The True Nature Of Reality And Life
June 2, 2009 by Akemi
What is this thing called life? What is the real nature of it? Why can some people walk through life with joy while others suffer? (Photo by feintnate)
I wrote about the true nature of reality in the Light part of Creating The New World series, but I suspect not many readers got it. So let me explain again. This is very important, foundational concept.
You in the movie of life
Have you watched a good movie in which you were so immersed that you felt like you were actually living that story? Or have you read a book that put you in the same kind of state of mind?
You identified with one of the characters, perhaps the leading character. His or her feelings felt like your own. When the situation changed, you felt their surprise and confusion. When they had to make a difficult decision, you struggled, too, as if it’ll affect your own life.
Only when the movie was over and the titles started to run with the music, you came back to yourself, sighing, “Oh, wow, what a story. . .!”
This life is like that. Your Higher Self chose a certain setting and jumped in to experience the story. Like you watch a movie.
You as the actor and audience of life
Actually the analogy works even better with live theater play than a movie. Your Higher Self chose a role and jumped in to be part of the play. At the same time, your Higher Self is the audience of the play. This is what I mean when I say our Higher Selves split part of themselves to incarnate in the physical bodies.
Most of us are so immersed in this life theater production. It feels all so real. Only when we die, we come to realize it was a play, or a movie. Some people call this condition “we have the veil” on us that hinder us to see the true nature of reality.
Is sad movie a bad movie?
Do you like sad movies or stories? I guess many of us do. Sad movies are not necessarily bad movies. Sad movies can be beautiful and we may learn a lot from them. It’s okay to watch sad movies.
Do you like action movies? I’m personally not a big fan, but I guess many of you like them. In those movies, bad guys play critical roles, right? You hate them, but then, the movie’s plot is impossible without them. That’s what those people who have hurt you in your life have done. They played their roles.
By the way, my favorite movies are romantic comedies — not the slapstick “I’ll make you laugh by all means” kind of movies but the ones that look at life with lighthearted humor. Like Lost In Translation, Love Actually, and The Birdcage. A bit of mind-bending, like Eternal Sunshine or Closer, is good, too.
What are your favorite movies? Now is that how you live or wish to live?
You as the director of life
The amazing point is you are not just the actor and the audience of this play. Your third function is to direct it. Well, I mean, you can direct it if you so wish. This is what I mean you have the power to create your life and the world.
While you are so immersed in the life play, it’s easy to forget you are also a director. But you chose your character, and this play is made spontaneously as we go. If you don’t like the story-line, then change it. Make the adversity to a rags-to-riches story or glory by overcoming the challenge story.
Being the director of your own life play doesn’t mean everything will go the way you want. Your awareness as the actor is different from your awareness as the director. (Do you think those actors really enjoy playing the scene where they get tortured or getting dumped for stupid reasons?) The life theater is dynamic and fun 
But it does give us a clue how we can live better.
The fun is in the process
Now let’s say there is a new movie you are interested in. Would you just read the synopsis, see the last scene, and be done with it? No, you want to spend two hours in the theater watching the movie, right?
Knowing all the outcomes of the story ahead of time spoils the fun. The fun is in the process. We took the trouble of being born in this physical world to experience all these ups and downs, excitements and serenity, interesting twists, etc.
I wrote about victim mentality and slave mentality in the Power part of the Creating The New World series. In it, I explained the telltale sign of these disempowered mindsets is the word SHOULD.
My friend emailed me saying, “I think we ask what we should do because it’s a big shortcut when we don’t know everything.” True. I’m not prohibiting the use of should. The point is we accept the uncertainty of life, to be empowered to the point that it’s really fine to go with the flow with all the unknown. This is what I mean the fun is in the process.
The secret of life
Life is a story or movie. Or a virtual reality game. (I’m not familiar with video games so I didn’t use this metaphor, but I guess it works, too. Perhaps this is why those games appeal so much to some people.)
Does this mean we don’t need to take life seriously? Absolutely not. We took the trouble of incarnation. (And oh, what a trouble it was!) We want to enjoy this fully. So live well.
At the same time, your life will be a lot easier when you notice we are only identifying with the character of this life movie, or identifying as the actor’s role. We can still enjoy the sensations of this movie, but don’t be buried in them. You are actually someone outside the movie, and you can even direct the movie the way you want it.
