The Effort is to Defictionalize

Stories have become so real that there is no space for real reality in life.

Our reality is a derivative of time. The more time we spent in a particular state of being the more real it becomes. That’s why religion, money, and country are the three biggest realities in our life. We have never stepped out of it since birth.

The birth of civilization

Anthropological studies suggest that human foragers roamed vast swathes of land but in groups that were limited in size, not more than 150 in number. Out of six species of Humans that existed simultaneously, only the Sapiens survived, which is us. The cause is widely attributed to our ability to create fiction.

It once began with the development of our superior linguistic ability. Gossiping is believed to be the first cohesive glue to bind society together. However, its reach was limited to a group of a certain size only. Sapiens grew because of our ability to pool knowledge, resources, and skills. And it happened because we learned to live in a group of thousands of individuals, a watershed moment in evolution propped up by the cognitive revolution.

We came together because we created and believed in common stories (God, religion, mythology, folklore)which connected us instinctively. We became the beads of the invented thread of belongingness.

Over generations, it took various forms; religion is one such collective mental formation. Then various rulers came who created geographical entities which evolved to form nations. We are heavily conditioned in favor of loving our nation than loving our planet, trees, and rivers.

Money is another invention of society whose value is assigned only by our collective allegiance. It soon climbed up the hierarchy of importance and became the most respected common denominator for all.

Fiction masquerading as reality

Most of our dollars come from corporations that we work for. These entities, too, are a work of fiction called ‘Legal fiction’ made real by another common fiction which is corporate law, human rights, economic and judicial systems.

Is beauty perception real?

Research says that notions of beauty change widely with time. A tanned female in the early 20th century wasn’t beautiful as it alludes to peasant background, not an elite profession. As industries grew farming became more sophisticated, owners grew affluent. In came the tanned skin association with affluence, someone who has time to lay around on beaches, sip beer and run corporations. We see prosperity in beauty.

When I was in school, success in my country was having a white-collar job, driving a good car, owning a house, and getting a decent girl to marry. Today’s millennials are not driven, even in a developing country like ours, by these ideals. Possessing less and living experience-rich life are new esteem drivers.

Even family is also a work of collective convenience. As a forager, we lived in close-knit groups where every male had fatherly instincts since there was no way to know who is a biological father. It worked very well, every male believed that the child has all the qualities of every male member.

Even today, in two not-so-distant places in India, polygamy, and polyandry, both are in vogue. One considers the other’s way as unsanctimonious.

What is the real reality then?

I’m currently living in this forest range in north India. I live in an eco-lodge located on the banks of a burbling river flanked by a densely forested Himalayan range. I do short excursions daily and long treks every 3rd day.

The deodar trees, river stream, beetles and birds, snow, and mountains are real. Our connection with them is also absolutely real.

Our ancestors lived in forests, our DNA carries that memory. There is a primordial connection with the elements which gets into full swing as imagined realities take a seat in the cerebellum, the backside of the brain.

In retrospect, When I see myself driving to the office, getting myself worked up in professional confrontations, or taking the career swings too close to heart, I see it like events happening to a character in cinema. Both realities imagined and real coexist but the viewer is at a pedestal stationed in real reality.

Can the fiction be emptied?

“The beauty of this mountain is breathtaking”. This sentence means that — The beauty was so striking that it took the breath away. So for an instance maybe, thoughts vanished, even the consciousness of breath went away. Such instances happen to all of us, unconsciously though. Those are the moments when we feel completely alive.

The next moment thought enters and says — Can I make this moment permanent? Or remarks that — This mountain is better than the previous one!

This is when fiction, a load of memory from the past, sets in and spoils the beauty. So the real question is — Is it possible to see things or situations with a fresh set of eyes and a new mind?

It happens on its own when we are confronted with life-threatening situations or when something big happens for the first time. I once did bungee jumping despite having the fear of heights. While falling the level of alertness was unprecedented. When I reflect I see a blank, uncluttered, unconditioned mind even though it lasted only a few seconds.

It is possible to see things as a proverbial first man would have seen, without any words (mostly adjectives). Words are carriers of fiction.

These are the few steps that have helped me defictionalize my life to some extent:-

• Spending time on long exhausting nature treks is a terrific help to uncondition.
• Seeing an object or person just as is, without using words to describe.
• Remember the moments when thoughts stopped or being cognizant of the silent spaces between two thoughts.
• Seeing myself as someone else. A strong association with self strengthens the bond with imagined reality.
• Sitting in silence, observing the breath. Breath is one object available to all which is totally free from all fiction. An absolute reality.

The understanding, classification, and observation of fiction as real reality is the root cause of all unrest. A vast space in our life is occupied by imagined realities, we may never avoid its tremendous force but for sure we can put a check.