Is the World Real or Just an Illusion?

Is the world real, or is it just an Illusion? This talk addresses a common misconception about the nature of reality: Many classic Advaita texts say that the world is an illusion, but does that mean that it is not real? Rupert says that the only reason we have problems with this is that in our culture, we believe that reality means physical things. The question is not whether the world is real or not. It is absolutely real. The war in Ukraine is real. The Caribbean beach we dream of is real. The suffering we feel is real. The question is, what is its reality? What does that question mean? It means not how does it appear to be — it means what is it really, in spite of the way it appears? Yes, the world is an illusion — that is, it is not what it appears to be. But all illusions have a reality to them, and that reality is absolutely real. Moreover, there is nothing to an illusion other than its reality. All there is to the world is infinite being. As the Sufis say: Wherever you look, there is only the face of God. This clip is from Rupert's retreat at the Mercy Center (March 18-25, 2022). 00:00 Reality Is Made of More Than Matter 01:09 Is the World Real? 02:40 Breaking False Beliefs About Reality 03:50 Illusion Does Not Mean Unreal 04:16 What Is Reality Made Of? 05:34 The True Nature Of Reality –– ACCESS FULL VIDEO ARCHIVE You can watch or listen to 1000s of hours of teachings, guided meditations and answers in Rupert's full video archive here: ▸ https://rupertspira.com/subscriptions –– RETREATS (Weekend, 5-day, 7-day) Rupert holds regular retreats, roughly once per month, either in-person and online. Many in-person retreats can also be attended from the comfort of your home via livestream. ONLINE RETREAT SCHEDULE ▸ https://rupertspira.com/events/retrea... IN-PERSON RETREATS SCHEDULE (Also Available to Join Online via Live Stream) ▸ UK https://rupertspira.com/event/locatio... ▸ US https://rupertspira.com/event/locatio... –– WEEKLY WEBINARS (2 hours) Rupert's webinars take place most Sunday and Thursday evenings, from 4pm UK time. In the first twenty to thirty minutes, Rupert leads a spontaneous meditation. The remaining time is open for attendees to discuss their questions with Rupert. Attendance is By Donation. WEEKLY WEBINAR SCHEDULE ▸ https://rupertspira.com/events/webinar –– FREE CONTENT, EVENTS & NEW RELEASES To be notified of free content, events (online and in-person), books and other new releases, please sign up to Rupert's free newsletter: https://rupertspira.com/free-newsletter –– BROWSE RUPERT’S BOOKS ▸ https://rupertspira.com/store –– LISTEN TO RUPERT’S PODCAST ▸ iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... ▸ Libsyn: https://rupertspira.libsyn.com/ ▸ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6z1GN... –– JOIN RUPERT’S FACEBOOK GROUP ▸   / rupertspiracommunity   –– FOLLOW RUPERT ON MEDIUM   / rupert_spira   –– SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS ▸ Website: https://rupertspira.com ▸ Instagram:   / rupertspira_   ▸ Facebook:   / rupertspira   ▸ Twitter:   / rupertspira   ▸ Tiktok:   / rupertspira_   –– SUBSCRIBE TO RUPERT’S YOUTUBE ▸ https://www.youtube.com/user/rupertsp... –– #rupertspira #nonduality #happiness #natureofreality #consciousness #awareness #meditation #guidedmeditation RS22044c