Q: Why does everything seem so real if it’s just an illusion created by our mind according to Buddhism?

A: Everything seems so real because our minds are incredibly skilled at creating and interpreting experiences. From a Buddhist perspective, the world we experience is seen as an illusion, not in the sense that it doesn’t exist, but rather that our perceptions of it are distorted by our mental conditioning and attachments.

Our minds construct our reality based on sensory input and past experiences. This is like a movie projector casting images on a screen, making everything seem vivid and real. However, if we take a closer look, we see that these images are simply light and shadows—nothing more. In the same way, the things we perceive as solid and real are actually transient and subject to change.

In Buddhism, this is captured beautifully in the “Verses on the Faith-Mind” by Sengcan, where it says, “To return to the root is to find the essence but to pursue appearances or ‘enlightenment’ is to miss the source”. What this means is that chasing after our perceptions and opinions only leads us further from understanding the true nature of reality.

It’s actually our attachments to these perceptions that give them their seeming reality. We’re constantly judging, labeling, and clinging to what we see, hear, and feel. This attachment creates a sense of solidity and permanence that isn’t really there. In other words, the mind’s habit of categorizing experiences into good and bad, desirable and undesirable, makes them appear more concrete than they actually are.

Buddhism teaches that everything is interconnected and impermanent. By understanding this, we can begin to see through the illusions created by our minds. For example, imagine watching clouds in the sky. They take on various shapes and forms, sometimes looking like familiar objects or faces. But in reality, they’re just clouds—ephemeral and ever-changing. Our thoughts and perceptions are much like these clouds.

Oh, basically, the more we cling to these illusions, the more we suffer. Letting go of these attachments allows us to experience the world as it is, not as our mind wants it to be. This doesn’t mean we reject the world or our experiences, but rather that we see them clearly, without the distortions of our desires and fears.

So, when you find yourself caught up in the seeming reality of things, remember to question those perceptions. Ask yourself: is this truly how things are, or is this just my mind projecting its own stories and judgments? By doing this, you start to peel back the layers of illusion and get closer to experiencing things as they truly are.

Phan Y Ly