Page 145 - The Truth of the Life of This World

perceive all sounds within a wide frequency, from the rustling of leaves to
the roar of a jet plane. However, were a sensitive device to measure the
sound level in your brain, it would show complete silence prevailing there.
Our perception of odour forms in a similar way. Volatile molecules,
emitted by vanilla extract or a rose, reach receptors in the delicate hairs in

the olfactory epithelium and become involved in an interaction that is
transmitted to the brain as electrical signals and perceived as smell.
Everything that you smell, be it pleasant or repugnant, is only your brain's
perception of the interactions of volatile molecules transformed into elec-
trical signals. The scent of a perfume, a flower, any delicious food, the sea,
or other odours you like or dislike, you perceive entirely in your brain. The
molecules themselves never reach there. Just as with sound and vision,
what reaches your sensory centres is simply an assortment of electrical sig-
nals. In other words, all the sensations that, since you were born, you've
assumed to belong to external objects are just electrical signals interpreted
through your sense organs.
Similarly, at the front of your tongue, there are four different types of
chemical receptors that create the tastes of salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.
After a series of chemical processes, your taste receptors transform these
perceptions into electrical signals and transmit them to the brain, which
perceives these signals as flavours. The taste you get when you eat choco-
All we see in our lives is
formed in a part of our
brain called the "vision
centre" which lies at the
back of our brain, and
which occupies only a
few cubic centimetres.
Both the book you are
now reading and the
boundless landscape
you see when you gaze
at the horizon fit into
this tiny space.
Therefore, we see
objects not in their
actual sizes existing
outside, but in the sizes
perceived by our brain.

The Truth of the Life of This World 143