You cannot remain safe and secure by protecting yourself from reality. But let’s first understand what we mean by “reality”.

When people return from vacation, they often say “back to reality.” In truth, the crazy life we come back to is probably less real than the reality of lying in the sun on the beach in stillness. When we think of reality, we imagine the opposite of safety—something harsh, challenging, dangerous. That’s why we try to protect our children from reality. But what we call “reality” is not reality.

Everything in this world is upside-down. When we say something is “unreal”, we mean that it is somehow supreme or even better than reality. Yet when we think of reality, we imagine the harshest, most extreme conditions, the worst politicians, the wars, the hardship and despair. Yes, this is all happening in the physical world, but it is all a miscreation of the collective ego. Let’s call it “insanity”, not “reality”.

We cling to illusion because we call insanity reality. Reality, itself, is eternal peace and joy—nothing to be afraid of. By misusing the word as a synonym for “insanity”, we become afraid. So we attempt to construct an artificial world that is safe. But nothing real can be found in darkness; only in the light of truth.

Reality, by definition, must be forever true and unchanging. True love is, therefore, reality. The ways in which every human being is the same, every life form is the same—that is reality. Oneness, consciousness, spirit—this is reality.

We embrace reality each day as we meditate, as we read spiritual teachings, as we align with the healing power of nature, and as we connect with each other in love. We continue tomorrow and each day after that.