We Cannot Go Beyond the Images in Our Brains
Since we've been using our five senses since the day we were born, we
may never have thought that the "external" world could be different from
what our senses show us.
Human knowledge is formed by the sensory perceptions we acquire through
what we see with our eyes, what hear with our ears, and feel with our
hands. In other words, each man lives in his "personal world." Thousands
of times, we have met with millions of details like the stars in the firmament,
the Earth we walk on, the billions who populate the world, every living
creature in our environment, the furniture in our homes, house, the chair
you are sitting on right now and the book you hold in our hand. But all
of these are perceptions of your own personal world. No human being has
ever been able to step outside the world he's experiencing. Whatever a
man does, he cannot alter the fact that his entire life, even his body
too, are perceptions and that he cannot deal with their originals.
Everyone on it will pass away; but the Face
of your Lord will remain, Master of Majesty and Generasity. (Qur'an,
55:26-27)
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The frames from the film shown opposite show Morpheus explaining to Neo
what the Matrix is. During their dialogue, Morpheus compares this system
to a screen that prevents Neo from seeing:
Morpheus : Let me tell you why you are here. You
are here because you know something. What you know you can't explain,
but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, felt that something
is wrong with the world. You don't know what, but it's there. Like a splinter
in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you
to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo : The Matrix?
Morpheus : Do you want to know what it is? The
Matrix is everywhere. It's all around us. Even now, even in this very
room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on
your television. You can feel it when you go to work . . . when you pay
your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind
you from the truth.
Until
Neo is awakened and rescued from the capsule he was in, he remains unaware
of the imaginary world that's been imposed on him. Every aspect of his
life was part of this system; and feedback from all those around him suggested
that this life was reality. For this reason, it takes Neo a while to become
persuaded and comprehend that his life, which he thought real until then,
was really a dream.
Today, the same is true for some of those who are made aware of the true
nature of matter. People who believe in matter's absolute existence are
positive that they are dealing with "real things" in the external world
and dismiss this theory as illogical. But what has been revealed here
is as certain as the laws of physics, regardless of the objections that
other people may raise.
Some of our explanations are compatible with these scenes from The Matrix:
- All events and objects that we encounter in real life-buildings, people,
cities, cars, places-in fact, everything we see, hold, touch, smell,
taste and hear-come into existence as visions and feelings in our brains.
We are taught to think that these images and feelings are caused by a
solid world outside, where material things exist. In reality, however,
we never see or touch real, existing materials. In other words, every
material entity in our lives that we believe exists is in fact, only a
vision created in our brains. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.10)
- If you think heedfully, you can sense that the intelligent being
that sees, hears, touches and thinks, reading this book at this moment,
is only a soul who watches the perceptions called "matter" on a screen.
One who comprehends this is considered to have moved away from the domain
of the material world that deceives a major part of humanity, and to
have entered the domain of true existence. . . . (The
Evolution Deceit, 7th edition, p.247)
Our Eyes Cannot See- Vision Occurs in the Brain
In line with our lifelong conditioning, we believe that we regard the
whole world through our eyes. We could say that our eyes are the windows
that open up the world for us. But according to the scientific explanation
for vision, the truth is not so! We do not see with our eyes. The millions
of optic nerve cells only fulfill their role as a "cable," transmitting
to our brain the signals which then become "vision."
The hero of The Matrix is misled to believe that he's living a truly
vivid life, whereas he is really stretched out on a chair, his eyes closed,
with wires connecting him to the machine. All the bright, colorful, vivid
images he's ever seen were shown to him without the need for physical
eyes. Likewise, he experiences the sensations of moving, running, and
fighting without using any of his muscles. He just thinks he's doing so,
while actually lying on his chair.
When Neo returns to real life, he is shocked to realize that until then,
he's been living in a glass cylinder, albeit in an imaginary world created
by electrical impulses to the brain. In that virtual world, he was a computer
programmer, whereas he was actually sleeping in the room, as shown in
the accompanying photographs. In other words, everything he thought to
be real life was actually an illusion.
Neo : What are you doing?
Morpheus : Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding
them.
Neo : Why do my eyes hurt?
Morpheus : You've never used them before.
