Brahman illusionary television and reality test zen buddhist thinking

I'd like for you to watch television as part of an experiment. Choose a show that is realistically presented. If the actors are skilled, the cinematography is effective, and the sets well-designed then, naturally, without any effort on your part, you suspend disbelief. You know that what you are watching is not real, yet you let your mind go along with the fiction. When, for example, a character puts his hand in a fire and says, "Ouch," you - for the moment - believe that he feels pain.

Imagine if Virtual Reality technology were perfected so that the show is presented in three dimensions. Go further and imagine that a machine has been invented that not only presents sights and sounds but tactile experiences, smells, and tastes as well. Would it be possible to detect that you are in the midst of a fiction? I think so, and detecting this falseness is the purpose of this experiment.

Now, as you are watching the television show attempt to escape from your suspension of disbelief. It may ruin the show for you, but try it as an experiment. Look for clues that what you're watching isn't real: bad acting, anachronisms like a jet trail in a cowboy show. Attempt to see through the illusion of reality that the creators of the show have attempted to construct. After a while you will find that you are watching a completely different show. In some ways your new consciousness can make the television presentation more interesting, especially if the show is bad, because you begin to become more critically aware of the efforts that went into making the show. A serious show - if badly made - can become hilarious. You will notice the editing and may even imagine yourself to be the editor of the videotape and feel some of his pride in a job well done. You will watch the actors acting and begin to appreciate their skills or lack of skills in their attempts to create the verisimilitude that captures your imagination and almost forces you to believe that the world you are watching is a real world.

Now, to end the experiment and to experience its final stage, turn away from the TV and look at the real world. Look at how the people you know are acting. Look around at the furnishings of your house. Listen to the sounds coming from outside. Take a walk around your yard. For a little while the awareness of artificiality lingers. The techniques you practiced while watching TV stays with you and - for a few moments - the real world feels like a fiction. You are on your way to an experience of Brahman.