Thursday, January 24, 2013

WR: Can Illusion still make "ripples?"

We touched on the complex metaphysics of the Hindu religion in class this week, and ended up with the seemingly paradoxical concept of the unchanging Self versus the ripple affects that our actions (Karma) can have on others.  Our discussion merely grazed the depth of the concept, but one pertinent question asked, how can we create change when everything we physically are and see could be an illusion?

I think perhaps that, supposing this were true, illusion would not necessarily entail the inability to create "ripples."  If persons A and B have experiences based in illusion, what's to say that their actions would not  have effects, in their disillusioned experiences, on each other?

2 comments:

  1. Fantastic question. I think the fact that a person can cause the illusion to change is part of the reason why it is, as Professor Silliman mentioned, so utterly convincing.

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  2. I have thought about this matter further and composed a post about it on my own blog.
    http://religionworlds.blogspot.com/2013/01/merits-of-illusion.html

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