Mistaking Illusion for Reality

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“Whatever plane our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. But as we rise in the scale of development, we perceive that in the stages through which we have passed, we mistook shadows for realities, and that the upward progress of the Ego is a series of progressive awakenings, each advance bringing with it the idea that now, at last, we have reached “reality”; but only when we shall have reached absolute Consciousness, and blended our own with it, shall we be free from the delusions produced by Mâyâ.”

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. The Secret Doctrine (Complete) . BookMasters. Kindle Edition. 

I’ve been thinking about how the soul navigates physical reality. I have long believed that what we see and experience around us is a collective illusion. And as Madame Blavatsky suggests, “we mistook shadows for realities”, meaning that we believed our perceptions to be a reality instead of merely a perspective.

In my opinion, we are souls having a physical experience that is shared with the collective consciousness either on an ongoing basis or when we choose to leave our physical reality. And prior to incarnating, each soul can use that awareness to shape the choices and perceptions in our physical lives. Mme Blavatsky suggests that although the ego, which I call the reactive side of self, is on a progressive path toward awakening, it can only release itself from its own grip when it “reaches absolute Consciousness”.

Although I understand what she’s saying, are we really trapped in that progression and at the ego’s mercy, or by beginning to acknowledge the truth of who we are, can we move things along and raise our vibration enough to see the ego for what it is? 

Can we reconnect enough with our soul that we finally understand that there is a difference between perception and reality? The plane on which our consciousness resides may in fact be “our only realities” as Mme Blavatsky says, but if we are, in fact, multidimensional, we could be residing in many planes simultaneously. 

The real question, in my opinion, is, are we merely responding to what we see or are we creating what we see by the choices we make prior to incarnating? In other words, do we lose all control over our experiences or have we chosen to live our lives in a dependent relationship with the illusory Maya?

Factoring in the myriad of souls that are experiencing physical existence into our perceptions, does each soul provide the interaction necessary for other souls to expand their individuated learning? If so, and everyone is caught up in the collective illusion, how does the ego ascend in that “upward progress” unless it’s able to understand that it creates the illusion it experiences? Or is the Maya an energy field or intentional force that the soul incarnates into that hides the route to “absolute Consciousness” while learning takes place?

How then does the soul break free from the illusory Maya? Is there a higher presence that breaks the spell by whispering that truth during inner reflection that enables us to consider a reality that has thus far been hidden from our ego awareness? Or is it simply a soul’s readiness via its many incarnations that opens that door?

Mme Blavatsky seems to suggest the process is influenced by a level of readiness based upon the individual’s “power of cognition”.  

“Mâyâ, or Illusion, is an element which enters into all finite things, for everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute, reality, since the appearance which the hidden noumenon assumes for any observer depends upon his power of cognition.”

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. The Secret Doctrine (Complete) . BookMasters. Kindle Edition. 

If our level of cognition determines how much we evolve out of the Maya or collective illusion in which we exist, then perhaps our readiness is dependent upon how open we are to ideas that challenge our fundamental beliefs. Because it’s that openness or lack thereof that will motivate the individual one way or the other.

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References

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. The Secret Doctrine (Complete). BookMasters. Kindle Edition.