I read a book long time ago in which the author wrote the sentence, 'There is no world outside'. I don't remember the title nor the author's name of the book. But the sentence has been stuck with me since then up until now.
Then finally, I feel I have deciphered the meaning of the sentence.
Then finally, I feel I have deciphered the meaning of the sentence.
"The world is something around us." That's the ordinary way of seeing the world and it is true at one level. We are surrounded by environments, circumstances and conditions, which we usually call the world. And we use our five senses to observe the world. Then, we know what is going on around us.
However, if you pay close attention to the process of 'knowing the world, you will notice that there is a layer between what is going on around us and the knowing of it. The outside world does exist physically but it has no meaning. The meaning arises in the layer during the process of our 'knowing'.
Let me give you an example. Someone calls you a fool. Then you get angry. What is happening here? You think you are insulted. However, what is actually happening is that there are certain sounds made by someone's mouth. That is what's happening. Then the sounds move to your ear drums and you hear the sounds. Then you lookup the dictionary in your brain and find sounds similar to the sounds you hear. Then, you feel offended and angry because the sounds match the word 'a fool'.
The reason you get angry is that you have the word 'a fool' in your brain and you know the meaning of the word. Otherwise, the sounds are just sounds, simply vibration of air. They have no meaning by themselves. The meaning comes from within.
Probably the guy has an intention to call you a fool. But we cannot really know someone else's intention. We act based on our own interpretation of what's happening outside. In other words, the world is always our own interpretation, never the world itself.
However, if you pay close attention to the process of 'knowing the world, you will notice that there is a layer between what is going on around us and the knowing of it. The outside world does exist physically but it has no meaning. The meaning arises in the layer during the process of our 'knowing'.
Let me give you an example. Someone calls you a fool. Then you get angry. What is happening here? You think you are insulted. However, what is actually happening is that there are certain sounds made by someone's mouth. That is what's happening. Then the sounds move to your ear drums and you hear the sounds. Then you lookup the dictionary in your brain and find sounds similar to the sounds you hear. Then, you feel offended and angry because the sounds match the word 'a fool'.
The reason you get angry is that you have the word 'a fool' in your brain and you know the meaning of the word. Otherwise, the sounds are just sounds, simply vibration of air. They have no meaning by themselves. The meaning comes from within.
Probably the guy has an intention to call you a fool. But we cannot really know someone else's intention. We act based on our own interpretation of what's happening outside. In other words, the world is always our own interpretation, never the world itself.
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