As this dialogue shows, Neo was under the impression of living a real
life without his ever using his eyes or muscles, thanks to artificial
signals being transmitted to his brain. In spite of never having used
his vision, he experienced a truly bright and vivid and colorful world.
Likewise, without ever using his muscles, he always thought himself to
be on the move.

Both East and West belong to God, so wherever
you turn, the Face of God is there. God is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.
(Qur(an,2:115) |
This situation is more or less the same for every human being. For instance,
when you watch people shopping in a supermarket, you do not see them or
the supermarket with your eyes:This sight is formed not in front of your
eyes, but in the vision center at the back of your brain. Therefore, it
will be possible for you to see the same sight by stimulating the relevant
area of your brain with artificial impulses, with no need for using your
eyes.
Some passages from our books are relevant to the frames from the film
shown above:
When you look out of the window, you think that you see an image with
your eyes, as this is the way that you have been taught to think. However,
in reality this is not how it works, because you do not see the world
with your eyes. You see the image created in your brain. This is not a
prediction, nor a philosophical speculation, but the scientific truth.
(Matter: The Other Name
for Illusion, p.12)
As we know, the electric signals coming from cells in our retinas are
transformed into an image in our brains. For example, the brain interprets
some electrical signals coming to the visual center in the brain as a
field filled with sunflowers. In reality, it is not the eye that is "seeing."
Therefore, if we are not seeing with our eyes, what is it that does see
the electrical signals as a sunflower field, at the back of our brain,
in a pitch dark place, without any need for any eyes, retina, lens, visual
nerves or pupil-and still enjoys the view?
.
. . Who is it, then, that perceives the sights in a brain as if watching
television, and becomes excited, happy, sad, nervous, or feels pleasure,
anxiety or curiosity while watching them? Who is responsible for the consciousness
that can interpret everything seen and everything felt?
. . . What is the entity in the brain that has consciousness and, throughout
life, can see all the sights before him in a dark, quiet head; that can
think, reach conclusions, and make final decisions?
It is obvious that the brain, made up of unconscious water, lipids, proteins
and atoms, does not perceive all this and is responsible for consciousness.
There must be a being beyond the brain.
. . . That entity inside the brain that says, "I am seeing" sights inside
the brain, and "I am hearing" sounds inside the brain and aware of its
own existence; and which says, "I am me," is the soul God has given to
human beings. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion: 81-82)
All Flavors are Formed in the Brain
As with all the other senses, taste can be explained in a similar way.
In the small bumps of the tongue are the taste receptors, which respond
to the flavors of salty, sweet, sour and bitter. Following various processes,
these stimuli are converted into electrical signals and transmitted to
the brain, where they are perceived as tastes. The taste of cheese, an
orange, or a cake you like to eat is in reality the brain's interpretation
of electrical signals.
In The Matrix, this point is dramatized in a conversation taking place
at the table:
Apoc : Breakfast of champions, Neo. (Neo is served
a wheat-like food)
Mouse : Close your eyes, it feels like you're eating
runny eggs. You know what it reminds me of? Tastee Wheat. Did you ever
eat Tastee Wheat?
Switch : No, but technically neither did you.
Mouse : That's exactly my point. Exactly. Because
you have to wonder how do the machines really know what Tastee Wheat tasted
like? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tastee Wheat tasted
like actually tasted like oatmeal or tuna fish. That makes you wonder.
Take chicken, for example. Maybe they didn't know what to make it taste
like which is why it tastes like everything.
Dozer : It's a single-celled protein combined with
synthetic aminos, vitamins and minerals. Everything the body needs.
In another scene, one character who knows the reality-that the Matrix
system keeps them in an artificially created world-describes the food
he's eating:
Mr. Reagan : You know, I know this steak doesn't
exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my
brain that it is juicy and delicious.
If nerves connecting the taste buds to the
brain were severed, a person would not taste anything at all.
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He knows that a computer program makes his whole life appear to him as
if it was real. Therefore, he says that the taste of the beefsteak he's
eating doesn't exist in reality, that his brain only perceives this is
so. But he also says that he enjoys it, just as if it was real. Some of
the similar passages in our books are as follows:
- Everything we see, touch, hear, and perceive as "matter," "the world"
or "the universe" is nothing but electrical signals occurring in our
brain.
