Thought is the illusory substance of reality
Reality is not real nor unreal. Thought gives reality a sense of space and time, therefore reality becomes rather real. Thought is the reaction towards the perception. When there is the perception of a cup, for example, a name is given to the cup, or its history and associated memories appears as a reaction to the cup, all of which arises as a process of thinking, and therefore the cup obtains a sense of reality in time and space. Thought is the substance of this reality. It is true that when thought is not present, there isn't such reality of the cup. There is only what is. It could be said that thought gives any reality a sense of continuity. This continuity then appears to be really happening. This continuity is synonymous to time and space. The cup, then, seems to really occupy a specific amount of space and extend over a period of time. Whereas, these apparent reality of space and time are constructions of thinking. When thinking is absent, such as in deep sleep, there isn't space nor time. Thought is the substance, is what makes reality to have length, depth, and importance. Whereas the substance, which is thought, has no length, depth, or importance. This is why the substance of reality is only apparent, i.e. illusory. Nothing has substance. To have substance means to occupy space or time in any real sense. When space and time are only constructions of thinking, any substance can only be said to be superficial, because thinking is superficial and transient.
One might not think that thinking is superficial. There is a great identification with the depth of thinking, indicated in our common language such as a “deep thinker”. It might not have occurred to the thinker that thought itself is what creates depth. One might look at certain “deep thoughts” and ask what is deep about them? When one is aware of thinking, one sees that there is only the surface. The thought of “depth” is also only the surface. One might wonder, what is “depth” really, if there is no thought to construct the “depth”? There is no depth. Thought invents the depth within oneself, the depth of a specific religion or philosophy, or the depth of a well or ocean. These depth are perceived as a sensation, and thought is also sensation. There is no depth to sensation. There is the feeling of depth to them, but these feelings can be felt precisely because they are on the surface. What is deep is unseen, unfelt, unknowable. One might look down a well and see no bottom, and thought then says this well is deep. Thought can imagine how deep the well goes, but thought does not know actually. This thinking process prevents the actual depth of the well to be present, because the presence of the unknowable is veiled over by thinking, by measuring the depth. The measuring of depth prevents the perception of actual depth, which isn't knowable. Thought can only operate in the field of the known. Thought is measure. Measure is always superficial, because it is only an activity of thinking, of sensation, which can only be superficial.
There is the belief that any endeavor of the mind, which is measure, can arrive at the immeasurable. This is false. The immeasurable is the depth without measure, so any measure only turns up the measurable. Science or philosophy want to investigate the infinite and eternal through measure, which is thought. That which is infinite and eternal is beyond the confines of space and time. Thought is always already confined within space and time. Thought is space and time. Thought is measure, and measure is space and time. The immeasurable cannot be thought about, identified, or investigated, because any such activity is only the activity of measure. Whatever thought could invent, name, define is already limited and partial. Thought must believe in all sincerity that it can approach the immeasurable to think it can investigate it. Thought and the immeasurable are like two parallel lines that never meet. What thought can do is only creating a limited circumference, a finite area. In this area, it might deceive itself that it can ever find the immeasurable, or that it has found it. But, whatever it finds is still in the area it creates around itself. Whatever it finds is utterly transient and finite. The leaf is not the whole tree. Thought is not the immeasurable it claims to be.
Thought might ask, where is the immeasurable? This is the limitation of thought. It can only function in terms of time and space. It asks where and when. It projects into the future, and collects experiences from the past. The future and the past are also constructions of thinking. When thought demands to know the immeasurable, it is already caught in the net of time and space, the net of measure. Therefore, it is impossible for thought to know anything about the immeasurable. Thought might then think about deleting itself to realize the infinite. Thought again is caught in the experience of time, that in a future date it will finally delete itself and see the absence of itself. That moment shall never come, because it can only come when thought deems it so, and when it deems it so, thought is not absent. Thought can never know its own absence, because thought would not be there to experience it. To experience anything implies recognition, which is to identify perception with a past idea or memory, which is time-binding.
Thought is at the root of human suffering, confusion, and violence. The fundamental error is that thought believes itself to have any depth. When it is seen that all thoughts, no matter the form, are superficial, then no thought has real significance, nor does any sensation. The illusory substance of thought is seen. This does not mean the illusory substance will cease. Illusion goes on, but it is not taken as an actuality. Reality, as in perception of existence, is illusory and superficial. The depth cannot be imagined or measured, and that is the depth already. The immeasurable cannot be known, yet precisely because of its unknowable nature, it is always here already, only perceived by thought as absence. The very absence of depth, of the immeasurable is then the very presence of them. Thought believes that the unknown is beyond its grasp, so it always tries to measure it, picture it, imagine it, prevent it. The unknown is not beyond. The unknown is in this very moment. There is nothing to do to realize the unknown, the immeasurable, because it already is.
Cover photo by Aman Upadhyay on Unsplash