When you realize this true nature of life, you also notice that there is no reason to stay resentful to those who have harmed you. It’s fine to get upset at them when they harm you — that is the intention, the plot. But you don’t need to remain resentful or run to the spiritual cop to out their wrong doings. They just played their role to contribute to your life story.
I dreamed I was a butterfly. . .
Another way of saying the same thing, that life is a movie or a theater play, is “Life is a dream.” I believe this is what 4th century B.C. Taoist Master Zhuangzi (also spelled Chuang Tsu or Chou) meant by this story:
Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.
Both in the eastern and western worlds, a butterfly is often a metaphor of a soul.
You will wake up from this dream when you leave your body. However, just as some people can do lucid dreaming, you can become aware of the true nature of this life and “reality” while you are in it.
From a butterfly dreaming it’s Akemi, with Love ^_^
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Very beautiful post Akemi. I love the butterfly ending. I have always loved this metaphor of enlightenment being like waking up inside a dream, and I love this new one of directing from inside the movie. And it is so freeing to view the ‘bad guys’ in our lives as just playing their role. Along those lines, I once heard a doctor interviewed who had worked with babies with AIDS in Africa say that she had this insight while working with them – many of whom only lived a few short years – that they were beings who incarnated in that role in order to teach others like herself how to love unconditionally.
My only concern with looking at things this way is when people use it as an excuse to not try and change things or help others. I think this happens sometimes with Eastern views of karma – the view arises that everyone is just living whatever life they were meant to live, and therefore we shouldn’t try and improve conditions or structures that cause suffering. I know this is NOT what you are saying, but I have heard others espouse this view….
Lisa (mommymystic)s last blog post..Spiritual Experience vs. Realization (or What’s The Point, Anyway?)
Hi Lisa,
Great points! There is a book titled Courageous Souls that portrait people with hardships like AIDS, serious handicaps from injuries, birth defects, etc. as souls that chose those tough roles for their own learning and as service. Your example of children with AIDS is a beautiful case, too.
I’m planning a post about children who die young. In one of my past lives (before Ascension soul shift), I died at age 4. . . for a reason.
And I understand your concern about being so passive about life. This life is a dream, or an experiment, but at the same time, we came here with the full intention to create our lives. Seeing life with such passivity seems to me a slave mentality. I don’t think we can fix slave mentality — we can only inspire them.
Terrific post, Akemi! I loved the movie metaphor, and I think it works really well. But I have some problems with this setup.
First, we’re not aware of our audience and director selves. Even if we intellectually know that we’re also the audience and director, our consciousness is rooted in the actor, so we miss out on the enjoyment of these other roles.
Second, we experience the part in a much more personal way than an actor does. Whereas they can pretend to feel pain in a torture scene, we actually feel it. Of course, this can work in a good way too, but there are many many people suffering in the world. Actors don’t suffer in a movie.
Third, we can’t change movies so easily. An actor might work on a movie for several months, but then they can choose a completely different part for their next movie. They can instantly jump into any situation they want, but we can only change our situation very slowly, if at all.
Personally, I’d like to have a turn at being the director.
Hunter,
You are the director! That’s what the Law of Attraction is all about. It’s about creation.
I think the objective (at least one of them) of spiritual practices such as meditation is to realize our roles as audience and director, to get out of this illusion that we see as actor. It’s not about intellectual understanding — we want to get to know it deeper.
I thin Lisa’s comment above sheds light to your second question. Yes, I know it hurts. Our bodies are made that way. That’s the challenge of this world, and the pain is there for a reason.
Regarding the speed of change — well, don’t be so sure. You’d be amazed how fast things can happen. This deserves another blog post because so many people think change in a step by step slow way.
I loved the first question, “What is this thing called life?” It is a great one for everybody to answer for themselves. Yes, life is like that great movie we just watched with the joy and the tears. Remembering we have our hands in the building and directing of the movie is paramount (no pun intended). Although our higher self may have written the script beforehand our personalities do get some say. Reassuring ourselves of the deeper through line helps us when discomfort arises.
I love the butterfly story. Holding reality from the largest context helps us fly and enjoy.
Dr. Jennifer Howard
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