DiotimosReading Desk

Reality mind and the ultimate source

Reality and illusion

Reality; real; illusion; dream

Reality is used for what ultimately exists and for what is effective within finite life.

From the book

The Kybalion

Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordReality is used for what ultimately exists and for what is effective within finite life.
  • In The KybalionIV sets changing phenomena against an unchanging underlying reality.
  • In this editionReal, reality, illusion, and dream are preserved as different expressions.
  • A place to readIV.18: … “there is Nothing outside of THE ALL, in Reality, then any and all such finite things” …

Meaning

Reality is used for what ultimately exists and for what is effective within finite life. Illusion and dream express dependence or comparative unreality, but VI expressly warns against concluding that lived consequences are dispensable.

Use in the book

IV sets changing phenomena against an unchanging underlying reality. V describes cosmic existence through mental images. VI confronts the worry that this turns the universe into an unreal dream and answers by distinguishing absolute from relative truth.

The artist's ideal and the dramatist's characters illustrate the reality of mental forms. VII develops the example further, giving created characters a dependent identity while refusing to identify each one with its author. The force of these illustrations depends on keeping dependence distinct from nonexistence.

Places to read

  1. IV THE ALL · Block 18… “there is Nothing outside of THE ALL, in Reality, then any and all such finite things must be as Nothing in Reality. Now do not become befogged, nor frightened—we are not” …
  2. VI The Divine Paradox · Block 4… “and all that it contains is a mere illusion; an unreality; against which idea his instincts revolt. But this, like all other great truths, must be considered both from the Absolute” …
  3. VI The Divine Paradox · Block 6… “Universe must be unreal and illusionary, a mere dream or result of meditation,—nevertheless, to the finite minds forming a part of that Universe, and viewing it through mortal faculties, the Universe” …
  4. VI The Divine Paradox · Block 8… “reproduce in stone or on canvas, seems very real to him. So do the characters in the mind of the author; or dramatist, which he seeks to express so that others” …
  5. VI The Divine Paradox · Block 17… “but in an Universe which while relative, is real so far as our lives and actions are concerned. Our business in the Universe is not to deny its existence, but to” …
  6. VII THE ALL in All · Block 5… “the Sistine Madonna, the Apollo Belvidere, spirits and reality of their own, or do they represent the spiritual and mental power of their creators? The Law of Paradox explains that both” …

In this edition

Real, reality, illusion, and dream are preserved as different expressions. They are not all translated into unreal.

Reading the argument

The term illusion is easy to overread. The practical target of VI is a person who uses metaphysics to evade the laws under which that person lives. The chapter's repeated insistence on acting and living is therefore part of the definition of relative reality.

Reality

“Reality” — 25 occurrences in 20 text blocks: II.7; III.6; IV.1–5, 9, 11, 18; VI.2, 8–9, 14–15; VII.4–5; IX.12; XII.4; XIV.14.

real

“real” — 21 occurrences in 16 text blocks: IV.2, 17; V.2, 14, 18; VI.2, 5–9, 15, 17; VII.12; X.3; XIII.6.

illusion

“illusion” — 3 occurrences in 2 text blocks: VI.4, 9.

dream

“dream” — 5 occurrences in 4 text blocks: VI.2, 4, 6, 16.