Someone eating a fruit, in fact confronts not the actual fruit but its
perception in the brain. Actually, the object the person considers to
be a "fruit" consists of an electrical impression in the brain concerning
that fruit's shape, taste, smell, and texture. If the visual nerves to
the brain were suddenly severed, the image of the fruit would suddenly
disappear. Any disconnection in the nerves from the receptors in the nose
to the brain would completely interrupt the sense of smell. Simply put,
the fruit is nothing but the brain's interpretation of electrical signals.
(The
Evolution Deceit, 7th edition, p.222)
- An image of a cake will be linked with the taste of the sugar, all
of which occurs in the brain. Everything sensed is related to the cake
you like so much. The taste you are conscious of after eating your cake,
with a full appetite, is nothing more than an effect generated in your
brain caused by electrical signals. You are aware of only what your
brain interprets from the external stimuli, and can never reach the
original object. For example you cannot see, smell, or taste the actual
chocolate itself. If the nerves from your tongue to your brain were
severed, it would be impossible for the taste of foods to reach your
brain, and you would lose your sense of taste entirely. Certainly the
tastes you are aware of seem extraordinarily real, but that should not
deceive you. This is the scientific explanation of the matter. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, pp.40-41)
- In the same way, nobody has been able to taste original mint. The
taste someone would sense as mint is only a perception which occurs
in the brain. This is because the person cannot touch the original of
the mint, see the original of the mint or smell or taste the actual
mint. In conclusion, throughout our lives, we live with copy-perceptions
that are shown to us. However, these copies are so realistic that we
never realize that they are copies. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.48)
The taste you get when you eat fruit or a chocolate is the brain's interpretation
of electrical signals. You can never reach the object outside; you can
never see, smell or taste the chocolate itself. For instance, if nerves
from your tongue that travel to your brain are cut, no flavors you eat
will reach your brain; you will completely lose your sense of taste. At
this point, we come across another point: We can never be sure that a
food tastes the same to us as it does to another person, or that a voice
we hear sounds the same as when another person hears it. (The
Evolution Deceit, 7th edition, pp.220-221)
All Smells Form in the Brain
The smells you perceive do not reach you from any distance. You mistake
the effects taking place in your olfactory center are the smells of some
external matter. Just as the sight of a rose occurs inside your vision
center, likewise the rose's smell "happens" in the brain's center for
smell. You cannot know the outside existence of a rose or its scent: The
external world that our senses present to us is really nothing more than
the totality of electrical signals reaching our brains. The brain interprets
these signals throughout our lives, and so throughout our lives, we never
realize that we're wrong to believe that we're interacting with actual
matter "out there."
One scene of The Matrix questions the reality of smell, but on the other
hand, notes its overpowering presence:
Agent : I hate this place, this zoo, this prison-this reality, whatever
you want to call it. I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell. If there
is such a thing, I feel saturated by it.
From this statement from the Matrix system's agent, we can deduce that
it's impossible to determine whether or not smell, just like all our other
senses, has a reality all its own. Our books also explore this subject:
- Volatile molecules emitted by vanilla or roses reach the receptors
in the epithelium of the nose and become involved in an interaction
that is transmitted as electrical signals to the brain and perceived
as smell. Everything we smell, be it nice or noxious, is nothing but
the brain's perception of volatile molecules' interactions, transformed
into electrical signals. You perceive the scent of perfume, a flower,
a food that you like, the sea, as well as other odors you like or dislike
in your brain. The molecules themselves never reach the brain. Just
as with sound and vision, what reaches your brain is simply electrical
signals. In other words, all the odors that you have assumed, since
you were born, to belong to external objects are simply electrical signals
that you feel through your sense organs. (The
Evolution Deceit, 7th edition, p.220)
- There is no need for any external source to form an image in your
mind. This same situation holds true for the sense of smell. Just as
in your dreams or imagination, you can become aware of a smell that
doesn't really exist, you can't be sure whether the objects you smell
in real life really do exist outside of you. Even if you do assume so,
you can never deal with the original objects themselves. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.40)
How Can You Prove That You're Not Dreaming Right Now?
Smells from the external world, which we've
known since birth, are simply electrical signals received through
our nostrils.
