What is Real?

I think that we would all lead fuller lives if we could come to the realization that there is nothing permanent in our physical lives. Every day there are hundreds of assumptions that we make as we continuously take things for granted. We expect an orderly progression of events in our lives and anticipate that they will take place in a linear fashion. And yet, material possessions come and go, our loved ones are suddenly no more, and our lives change in an instant. Many believe (as do I) that the only constant, the only thing that has permanence, is our consciousness (mind or soul if you prefer). The concept sounds absurd to those who believe only in what can be perceived by their physical senses. After all, a rock is permanent, and the mind is simply an epiphenomenon of the brain. But if it’s not, we need to flip the switch on how we think. What if our physical world is not concrete but illusive? What if, seemingly by faulty logic, our present lives are the only part of a continuum of life where nothing is as it seems? Perhaps when our mind moves to another realm, we can only then discover the constant in our lives. Chaos turns to order as we realize that it is consciousness that is the ground of all being. Living our present lives with the knowledge that all things are temporary enables us to treasure what is put before us. Then, and only then, can we love more deeply and truly appreciate that which may disappear tomorrow.