Page 126 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

the Most Important Dilemmas of Materialism: Human Consciousness"). One of
the most important implications of what is explained throughout this book is
the fact that materialist philosophy is completely invalid. This is due to the fact
that it is now very clear today that we merely know the version in our mind of
what we call matter; it is impossible for us to demonstrate what the original of

matter outside our mind is like. This is because it is impossible for us to come
out of our minds and come into contact with a material source of things. If we
accept this fact summarized in two sentences, neither matter nor materialism
remains. Seeing that we can never attain to the material existence in the external
world, it is clearly unnecessary and pointless to construct a philosophy on
matter and to base a view of life on it.
The basic reason why those who espouse materialist philosophy are

disturbed by this important secret underlying matter and refuse to accept it
even though it is very evident, is that they understand that it will mean the end
of their philosophy. Throughout history every materialist has been disturbed
by the description of the nature of matter, even by the other materialists'
reading books telling about this fact, and they have expressed their misgivings.
For example, one of the leaders of the bloody Russian Revolution, Vladimir I.
Lenin, in his book written almost a century ago called Materialism and Empirio-
Criticism, warned his followers of this fact:

Once you deny objective reality, given us in
sensation, you have already lost every weapon
against fideism, for you have slipped into
agnosticism or subjectivism-and that is all that
fideism requires. A single claw ensnared, and
the bird is lost. And our Machists have all
become ensnared in idealism, that is, in a
diluted, subtle fideism; they became ensnared
from the moment they took "sensation" not as an

Throughout his life, Lenin told his followers the
falsehood that matter was absolute reality. Actually,
he gave his most impassioned speeches to impressions
of people formed in his brain and the followers from
whom he took his strength were also impressions in
his brain.

124 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION