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Plato's Allegory of the Cave

2010-06-17 06:04 PM

ChristyR
Denton, TX
Posts: 197

Ever considered the fact that we are in "the cave" so the speak? And that the true nature of reality isn't in the habit of revealing itself to us. There's a video of 'Plato's Allegory of the Cave' in the video section on this site if you're not familiar. The story is similiar to the idea of the movie "The Matrix". Just wondering because it seems that every complex operating system hides its true interworkings, i.e. the engine of car is covered by the hood, the board of computer is encapsulated by a plastic case.

2010-07-06 06:04 PM

logos235
Englewood, FL
Posts: 11

Indeed I have considered Plato's allegory of the cave quite seriously. You are quite right to point out that the Matrix was a retelling of this classic mind bender. It is tied in directly with the difference between sensation and perception. Sensation deals with the intitial contact of that which is sensed with that which does the sensing . In the case of vision light waves are focused and directed against the retina and transmitted via the optic nerve into the brain where it is processed and changed/translated into a perception of the visual field around you. So perception then is what is left over after the sensation has been filtered and processed though your nervous system. It is in fact an artifact produced directly by the interaction of yourself and the environment. So really its you who hides reality from yourself. The veil between the real and illusory worlds was knitted and strung up by us.
   So then how does one get out of the cave and into the light of the world above? And then what are you supposed to do when you get there? In the Matrix Neo took the Blue Pill and proceeded to wake up into a horrifying world where robots ruled the roost. I dont know about you but that seems a little far fetched. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that others have in fact done in reality what Plato reffered to metaphoricly. Enlightenment, Liberation, Satori, Samadhi or oneness with God...crossculturally people have reported these kind of experiences and many have left their accounts as to how they achieved their goal.
     One way to look at it is this, there are three worlds that we have access to the waking world, the dream world and the world of Deep Sleep, a formless world of complete cessation. Now I'm sure you  you've heard of lucid dreaming, well this suggests the ability to completely become awake in the dreamstate, in otherwords  to maintain your conscious awareness into the sleep state. What you might not have heard is that it is possible to further extend consciousness into the realm of complete cessation or Deep Sleep. What you realize is that each of the different worlds in which we find ourslves are continouous with one another, they are one and the same thing looked at through different lenses. It is all infact nondual, inside and outside, mind and body, subject and object, everything and nothing, but we just dont see it until we look closer.
    What then does one do who has this realization? Go back to the cave and help others

2010-07-07 12:23 PM

ChristyR
Denton, TX
Posts: 197

I am familiar with lucid dreaming, but not Deep Sleep. I've have to look into that. Sounds very interesting though. Go back to the cave and help others... I like that.

2011-06-06 12:03 PM

fluffernutter
Sherman, TX
Posts: 2

Lucid dreaming can be quite fun, sometimes. It can be like starring in your own personal sci-fi movie and you can control whether a nightmare remains terrifying or not. Love is never frustrating in a lucid dream. No

2011-06-06 12:10 PM

fluffernutter
Sherman, TX
Posts: 2

"Immediate" reality is never available to us, as what the eye sees is processed by the brain several milliseconds later. In that short amount of time reality has already left us behind.
Awareness is perception but so far, the human mind needs that pause to function, i.e., to not be overwhelmed with the enormous amount of stimuli flooding our mind all at once.