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When people awaken from a dream, straightaway they realize what they
experienced was a dream, but never question what they call "real life,"
beginning with the "waking scene." They never consider that for some reason,
it might possibly be a dream itself. We perceive what we call "real life'"
identically as we do our dreams: Both are visions of the mind. As long
as we are not awakened from a dream, we're not aware that it is one. Only
on awakening can we say, "Ah, it was only a dream."
How can you ascertain that what you're seeing now is not a dream? Couldn't
you be considering this moment as real simply because you haven't yet
woken up? It's very possible that one day, we'll waken up following a
longer dream than usual and have to face up to this reality. We have no
evidence to the contrary!
In your dreams, you hold objects in your hands and see with your eyes,
but there are really no hands or eyes, nor anything to behold or hold.
There is no material basis for all this outside the brain; clearly you
are being fooled. But what separates real life and the dream world? Is
real life continuous, and dreams seen only in intervals? Or in the dream
world, do perhaps a different set of cause-effect rules operate? Fundamentally,
these differences are not significant, because in the end, both lives
are lived in the brain. If we can perfectly live an unreal life in our
dreams, couldn't the same be true for the so-called "real" world we live
in? When we wake up from one dream, we can't be certain that another new,
longer-lasting one called real life doesn't begin. Our only basis for
concluding that dreams are imaginary and the world is real are habit and
conditioning. One day, we might get woken from the life we think we're
living in this world, just as when we're woken from a dream.
This important subject is explored in The Matrix, where Neo finds himself
in an ongoing confusion between real life and a dream world. In one scene,
he sees his face split three ways in a cracked mirror. But then the cracks
in the mirror disappear, and he sees himself reflected whole, as he would
expect. Still stunned from this experience, he turns and asks the others
whether they also saw this transformation. To check the reality of his
experience, he touches the mirror-which immediately turns into a sticky
substance that starts to cover his body in a metallic coating. He even
feels the coolness of this substance on his body. But even though he doesn't
consider this to be possible, it's realistic enough for him to lose his
equilibrium. The wise Morpheus asks him what the difference is between
the real and the dream world, with the intention of helping Neo not be
fooled by what he sees and experiences.
Morpheus : Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that
you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream,
Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the
real world?
Neo : This can't be . . .
Morpheus : Be what? Be real?
Below
are some extracts from our previous books on this subject:
- A person falling in a dream feels it with all his body, even though
he is lying immobile in bed. Even sleeping in a very hot room, one might
dream of slipping in a puddle, getting soaked and feeling chilled by
a cold wind. But in such a case, there is neither puddle nor wind: One
experiences the wetness and cold as if one were awake. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.62)
- A person sleeping in his house can see himself on a rapidly turning
wagon in a fair ground while dreaming. He can realistically sense the
wind that he would experience on a fast-moving wagon in the real world.
(Matter: The Other Name
for Illusion, p.63)
Another Matrix scene draws attention to the similarity between dreams
and the real life, in which Neo addresses customers coming to his front
door to buy computer chips. In the adjoining stills, Neo just can't tell
whether or not he has woken up. When he does wake up, he hears the alarm
clock ringing. He is in his room and he sees his desk and his computer.
But what he experienced in his dream was so realistic that he can't be
sure it was only a dream. Customers coming to his door tell him that he
doesn't look too good, because of Neo's confusion over his contradictory
experiences. He tries to share this duality he witnessed by asking them,
"Ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or dreaming?"
Actually,
the duality Neo experiences is quite natural; every thinking person can
become aware of it. Many passages in our books deal with this issue, of
which the following are only a few:
- What would happen if we didn't wake up and kept on dreaming? Would
we be able to realize that we weren't actually dealing with the originals
of anything we lived and saw in our dream?
Of course not. Unless we wake up and discover that we have been sleeping,
we can never realize that we have been dreaming, and will spend our entire
dream supposing that this is our real life. So how can we prove that our
real life is not a dream? Do we have any evidence to the contrary-that
one day we'll depart from the currently visible life and find ourselves
watching images of our present life from some different location? (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.67)
Morpheus, who is aware of the reality, repeatedly advises Neo not to
believe everything he sees, because one must investigate reality in order
to understand it. In the following dialogue from the film, Morpheus points
out that Neo must question everything he perceives before believing in
it:
Morpheus : I can see it in your eyes. You have
the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to
wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth.
