We can never know reality in all its fullness but we are aware there is a difference between reality and fantasy. That knowledge alone is evidence that we know something about reality. If everything is fantasy the OP doesn’t exist and there is no point in answering!
I hadn’t seen your answer when I posted mine but it leads to the same conclusion.Robert, I love your threads! In my view, you initiate some of the very best conversations on all of CAF. This is an interesting question. Does it maybe have something to do with being perpetually engaged in trying to awaken? I think “awaken” and “reality” must go hand-in-hand because, as you point out, there are different levels and orders of reality. A human’s “reality” is necessarily different from a cat’s “reality” because we possess different faculties and ways of perceiving what’s around us. The only honest answer I can give is that I dimly perceive that striving toward God is the right path toward approaching reality. Which, of course, is absurdly vague!
What’s the difference between the make-believe of children and that of adults? The answer is that children usually know that they are just pretending! We are all engaged in some degree, or form of, make-believe; but we tend not to become aware of it. This, I think, is a question we ought to all become aware of. We live in a make-believe world, and we are all caught up in the fantasy at least to some degree.We can never know reality in all its fullness but we are aware there is a difference between reality and fantasy. That knowledge alone is evidence that we know something about reality. If everything is fantasy the OP doesn’t exist and there is no point in answering!
Thank you! I too do the best that I can to stay on right track.
God gave us a mind to know reality. That does not mean we can know things which are beyond our reasoning or scientific powers. But in heaven we will have not doubts, God will tell us all we want to know. Here is a good discussion on how we come to know reality: see the thread " How do we come to know things? " on this page of this forum. It is quite interesting. I just make the comment, I am not debating for the time being.
Brendan, I agree. I think “Ultimate Reality” is the best equivalence for “God” that could ever workably exist be in any language.
The best antidote for fantasy is pain. It compels us to face reality. When we suffer we understand how others feel. That is how Jesus expressed His love for us because sooner or later all of us have to endure agony and death. He showed us not only how to live but also how to die - with love, hope, courage. Even when He was being mocked and jeered at on the Cross He inspired others to be positive and trust in God: