What is this thing called life? What is the real nature of it? Why can some people walk through life with joy while others suffer?  (Photo by feintnate)  

I wrote about the true nature of reality in the Light part of Creating The New World series, but I suspect not many readers got it. So let me explain again. This is very important, foundational concept.

You in the movie of life

Have you watched a good movie in which you were so immersed that you felt like you were actually living that story? Or have you read a book that put you in the same kind of state of mind?

You identified with one of the characters, perhaps the leading character. His or her feelings felt like your own. When the situation changed, you felt their surprise and confusion. When they had to make a difficult decision, you struggled, too, as if it’ll affect your own life.

Only when the movie was over and the titles started to run with the music, you came back to yourself, sighing, “Oh, wow, what a story. . .!”

This life is like that. Your Higher Self chose a certain setting and jumped in to experience the story. Like you watch a movie.

You as the actor and audience of life

Actually the analogy works even better with live theater play than a movie. Your Higher Self chose a role and jumped in to be part of the play. At the same time, your Higher Self is the audience of the play. This is what I mean when I say our Higher Selves split part of themselves to incarnate in the physical bodies.

Most of us are so immersed in this life theater production. It feels all so real. Only when we die, we come to realize it was a play, or a movie. Some people call this condition “we have the veil” on us that hinder us to see the true nature of reality.

Is sad movie a bad movie?

Do you like sad movies or stories? I guess many of us do. Sad movies are not necessarily bad movies. Sad movies can be beautiful and we may learn a lot from them. It’s okay to watch sad movies.

Do you like action movies? I’m personally not a big fan, but I guess many of you like them. In those movies, bad guys play critical roles, right? You hate them, but then, the movie’s plot is impossible without them. That’s what those people who have hurt you in your life have done. They played their roles.

By the way, my favorite movies are romantic comedies — not the slapstick “I’ll make you laugh by all means” kind of movies but the ones that look at life with lighthearted humor. Like Lost In Translation, Love Actually, and The Birdcage. A bit of mind-bending, like Eternal Sunshine or Closer, is good, too.

What are your favorite movies? Now is that how you live or wish to live?

You as the director of life

The amazing point is you are not just the actor and the audience of this play. Your third function is to direct it. Well, I mean, you can direct it if you so wish. This is what I mean you have the power to create your life and the world.

While you are so immersed in the life play, it’s easy to forget you are also a director. But you chose your character, and this play is made spontaneously as we go. If you don’t like the story-line, then change it. Make the adversity to a rags-to-riches story or glory by overcoming the challenge story.

Being the director of your own life play doesn’t mean everything will go the way you want. Your awareness as the actor is different from your awareness as the director. (Do you think those actors really enjoy playing the scene where they get tortured or getting dumped for stupid reasons?) The life theater is dynamic and fun But it does give us a clue how we can live better.

The fun is in the process

Now let’s say there is a new movie you are interested in. Would you just read the synopsis, see the last scene, and be done with it? No, you want to spend two hours in the theater watching the movie, right?

Knowing all the outcomes of the story ahead of time spoils the fun. The fun is in the process. We took the trouble of being born in this physical world to experience all these ups and downs, excitements and serenity, interesting twists, etc.

I wrote about victim mentality and slave mentality in the Power part of the Creating The New World series. In it, I explained the telltale sign of these disempowered mindsets is the word SHOULD.

My friend emailed me saying, “I think we ask what we should do because it’s a big shortcut when we don’t know everything.” True. I’m not prohibiting the use of should. The point is we accept the uncertainty of life, to be empowered to the point that it’s really fine to go with the flow with all the unknown. This is what I mean the fun is in the process.

The secret of life

Life is a story or movie. Or a virtual reality game. (I’m not familiar with video games so I didn’t use this metaphor, but I guess it works, too. Perhaps this is why those games appeal so much to some people.)

Does this mean we don’t need to take life seriously? Absolutely not. We took the trouble of incarnation. (And oh, what a trouble it was!) We want to enjoy this fully. So live well.

At the same time, your life will be a lot easier when you notice we are only identifying with the character of this life movie, or identifying as the actor’s role. We can still enjoy the sensations of this movie, but don’t be buried in them. You are actually someone outside the movie, and you can even direct the movie the way you want it.

When you realize this true nature of life, you also notice that there is no reason to stay resentful to those who have harmed you. It’s fine to get upset at them when they harm you — that is the intention, the plot. But you don’t need to remain resentful or run to the spiritual cop to out their wrong doings. They just played their role to contribute to your life story.

I dreamed I was a butterfly. . .

Another way of saying the same thing, that life is a movie or a theater play, is “Life is a dream.” I believe this is what 4th century B.C. Taoist Master Zhuangzi (also spelled Chuang Tsu or Chou) meant by this story:

Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.

Both in the eastern and western worlds, a butterfly is often a metaphor of a soul.

You will wake up from this dream when you leave your body. However, just as some people can do lucid dreaming, you can become aware of the true nature of this life and “reality” while you are in it.

From a butterfly dreaming it’s Akemi, with Love ^_^