We too must question the reality of the world we live in. We must come
to realize that we'll never be able reach the actual world that we believe
exists outside ourselves and from "inside" here, we must find our true
purpose in this world.
The reality-that we are not interacting with matter itself-is frequently
brought to our attention in the film; below are some excerpts from our
books on the subject:
- People usually do not include or rather, do not want to include everything
in the concept of the "external world."
. . . If you think sincerely and boldly on this issue, you'll come to
realize that in fact, your house and furniture in it, your car-perhaps
recently bought, your office, your jewels, bank account, wardrobe, your
spouse and children, your colleagues and all else that you possess are
included in this imaginary external world projected to you. Everything
around you that you perceive with your five senses is part of this "imaginary
world"-the voice of your favorite singer, the hard chair you sit on, a
perfume whose smell you like, the Sun that keeps you warm, a flower of
beautiful colors, a bird flying past your window, a speedboat moving swiftly
on the water, your fertile garden, the computer at your job, or your hi-fi
with the world's most advanced technology. . .
This is the reality. The world is only a collection of images created
to test man. All through their limited lives, people are tested with perceptions
bearing no reality. (The
Evolution Deceit, 7th edition, p.232)
Think for a moment about those who are swept away by material greed:
What do they value most? A fine house, luxurious things, ostentatious
jewelry, the latest model car, big bank accounts, a yacht . . . These
people are afraid that they might be observing on a screen in their brains
all the things they possess, and that they will never actually possess
these things.
Like it or not, they are living in a world of facsimiles composed in
their brains and cannot possibly have any relationship with the external
world. Sounds, light and smells cannot enter the skull; but only electrical
impulses coming from the sense organs. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.106)
- Everything a person thinks he possesses-house, car, family, job and
friends -all are composed of images and sensations that occur in the
brain. Anyone who understands this will also understand that the One
Who has created these images in his brain is God, to Whom all things
belong. For that reason, those who are emotionally attached to the life
of this world greatly fear this reality. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.105)
The Reality of Timelessness
Time is a relative concept, based on comparisons we make between the
events we experience. For example, someone gets in a car, turns on the
ignition and puts his foot on the gas pedal. After driving a certain distance,
he parks at the curb. Making comparisons between these actions, he thinks
that a certain amount of time has passed between them, and thus he obtains
a sense of duration.
Because we perceive everything sequentially, in a certain order, we come
to believe that time flows forward. For instance, a leaf always falls
down, not up. And raindrops fall from the sky; we never see them moving
upwards, drop by drop. In this scenario, a leaf still on the tree is the
present. Its falling to the ground is the future.
But if the data in our memories were to be rewound like a film on tape,
the future-in other words, the leaf on the ground-would be past, and its
being still on the tree would lie in the future. As we can see from this
example, time is relative, dependent on the viewer's perception. A great
span of thousands of years in our view, can be less than an instant in
another dimension.
The
Matrix points out that alongside all other perceptions, time is relative
too. Neo comes to realize that he was wrong about time. In the frames
shown below, Neo finds himself inside an American-ship built in 2060 designed
for land and air transport. The fashionable garb he wore in the Matrix
is replaced with worn clothing, and the 20th-century world he lived in
has made way for a derelict environment.
Neo : Morpheus, what's happened to me? What is
this place?
Morpheus : More important than "what" is "when."
Neo : When?
Morpheus : You believe it's year 1999 when in fact,
it's closer to 2199. I can't tell you exactly what year it is, because
we honestly don't know. There's nothing I can say that will explain it
for you.
As with everything else experienced with artificial stimuli, it is possible
to alter someone's perception of time. From our books, here are some passages
on the subject of timelessness:
- Since
time consists of perception, it depends entirely on the perceiver and
is therefore relative.
The speed at which time flows differs, according to the references we
use to measure it, because the human body has no natural clock to indicate
precisely how fast time passes . . .
