#79 Unreal World Meditation
See the whole world as magic jugglery or a picture, or an illusion.Verse 102, Vigyan Bhairava Tantra
World- A Picture
From this meditation, Joy arises. We think that the world is real, and that is why we suffer. Our mind continuously thinks and worries about our lives, and events taking place in this world. But if you realized that the world is nothing but an illusion, you would stop thinking about it. The mind would then fall silent and you would be liberated. See the whole world as a magic juggler or a picture, or an illusion. The world is an illusion. Because we believe it is real, it appears real. Now the verse asks us to change our beliefs and our perception of the world. Believe the world is unreal. Then the door will be opened to experience Ultimate Reality. See the world as an illusion, or something unreal. You would stop thinking so much about it. Instead, you will be a witness, watching the passing scenes of life. When you watch a movie, in the end, you know that it was just a movie. Nobody got hurt, nobody died, and nothing bad happened. It is the same with this world. Nothing real ever dies. People do not die, they only change form. The body may pass away, but the eternal self lives on. When you know the world is an illusion, and nothing of value is destroyed, you live your life in a new way. You lose all your fears and live freely. You are no longer affected by the events taking place in your life or the world. When you know the world is not real, you can detach from it. When you can detach from this world, you stop thinking about it. When that happens, it becomes easy to remain aware. Then, one realizes their true nature. Changing our perception can be a very powerful way of stilling the mind. That is all that this verse is doing.
Dream World
If you think the world is real, you will be overly concerned about it, and you may keep thinking about the events occurring in this world and your life. Now if you perceive or believe that the world is unreal, you will immediately stop thinking about it. Why would you think about something unreal? The mind on its own would fall silent. No effort would be required. Instead of thinking, you will now simply be aware, living fully in the present moment. From this meditation, joy arises. All our worries and all our problems concern our bodies or this world. When we know this world is nothing, what problems or worries can we have? Our lives become joyful. This sentence also refers to the time when the mind falls silent. When that happens, the joy of our true nature automatically appears. Enlightened masters have frequently said that we live in a dream world. What appears so real to us is unreal. Some masters have also said that the world is a creation of our minds. The world, as we see it, does not exist. Statements like this have always puzzled people. How can the world be an illusion when it appears to be so real? The objects. around us seem so solid and real. Once again, the example of a movie is useful in understanding all this. When we see a movie, the images on the screen are created by the film passing through a projector. If we switched off the projector, then we would no longer see the various images, we would only see the screen. The mind is like that projector. When you “switch” off the mind, or can control it, then you no longer see the diversity of life. Instead, you see the unity of all existence. When the mind is stilled, we experience Ultimate Reality. We see life and the world as it is, not as it previously appeared to us. The world as an objective reality ceases to exist.