Page 48 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

The fact that you are feeling the book
you are reading now does not change
the fact that you are seeing the book
within your brain. As with the
appearance of the book, the sense of
touching the book also takes place in
your brain.

are perceived in the brain as the sense of touch. For instance, if you touch a
rough surface, you can never know whether the surface is, in reality, indeed a
rough surface, or how a rough surface actually feels. That is because you can
never touch the original of a rough surface. The knowledge that you have
about touching a surface is your brain's interpretation of certain stimuli.
A person chatting to a close friend while drinking a cup of tea
immediately lets go of the cup when he burns his hand on the hot cup.
However, in reality, that person feels the heat of the cup in his mind, not in his

hand. The same person visualizes the image of the cup of tea in his mind, and
senses the smell and taste of it in his mind. However, this man does not realize
that he actually has contact only with the copy of the tea within his brain. He
assumes that he has direct contact with the original glass, and talks to his
friend, whose image occurs again within his brain. In fact, this is an
extraordinary case. The assumption that he is touching the original glass and
drinking the original tea, which appears to be justified by his impression of the

46 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION