Some great experiences on this thread for sure.
But I will say that I think a measure of our reality or realness is in how we privilege certain experiences over other ones through our descriptions.
We will obviously favour an experience of hyper real vivid colors, deeply intimate sensations, and a rich tapestry of sounds compared with an experience of monotone colour values, muted sounds, and dull lethargic sensations. But actually these two hypothetical experiences are identical in terms of their level of reality. It is only how we privilege the first experience over the second one that defines it as more real.
If you consider your level of awareness in both experiences - that too is identical in both scenarios You are exquisitely aware of the vivid colors and bright sounds in experience 1 and you are equally exquisitely aware of experience 2s dull monotone colors and lethargic sensorial expression. If you weren't you wouldn't be able to describe it as such.
The only difference is a thought which chooses experience 1 which then elevates it in our experience and so we seek out more experience 1s.
These are very good points floriferous, you seem to have a very wise outlook.
Some people might interpret this vivid vs dull as "success" vs "failure". You could relate this to acquiring a skill. Where experience 1 is walking across a tightrope while maintaining balance and experience 2 is falling off. We tend to favour the mastery of difficulty scenario and have the rush of emotions at the end of the experience (1) more than the actions we consider failure. (2)
In the end of the day does it matter? Not really as we are all one anyways, so nothing essentially changes regardless of what we do because WE ARE no matter what. But if we want to experience different experiences of ourselves, practicing to get to them can open up a new experience of ourself. I think that's the whole purpose of the duality existence we have created for ourself in the first place. Exploring ourselves in different ways.
On the other hand, I think where people get caught up is in seeing experiences as bad or good or important/unimportant which I think is what you might be getting at here. It's okay to "fail" or to see dull colours as this is essentially You and what you are supposed to experience right now. It's a unique and important experience in itself and it isn't bad. It is still an equally important part or an aspect of ourself.
You could think of it as the shadow of the light, neither could exist without the other. So maintaining balance between the forces of light and darkness I think is essential. Maintaining the balance between polarities.
I just watched a mind blowing series by Matias de Stefano and he talks about this. He explains it by imagining you are in a room with a light source on one side. You have a shadow of your figure projecting on the back wall opposite of the light source. Now we are typically taught to move towards the light. Well if you do that in this scenario, the dark shadow grows bigger and bigger until it fills the whole room. His point was that if you are focussed on only light or only darkness you are ignoring an aspect of yourself and that ignored aspect of yourself will grow and grow and eventually pull you back into it. In other words, karma. So balance between the aspects is important. Like the Yin Yang symbol. The dance of light and dark is the two opposing aspects of ourself dancing together.
I thought I would share this last piece as it really opened my eyes and it might help other reader's perspectives on this forum as well.
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