Monday, 10 August 2026

Manmohan Sethumadhavan

Monday, August 10, 2026

If everything is an appearance

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When mystical claims are questioned, the reply is often: If all experiences are unreal - this world, the brain, science, everything - how is my mystical experience more unreal? Yes. If everything is only appearance, then the conversation ends right there. You are an appearance. I am an appearance. The question you just asked is an appearance. There is nothing left to prove or disprove, and no one left to prove it to. But we are speaking on the relative level, where - we already accept a shared world, we need food to live, words have meaning, and not every private story is equal. On that level: -- If I say I keep a dragon in my backyard, you will not accept it. -- If I say you owe me $1000 from the other world yesterday, you will not accept it. -- And still if you say “everything is appearance, so why is my samadhi less real?”, then you and I are also appearances. So, to whom are you speaking? You cannot use “all is appearance” only to protect your funny private experience, then switch back to the relative level the moment you want to argue. Either everything is appearance and the discussion is over, or we stay on the relative plane where evidence, consistency, and shared checks still matter. You cannot have both.

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