Page 52 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

❏ If we can see a street full of colorful lights and all the colors with their
own brilliant shadings inside the brain where there is no actual light, then we
are seeing copies of the notice boards, lights, streetlights and the headlamps of
cars which are produced from the electric signals within the brain.
❏ Since no sound can enter the brain, we can never hear the original of the

voices of loved ones. We hear only copies.
❏ We cannot feel the cool of the sea, the warmth of the sun – we only feel
the copies of them in our brains.
❏ In the same way, nobody has been able to taste the original of mint. The
taste someone would sense as mint is only a perception which occurs in the
brain. This is because the person cannot touch the original of the mint, see the
original of the mint or smell or taste the original of the mint.

In conclusion, throughout our lives we live with copy-perceptions which
are shown to us. However, these copies are so realistic that we never realize
that they are copies. For example, lift your head and have a look around the
room. You see that you are in a room full of furniture. When you touch the
arms of the armchair in which you are sitting, you feel the hardness of it as if
you are really touching the original of it. The reality of these images shown to
you, and the excellent artistry in the creation of these images are sufficient to
convince you and billions of other people that the images are "the original of
the external matter". Even though most people have read that every sensation

relating to the world is formed in their brains, since it is taught in high school
biology classes, the images are so convincing that they have difficulty believing
that they are actually dealing with only copies in their brain. The reason for
this is that each image is created very realistically and perfected to an art.
Nobody has been able to move out of the perceptions that exist in the
brain. Everybody lives in the cell that is in the brain, and no one can experience
anything except that which is shown by his perceptions. Consequently, one can

never know what happens outside of his perceptions. Thus to say "I know the
original of matter" would in fact be an unjustified presupposition, because
there is nothing that could be held up as evidence. The observer deals with the
images formed in his or her brain. For instance, a person who wanders in a
garden full of colorful flowers can in fact never see the actual of the garden, but
its copy in his brain. Yet, this garden is so realistic that every person gets the
same delight from the garden formed in his brain as if it's the actual one. Even

50 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION