You can also find this article here: https://joeyamazaki.substack.com/p/the-realest-of-real... Before diving in deep into this topic about relative perception and absolute reality, I would like to clarify that my knowledge in these topics are very informal. I have come to the analyses and conclusions that I have from immense reading and deep thinking. I am not an enlightened person, such as that of a saint, philosopher, or guru, but my goal here is to find at least an inkling of the truth, or the realest of the real, and there is a very likely chance that I might veer into a completely different direction away from the truth, have a shallow understanding of certain subjects, or even miss the point completely of certain concepts. Also, I am not trying to diminish anybody’s experience here. I am only trying to rationalize our human perceptions with respect to realest of real. But, at the very least, despite some of these shortcomings, I would like to pursue the truth, as this is the only reality that is realest and matters at the end of it all. So, here is where I come from, and now let us start the discussion. Living in a world where we have a cacophony of noise, we, as human beings, experience the worst parts of this lifetime journey we call life. For one thing, we can see the evil in the world from the history we read, the events we experience, and even in our ourselves. It almost seems like sometimes our most basic form is that of the barbaric animal just because of the capacity of evil in certain eras of human existence. For example, just talking about the war crimes in World War II caused by the Nazi regime and the Japanese empire can make your stomach churn. I am not going to mention any specific events perpetuated by these two regimes in this article, as they are just too much to even talk about, but go research these topics at your own caution. Today, we have such a superficial understanding of these events such that we come to conclusions and lessons learned that do not provide a sufficient enough guarantee for us to steer clear of another tragedy as that of World War II. As Douglas Murray so aptly puts, “even if you journey there [to the heart of darkness], you might learn nothing,” which is kind of a depressing fact of our studying of history. But, hey, that just implies that we have to pay attention to the details more and strive further to the truth, which is what I will do my best to uncover at least a small portion of. But, let me digress. In general, the war crimes brought about by certain regimes in World War II demonstrates just the sheer lack of humanity that people are capable of. The stories you hear from the victims are just heartbreaking, considering how some of them could just be children trying to survive the terrors of war. The accounts given by the survivors are so devastating and shocking that just reading about them for understanding can traumatize a person, let alone drive them to insanity, which is a result of journeying “to the heart of darkness.” That is the capacity of evil we are talking about here and god forbid that we see even deeper depths. But what about relation of evil to our human perception? The evil we see and witness are very real experiences to us. In general, any experience we have is real to us. Whether it is seeing and smelling a flower or tasting your favorite food, the experiences are real. However, with respect to the realest of real, certain experiences resemble that of the absolute reality, or at least close to it, and other experiences are just based in a relative perception that blinds us from this absolute reality. It is better to say that most of our human suffering is a relative perception, as it does not resemble the absolute reality, or to put it in more apt terms, the absolutely real. But how do we describe or at least understand the absolute reality or absolutely real? To understand the absolutely real, we first have to understand what relative perception even is in the fist place: Relative perception is considered most similar to maya as defined by the Vedic scholars. The Abrahamic religions also have a certain concept that is similar and can even be related to maya. But, the point here is that the perceptions we have are a cloak that we have to remove for us to see the absolutely real. Although our experiences are real to us, most of these experiences, at least in this era of humanity, are shrouded in an of illusion that blinds us from seeing the absolutely real. In general, experiences that are considered to be relative to that of the absolute truth, hence relative perception, are those that are binded singularly to human self-centeredness. To put in other terms, the perceptions that reflect that only man’s existence and essence is first and foremost and that there is nothing else besides man that is higher, realer, and truer is what we define as human self-centeredness. You can say that that concept I am reaching to is something similar to that of the human ego, but the human ego is more of the culmination of who we are and embedding into something beyond human self-centeredness helps us reach the truth and eventually the absolutely real. But, despite that fact that is what human ego is who we are, the absolute reality is where we find who we actually are. So, the absolute reality is beyond the human ego, but the human ego that is directed towards the absolutely real is a start of finding the truth and absolutely real that is the important in our lives. In general, we can say that the goal is to unveil the maya within our lives or go beyond the relativism of our human centeredness or human ego, so we can find our true selves that is the absolutely real. But, before we go further into this discussion of what the absolutely real is, let us try to see the relation between a normal part of are human existence, such as that of suffering and evil and maya. The discussion we had about relative perception can help us come to the realization that the evil and suffering that is ever so present and real in our lives is relative to the absolutely real. It is not as real as the absolutely real, which is the realest of real, as evil and suffering are embedded in human self-centeredness. Evil, especially evil as of that perpetuated by