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What does (absolute existence )mean in philosophy?

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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by Murari Das



In its simplest form absolute existence means that which exists independent of time, place and circumstances.

What we see in the material world exists, but the forms in which it exists are temporary because everything in the world changes over time. So while the substance is real, the forms that it appears in are not absolute, they are temporary. A tree is a transformation of energy, the tree is cut and turned into a table, the table rots and turns into dust, the dust returns to the earth and provides soil for a new tree to grow in. So there are substances involved, earth, water, energy from the sun, but their manifestation as a tree, a table, as rotting wood are just transformations of the substances.

What exists absolutely doesn’t change. It doesn’t change due to the effect of time, nor the place it is in, nor the circumstances surrounding it.

Because matter never just disappears, it always just changes its form, it is real, but the forms are not real. If something is real it absolutely exists, if it doesn’t absolutely exist, it’s not real.

Real and absolute are the same, but real is a confusing word.

A film is real, because we can watch it, it exists, but it is not ‘real’ because the actors are acting and they are on a film set. Now the actors are real, but the characters they portray are not real. The film set is real, but it is not how we see it in the film.

So to distinguish between the two in Indian philosophy we talk about what is real and what is illusion.

A film is an illusion, even though it exists, it is not real.

To go further, everything we see in the world is an illusion, but the substance that the illusion is made from is real.

This can be confusing, because we look at a house, and say well that’s real, I can see it and touch it so I know that it’s there, it’s not an illusion. But it is only real for a period of time, that means it is relatively real, which actually means not real. If you could go away to another planet and come back in a million years, there would be no house there. It would have disappeared completely, so therefore it’s not real because it is no longer existing. It doesn’t exist absolutely.

It’s the same with dreams. They exist, and they are completely real when we are dreaming, but then we wake up and they aren’t real anymore. It was just a temporary experience that we thought was real. That’s why we can say that dreams aren’t real, even though we can experience them. Because they are temporary and we leave them to return to different reality, they aren’t real.

In Indian philosophy the goal is to establish what is absolute. Because whatever is absolute has absolute existence and it must be true. Anything that isn’t true, is an illusion. An illusion doesn’t mean that something doesn’t exist, it means that our perception of it is wrong.

In the dark a rope may look like a snake. The rope is real, but the perception of it as a snake is an illusion. This illusion may scare us, may make our heart beat faster, may make us stand rooted to the spot wondering what to do, but then someone turns on the light and we see it is only a rope and our body relaxes again because the illusion is dispelled by knowing the truth…it’s just a rope.

So absolute existence is essential to philosophy because philosophers are trying to establish what is actually true and what isn’t.

This becomes more complicated when life is being examined. Is life real or not? I certainly feel that I am real, but if I am temporary, if I will cease to exist at some time then I am not absolutely real. If I am not absolutely real, then I am an illusion. I am just matter but I think I am alive.

However if I am real, then I will always exist because that which is real is not temporary.

So like this philosophers examine the nature of what we can see, and analyse things to determine what is absolutely true. Knowing the Absolute Truth lets us know what is illusion and what is real. It’s like the light going on so that we can see if we are looking at a snake or a rope. Often it’s called becoming enlightened.


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