Page 185 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

The reason why some people think that a fast-moving bus on the
motorway or an accident caused by that bus are striking proofs of the fact they
are dealing with the physical existence of matter is that the image concerned is
seen and felt as so real that it deceives one. The images around them, for
instance the perfect perspective and depth of the motorway, the perfection of

the colors, shapes and shadows they contain, the vividness of sound, smell and
hardness, and the completeness of the logic within that image can deceive
some people. On account of this vividness, some people forget that these are
actually perceptions. Yet no matter how complete and flawless the perceptions
in the mind may be, that does not alter the fact that they are still perceptions.
If someone is hit by a car while walking along the road, or is trapped under a
house that collapses during an earthquake, or is surrounded by flames during

a fire, or trips up and falls down the stairs, he still experiences all these things
in his mind, and is not actually confronting the reality of what happens.
When someone falls under a bus, the bus in his mind hits the body in his
mind. The fact that he dies as a result, or that his body is completely shattered,
does not alter this reality. If something a person experiences in his mind ends
in death, God replaces the images He shows that person with images
belonging to the hereafter. Those who are unable to understand the truth of
this now on honest reflection will certainly do so when they die.

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O Objection: "It is true that I see all objects in my mind, but I cannot
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R Reply: The fact that we perceive the whole world in our brains has been
definitively established by science, and no right-thinking person can claim
anything to the contrary. However, the point that people fail to understand is
this: If we perceive all things in our minds, then will we never be able to know
the originals of the objects that exist outside our minds? This doubt is valid: We
never can be sure that what we perceive in our minds is the original external
matter. That is because we can never step outside our brains and see what is
really out there. That is why it is impossible for us to know how the external
counterparts of the images in our brains really are. Nobody-not the person
making the claim, nor a neurologist, nor a brain surgeon, nor a philosopher,
nor anyone else-has ever been able to step out of his own brain to know how
the matter outside it is.
Everything that a person knows about his life is perceived by the brain by
Replies To Objections Regarding The Reality Of Matter 183