dictators, undisciplined, unsympathetic soldiers, or even manipulated civilians, exists because of the human self-centeredness that is defined as man being first and foremost. In other words, for an individual, if man comes first and foremost, then his whims, predilections, and choices come first. So, if a human being wants to commit evil to another human being, even in the moment, despite the fact that in our contemporary society we have determined that is wrong (even the truth determines that this is wrong), it becomes a reality in this relative perception because man comes first, meaning man’s self-centered actions come first, despite what the truth really is. There is no relation to the absolutely real. The reality is only relative to the absolutely real. But, on the other hand, if the human committing the evil was embedded into the absolutely real, he would realize from the truth that the actions he is committing are wrong and not permitted or possible in the absolutely real, which would dissuade him to commit the evil action in the first place and even compel him to repent for even the thought of evil. The difference between acting in a relative perception and absolute reality is that the absolute reality makes humans realize that their human self-centeredness is lesser than the real of the absolute reality, as it is not embedded in the truth. It is almost as if there is an external agent, which we can call truth, that nulls this human self-centeredness such that humans can pursue and follow the truth and perceive the absolutely real. As a result, considering the nature of the relative to the absolute, we can say the existence of suffering and evil is relative to the absolute; specifically, suffering and evil is stitched the veil that we must remove to see the absolutely real. This is easier said than done though, as demonstrated by people who have actually reached enlightenment, such as that of the Hindu Yogis, the Christian Saints, the Muslim Sufis, and many other peoples. Also, I would like to add the following: Don’t confuse man’s self-centeredness with individuality. They are two different things. Individuality is embedded in the truth and hence absolute reality, while self-centeredness is embedded in the relative of the absolute, which is less real than the real. Individuality is considered the be the self that is the realest of real while the human ego, or a lowly form, the human self-centeredness is lesser than the realest of real. Now, since we now have a general definition of what relative perception really is, we can now go to the absolute reality, or the absolutely real, which is the realest of real. For starters, let us say it is much harder to categorize the absolutely real because it is not even possible to do so in the first place. It is beyond the comprehension of human perception of this lifetime and impossible to capture in words, but we can get a glimpse of it through practice and hence reach enlightenment, which is defined as permanently being in the absolutely real and getting out of the lesser form of relative perception. Now, the absolutely real is defined to be God, whether it be the God of the Abrahamic religions or the Brahman which is the absolute reality in the Vedic tradition. In all of these traditions, God is one. That is the absolutely real: God is one. If there are multiple gods that are defined as the sole reality, that is idolatry and hence a relative perception. But, besides the theological foundations that are ever so present, I will discuss them later in this article. I am just equating, more so concluding, that the absolutely real is God, and God is the absolutely real. They are one and the same. They are inseparable. They aren’t even separable in the first place because they are the same. They are not only the same, but beyond that: They are one. So, when talking about the absolutely real, we talk about God, which is one in the same. So, what is the absolutely real then? It is impossible to know it completely in this lifetime, but we can say that it is God’s mercy and unconditional love. But, that is not only it. It is that and also beyond that, because God, which is the absolutely real, which is the realest of real, is everywhere. If we perceive the absolutely real, which is apt to saying when we pursue the truth, God reveals himself, meaning we perceive the realest of real. To describe the absolutely real within our own lives, we can say that God reveals himself when we follow his commandments which can be defined as the religious axioms that many people follow, such as that of the ten commandments. In essence, if at the very minimum we follow these religious axioms, there is a chance that we find the absolutely real, which is God. When we align ourselves with the truth or absolute reality, God is ever so present. Now the challenge is to reach God and stay with Him forever. The challenge is to stay in the absolute reality forever. Doing a good act is a start and might help us see God more clearly, hence bringing us a glimpse of the absolutely real, but that must be done forever in this lifetime and with the right attitude, which is very difficult in our fallen human nature, as many of these ancient religious tradition come reveal, especially that of the Abrahamic religions. Now, to reach the absolutely real, we must practice as I have mentioned before. The Abrahamic religions practice having faith in God through prayer, religious ceremonies, and etc. which is easier said than done, as depicted by the Israelites who are delivered from Egypt’s slavery through God. The Hindus have certain practices such as yoga, meditation, and etc. Even the mystical side of the Abrahamic religions have certain traditions like that of the Hindus, such as that of the Sufis. But, the point here I am trying to establish is that to reach the absolute reality, it comes with practice, as we aware always compelled to fall into the relative perception, as depicted in many sacred texts, which I will discuss later in other articles. Now, this is what relative perception and absolute reality entail. We must always strive for the absolute reality, as it is realer than the relative perception we fall for. The absolutely real, which is God, is what we need to strive for. God is realer than real.
