All that we experience is subjective.
There is no sensation without interpretation.
We create the world and ourselves;
Only when we stop do we see the truth.
The world exists, but we cannot truly be one with it in our normal modes of consciousness. Our minds know the world by constructing conclusions from the data of our senses. All that we know is filtered and interpreted.
Therefore, there is no such thing as objectivity or direct knowledge of the world. Everything is relative because we are each condemned to our particular vantage points. As long as we all have different perspectives, as long as perception relies on our senses, then there cannot be an absolute truth. All knowledge from experience, valuable as it may be, is imperfect and merely provisional.
Inner truth is only glimpsed by disconnecting the mechanism of interpretation. If we can withdraw the activities of the senses and isolate that part of the mind responsible for filtering sensory input, then we can temporarily shut off the ongoing process of interaction with the outside world. We will then be in a neutral place that is wholly turned inward. We are left with an absolute state, entirely without distinction or relativity. This is called nothingness, and it is the truth underlying all things.
We all think we are objective about the world, but we are really all subjective. I chose engineering as a career because it was “more objective” than music and theatre arts, my other major interest at the time. But the politics and subjective opinions of those around me were still there, even if cloaked in more scientific terms. I was still subject to what others thought of me, even though what I did was as good as anyone else’s work.
There is little we can do in this world without being subjected to the opinions of other people. But the world, the universe, the Tao, is not subjective. It is objective. It exists, with or without us. All that we can do is to live our lives as though they matter, even if objectively, it matters little if we are here or not.
It is our interpretation of events and the world around us that determines how we live. The more we live in harmony with the objective world, the world as it really exists, the less we will suffer. We will enjoy our lives more, be happier, be more fulfilled. We don’t have to always be subject to what our senses deluge us with. We can retreat to nothingness, to quiet, calm, and stillness, and be renewed. Then our daily lives become a joy rather than a challenge, as each day is created anew, from nothingness.
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