Time's relativity is plainly experienced in dreams. Although a dream
seems to last for hours, in fact it lasts for only a few minutes, or even
a few seconds. (Timelessness
and the Reality of Time, p.62)
- . . . that time is a relative notion; that it is not static and unchanging
as materialists long believed; and that it is a changing form of perception
were also discovered in this century. The relativity of time and space
has been proven by Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which laid the basis
of today's modern physics.
To sum up, time and space are not absolute concepts. They have a beginning,
and God created them from nothing. God, Who has created time and space,
is certainly not dependent on them. God has defined, determined and created
every moment of time in timelessness . . . (Timelessness
and the Reality of Time, p.10)
- . . . Being bound by time, such an incident seems impossible for
man. Yet in the sight of God, time does not exist. As stressed earlier,
past and present are all one single moment; just as a videotape cassette
includes all the action, moment by moment, in a film. After watching
a film, it is possible to rewind and re-watch it. The same is likewise
true for daily events; by the will of God, it is possible to see past
events again. We only need God's making us experience once more the
same perceptions belonging to these events. (Eternity
Has Already Begun, 95)
Our Memories are Also Imaginary

He will say, "How many years did you
tarry on the earth?" They will say, "We tarried there for a day
or part of a day. Ask those able to count!" He will say, "You only
tarried there for a little while if you did but know!" (Qur'an,
23: 112-114)
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Upon Neo's return to the virtual environment of the Matrix, after discovering
that what he thought to be his life was only imagined, he is simply amazed
by this environment. Throughout the car journey, Neo remembers events
of his past, but is perplexed to consider that none of it was real. Everything
he thought was a memory of his past, had been planted in his memory artificially.
Morpheus : Unbelievable, isn't it?
Neo : God . . .
Trinity : What?
Neo : used to eat there . . . Really good noodles.
I have these memories, from my life. None of them happened.
Our books offer some explanations on this subject:
Because of suggestions we receive, we believe we live in separate divisions
of time called past, present, and future. However, the only reason we
have a concept of "past" (as we explained earlier) is that various things
have been placed in our memories. For example, the moment we enrolled
in primary school is a bit of information in our memory and therefore,
we perceive it as an event in the past. Because future events are not
in our memories, however, we regard things we don't yet know about as
what we'll experience in the future. Just as the past has been experienced
from our point of view, so has the future. But because these events have
not been given to our memories, we cannot yet know them. (Matter:
The Other Name for Illusion, p.141)
Similarly, the sweet taste you discovered in chocolate when you were
only five years old, the anxiety you felt on the first day of the primary
school, the boredom you felt in one of your high school classes, the difficult
equations your physics teacher wrote on the blackboard, the grief you
felt on losing a close friend in a traffic accident, the pride you took
in your academic accomplishments, the glow of happiness you felt when
you succeeded at something you had strived for-in brief, all your experiences
and feelings remain just as they were; not simply kept in your memory.
You perceive your memory as simply the past. Though these scenes exist
right now, the brain does not perceive them… Believing them bound by a
steady, unvarying time flow from the past to the future, people assume
their lives are divided into distinct sections of past, present and future…However,
knowing that every living thing, every event and object is created eternally,
frame by frame-just like the frames making up a roll of film-and brought
into being simultaneously, will make this easier to comprehend. (Eternity
Has Already Begun, pp.79-80)
The Conclusion We Reach from This Reality
Outside the brain exists a world we call matter, evoking sensations of
solidity and visibility. But you can never reach this world with your
senses. Every human being watches a world that takes shape in his brain,
touches this world in his brain and listens to its sounds in his brain.
God lets every human being watch this material world as a vision in his
brain adding to it solidity and hardness, to the point that this vision
is perceived as real. Imam Rabbani explained this reality, proven in the
twentieth century by scientific evidence, in great detail. In one of his
letters, he wrote:
Nothing exists in truth and on the outside except the Almighty God. With
His power, He has displayed in the appearance of the beings He created
the perfection of His names and attributes. That means that He created
matter in the sphere of perception and illusion. Thus matter exists as
an illusion and continues to exist in our imaginations. Therefore, matter
exists because it appears to be so in the imagination. Because God Almighty
allows these images to continue and gives substantiality to the structure
of matter, which He keeps from vanishing. Because He made eternal processes
dependent on these, illusonary beings continue to seem real. (Imam Rabbani,
Maktubat-i Rabbani (Letters of Rabbani), vol. 2, letter 44)
The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded created great
controversy. Many TV channels, magazines, and newspapers discussed
the scientific facts of matter in relation to these films' subject.
