A Blessing in Disguise.

I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog that I’m a confirmed loner. And it’s true; I am. But the fact is that I’m not quite a total recluse, and the barren nature of my lifestyle is becoming difficult to tolerate. It’s encouraging depression, anxiety, OCD, reliance on increasingly tedious routines, and so on. And maybe it’s also encouraging the onset of further health issues because we know that our mental state can affect the physical body and it’s difficult to know whether certain ‘symptoms’ are psychosomatic or not. That being the case, life for this confirmed loner is becoming a tedious, dispiriting trudge.

But today I had a thought. There’s a growing groundswell of suspicion, even among certain elements of mainstream science, that the whole of material existence might be some form of illusion which our consciousness is pre-programmed to fully accept as reality. It’s often suggested by those who are convinced of such a notion that the living of a human life is, in effect, merely playing a part in a virtual reality game. (Even Shakespeare said something along those lines several times, although routine scholarship in the matter of Shakespeare would interpret his words differently.)

But let’s suppose it’s true (and I’ve become quite a fan of the idea myself.) It seems to me that living a normal, active life full of distractions would serve to keep a person constantly conditioned to the belief that the game is reality. And conversely, that those who have very few distractions are more likely to see through the illusion. So maybe being a loner and finding life a tedious, dispiriting trudge is but a step along the road to enlightenment. That sounds good, doesn’t it? As far as my limited knowledge goes, it’s the core essence of Buddhism.

Or maybe it’s just the madness of cabin fatigue taking hold. Today has been a bad day on all fronts.