What We See, Hear, Feel... Isn't Exactly Real!

 

What We See, Hear, Feel... Isn't Exactly Real!

Think about it: when you look at a red apple, your eyes don't actually "see" redness floating in the air. Instead, light bounces off the apple and into your eyes. This light triggers tiny signals that travel to your brain.

Your brain then takes these signals and does a lot of work.¹ It doesn't just show you the raw data. Instead, it interprets those signals. It tells you, "Hey, based on what I'm getting, this looks like something we call 'red'."

It's the same for all our senses:

• Hearing: Your ears catch vibrations in the air.² Your brain turns those vibrations into sounds, like music or someone talking.³
• Touch: Your skin feels pressure, temperature, and texture.⁴ Your brain interprets these signals as soft, rough, hot, or cold.⁵
• Taste: Tiny sensors on your tongue react to chemicals.⁶ Your brain tells you if something is sweet, sour, salty, bitter, or savory.⁷
• Smell: Tiny particles in the air enter your nose.⁸ Your brain identifies these particles and tells you what the smell is, like flowers or coffee.⁹

Our Brains are Like Storytellers

Our brains don't just passively receive information. They actively create a story of the world around us. This story is based on many things:

• Learning: When you were a baby, you learned that certain shapes and colors meant "apple."
• Experience: If you've had a bad experience with a certain smell, your brain might interpret that smell negatively in the future.
• Culture: Different cultures might have different words and ways of understanding colors or tastes.¹⁰
• Evolution: Our brains have evolved in ways that help us survive. For example, the ability to quickly spot danger (like a predator) is crucial.

So, what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell is not a perfect movie of the outside world. It's our brain's best guess, based on the information it gets and its own internal "rules" and experiences.

What Buddhism Says About This

This idea that our senses don't show us a fixed, absolute reality connects with important teachings in Buddhism, especially the concept of non-permanence (Anicca).

Buddhism teaches that everything is constantly changing.¹¹ Nothing stays the same forever. This applies not only to physical things but also to our experiences and how we perceive the world.

Our senses give us snapshots of reality, and our brains interpret these snapshots based on fleeting conditions – our mood, our memories, the environment. What we perceive as solid and real is actually a continuous flow of changing sensations and interpretations.

The "truth" in the world, according to Buddhism, is not the fixed, unchanging reality we might think our senses show us. Instead, it's the understanding of this constant change and the impermanent nature of all things, including our perceptions.

Just like our brain interprets sensory signals, we also interpret our experiences and attach meanings to them. Buddhism encourages us to see beyond these interpretations and understand the underlying reality of constant flux.

By understanding that our senses and our minds create our experience of the world, we can become less attached to our perceptions and more open to the ever-changing nature of reality. This can lead to greater wisdom and freedom from suffering.

So, the next time you see a red apple, remember that "red" is just your brain's interpretation. The reality is a dance of light, signals, and your own unique way of understanding the world. This understanding aligns with the Buddhist view that everything is in constant motion and that the reality we perceive is not always the ultimate truth.