Page 112 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

Those Who Own Factories, Yachts Or Land, Which Are
Images In The Brain Worry Themselves For Nothing

In this section we will consider the example of a heedless factory owner
who has lived all his life with the ambition of being rich, and who worked day
and night since he was young, thinking that he would earn everything by the
sweat of his brow. This example will show us a very important truth.
The person whom we shall describe is middle-aged. He has two children,
a boy and a girl, whom he sends to good schools. He owns a few cars, a yacht,
some houses and some land. This man thinks he has everything that is
admired in the life of this world. He thinks he has attained everything that a
person could hope for in this life. Besides his wealth, he has gained a great deal
of respect. Everyone who knows him regards him as a person who is respected,
and has standing and position in society. This opinion is shared by the servants
who attend him in the morning, the chauffeur who bows as he opens the car
door for him, the security guards who greet him with respect when he enters
the company building, and the employees who stand to attention from the
moment he enters the factory until he gets to his office. He has many close
friends and acquaintances in high places and positions. Every day he runs
from meeting to meeting; he is a member of some boards and societies, and
even chairman of others. In the course of a day he gives orders to hundreds of
individuals. In his bank and private safe he has more money, stocks and bonds
that he can count. As he adds up these things from time to time, he gains even
more satisfaction; he is proud of himself and congratulates himself. What gives
him a special feeling of satisfaction and self-confidence is the fact that he
earned everything himself by his own hard work, and that he attained what he
had devoted his whole life to achieving.
One day, while he is sailing on a yacht with his friends, someone comes
up to him and says: "Everything you see here at this moment—all these people, this
yacht, the sea, the factories, the houses, the employees who jump to your command…
You merely deal with their images formed in your brain. You never know the originals
of these appearances. If the nerves entering your brain were severed, this yacht, the
people on it, their voices and conversations, the smell of the sea, the taste of the fruit
juice you are drinking, in short, everything would cease to exist in a moment. All of
these things as well as everything you have owned in your whole life are in your mind.
There is no difference between your houses, cars, yachts, factories and companies and
things you own in your dreams. It is like having a dream about going to Europe in your
own private airplane and waking up in the morning to find that there is no airplane,
and that you are not in Europe but in bed. If one day you wake up from this sleep you

110 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION