Thoughts and Beliefs Are Not Reality

Reality is everything that is happening beyond your thoughts and beliefs. No matter what you think, that’s all happening. And to get real in the world is to be with reality. And there are people who can just reveal more reality to you then you can reveal to yourself. And so your sources of information are very important. And so you’re always going to have certain people you’re going to look to for information and inspiration and guidance. And that represents one of your relationships in life.

Even if you say, “I’m not going to listen to any politician,” you’re gonna find someone else to listen to. So the people who are dealing with reality and that’s their job or that’s their mission or that’s their purpose, those people are important—scientists, physicians, people doing social work, people doing really restorative or important work out in the world. These people are dealing with reality. They’re not just sitting at home indulging themselves in their conspiratorial notions or in their fantasies about spiritual enlightenment.

To get with reality means to get with reality within yourself because Knowledge within you is connected to the whole world. It isn’t just your personal phenomenon. It’s not just your personal information bank. It’s not just your personal resource. It’s the thing that connects you to the world because your service is out in the world. Stay home and just try to be peaceful or loving or enlightened, you’re not with reality yet. You’re sitting on the sidelines trying to be happy. But reality is there; it’s happening, whether you know about it or not, whether you like it or not.

The pandemic is a reality. You could deny it, but you put yourself in jeopardy to do that. And if you put…if you deny the people who are dealing with that reality, then you’re further taking yourself away from reality. And this is the problem with delusional thinking. It’s thinking outside of reality. And so many people fall into kind of an abyss of delusion, and they’re not really doing anything in life that’s meaningful and they don’t have meaningful relationships and their life isn’t going anywhere and they feel like a victim of life because they’re not doing anything.

So if you don’t do anything, that sets up a lot of negative forces in your mind, a lot of negative imagination, a lot of fear, a lot of blame, a lot of projection. And that is…you’re just digging yourself a hole when you do that.

So I think the pandemic is a reality. If you can be with it, you can learn from it, you can navigate it and you can help other people regarding it. If you deny it or call it something else, then you’re kind of living in your own little delusional world, and you’re not in real relationship with people, places and things, which has to do with reality.

So this is, I think, an important way to think about reality. Reality may have other greater dimensions, certainly. But in terms of being functional in the world and being satisfied with your life, then you need to get with reality. And reality is happening out there and all around you and even inside of you, beyond your thoughts and beliefs. Your thoughts and beliefs are how you interpret reality. They are not reality themselves, even though they condition you and they can even dominate you. So think about how you interpret. I mean, otherwise the mind is just a mirror where you see only yourself, when in fact, it’s meant to be a window through which you look out into the world.