The Medieval Era
Until the 16th century, the Church in Europe held absolute authority over what was considered true and real. To challenge this authority was to risk excommunication, execution—or both.
This began to change through a series of seismic events. In 1517, the monk Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, directly confronting the Church’s monopoly on truth and sparking what became known as the Protestant Reformation. Around the same time, Nicolaus Copernicus published his revolutionary idea of a heliocentric universe, placing the sun—not the earth—at the center of the cosmos. Johannes Kepler refined this model, and Galileo Galilei’s invention of the telescope further undermined the Church’s authority.
These breakthroughs marked the beginning of a profound shift: from religion as the grand narrative of truth to science, empiricism, and rationality.
The Modern Era
Modernity came to be defined by the belief in an objective reality accessible through observation and reason. Religion was tolerated as a private belief system but no longer served as the overarching framework of truth.
Consider the courtroom in modern America: an attorney must prove a case through evidence, not theology. And yet, ironically, before evidence can be admitted, witnesses still place a hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth “So help me God.”
The Postmodern Challenge
By the mid-20th century, modernity itself was being challenged. Postmodern thought declared that truth is relative, perspectival, and inseparable from the background of the one perceiving it. At the same time, quantum mechanics shattered Newtonian assumptions, revealing a universe far stranger than classical science had imagined.
The Wild West of Reality
Today, we live in what might be called a metaphysical crisis—aka the “Wild West of Reality.” The internet and artificial intelligence have magnified this uncertainty.
Works of art, music, and literature are now created by AI, often indistinguishable from human creations.
Non-existent musicians sign multi-million-dollar contracts.
Computers program other computers.
Articles and blogs appear under the names of authors who do not exist.
Culture depends on shared standards of truth and reality. When these dissolve, the very fabric of culture risks collapse.
What Would the Buddha Say?
If the Buddha were alive today, I believe he would laugh and remind us: “I told you 2,500 years ago that what you believe to be real is a virtual reality created by the mind.”
He taught this through the doctrine of dependent origination (Pratītyasamutpāda). The sense gates, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought—meet objects, giving rise to consciousness.
The eye sees a tree → seeing consciousness arises.
The ear hears a dog bark → hearing consciousness arises.
The nose smells a flower → olfactory consciousness arises.
In lightning-fast sequence: recognition leads to perception; which gives rise to feeling (vedanā)-- pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral-- which gives rise to craving; which gives rise to clinging; (clinging generates the illusion of objective reality) from which gives rise to becoming, which gives rise to self, from which arises rebirth.
This chain constructs our reality. It appears solid only because delusion is present. Through practice of Dharma, delusion dissolves, wisdom arises, craving ceases, and ultimately rebirth ends: this is Nirvana.
A Hidden Gift
Perhaps our crisis of reality itself is a gift. It may compel us to seek a deeper truth beyond dogma, Newtonian science, or relativism. The Dharma offers a path to see the constructed nature of self and reality—and to see beyond it. This is vipassana, “clear seeing” into the nature of reality.
Rumi’s Reminder
Do not resist the changes that come your way
Let life be lived through you
Do not worry that your life is turning upside down
How do you know that the side you are used to
Is better than the one that’s to come?
