to as often and as much as possible.
What’s the significance of having this understanding? In terms of going about our daily lives, we don’t need to change anything. We can simply carry on with our lives as we normally would. Whether it’s trying to achieve goals, improving our life situations or having great relationships, these are all perfectly good purposes to have and we should continue to honour them. The only difference is that we now have added an extra dimension into our lives. So the main purpose for us is to have this understanding and carry it with us into whatever we do in our lives. As Eckhart Tolle puts it, our primary purpose (inner purpose) in this world is to bring the inner dimension into whatever we are doing at the present moment.