One of the foremost reasons why the film attracted the interest
of millions, is their awareness of-and pondering on-this subject's
importance. Newsweek; Dec, 30, 02/Jan, 6, 03
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Every human being must reflect most seriously upon the reality revealed
here, because everyone who ignores it, is fooled for the duration of his
life by a perception appearing on one small area of the brain, which he
believes to be real. For example, a man becomes vain and arrogant to think
that he owns the buildings appearing on one portion of his brain, forgetting
that one day, he too will die. In the brain of someone else, the perception
of being destitute leaves him hopeless and depressed. One who loses the
visualization of money in his brain becomes instantly devastated. Someone
else who sees-in his brain-his car's paintwork scratched becomes angry,
and his love of property drives him frantic.
In
reality, none of these people is any different, one from the other. Seeing
one's self poor or rich, or seeing one's car being scratched, is an image
forming in the brain. No one ever can see or know what lies outside his
brain. Only God, Who creates the world inside-and also outside-our brains,
knows this.
People who are ignorant or unaware of this reality or those do not want
to acknowledge the very clear truth, will always live in error. They are
comparable to someone watching a play or movie in the belief that it's
real and therefore, wants to be part of it. No matter how much the audience
around him try to persuade him or show him the truth, he will always pretend
not to understand.
Without exception, every human being will understand this truth, comprehend,
and acknowledge it one day. This moment will come to everyone upon his
death, when his brain's perception of life in this world will give way
to the perception of death, judgment day, and the hereafter. As God revealed
in the Qur'an, death will be like awaking from sleep, like proceeding
from a dream to reality. One will move on to the true, endless life; and
the perception of this life will become much clearer too. God, the Lord
of all the worlds, reveals this reality in the verses:
They will say, "Alas for us! Who has raised us
from our resting-place? This is what the All-Merciful promised us. The
Messengers were telling the truth." (Qur'an, 36: 52)
"You were heedless of this, so We have stripped
you of your covering, and today your sight is sharp." (Qur'an, 50: 22)
In one of his hadith, our Prophet (peace be upon him)-a role model of
trustworthiness, knowledge and wisdom-pointed out this reality when he
said, "Humans are asleep, they are awakened ith death." (Imam Ghazali)
… We have stripped you of your covering and
today your sight is sharp (Qur'an, 50: 22)
Return to your Lord, well-pleasing and well-pleased! (Qur'an, 89:
28)
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Reality is the life after death. Earth is an imaginary world shown to
us on a little area of our brains, just like a dream. It is an enormous
and heedless error to be misled by this imaginary world, forgetting to
ponder the real, infinite life to come. Those who refuse to recognize
this fact during this life will suffer great remorse in the hereafter.
When they realize that the people, properties, ranks and offices-to which
they were devotedly attached throughout their lives; which they blindly
pursued by believing that they were real;which they associated with God
by forgetting Him and the hereafter-are actually only imaginary and images
in their minds. They will be devastated to see all the things they thought
would exist forever falling, one by one, by the wayside. In the Qur'an,
God reveals their confessions in the hereafter:
Then they will be asked, "Where are those besides
God you associated with Him?" And they will reply, "They have forsaken
us. Or rather, we were not calling to anything at all before." That is
how God misguides the disbelievers. (Qur'an, 40: 73-74)
... Such people's portion of the Book will catch up with
them, so that when Our messengers come to them to take them in death,
saying, "Where are those you called upon besides God?" they will say,
"They have left us in the lurch," testifying against themselves that they
were disbelieving people. (Quran, 7: 37)
Every single person who refuses to acknowledge and ponder this reality
in this life can well be saying these same things, experiencing this same
irreversible regret in the hereafter. Those who lose themselves in this
worldly life, which God shows us just like a dream; who think that this
life is the only real one and that death is its end, will wake from their
sleep of ignorance, leave their dreams behind with their death, and see
the real truth. On the other hand, every sincere, carefully thinking person
will realize the reality while still on Earth and make a genuine effort
to win his life to come in the hereafter.
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