With technological advances, there is an ever-thinning fine line between reality and virtuality; real-life versus ‘fun and games’. What if the day comes, when the fantastically and sensually simulated is maximised so much, that it is preferred over the real world? Or is it already happening as we speak, faster than expected? Think kids’ heads perpetually tilted over phone games, till they lose track of reality and basic social skills needed for it. And these phones are increasingly attached to VR headgear for more intoxicatingly immersive experiences. Currently, there is still a need to take care of real world bodily needs, with eating, cleaning and making a living, though these can seem like tiresome chores for gaming addicts.
‘Virtually’ any imaginable extreme form of lustful sex and hateful violence will be programmable. Even if not legalised, sold and circulated in the black market. Will these virtually actualised fantasies lessen real-life crimes or inspire more of them? Both perhaps? Are virtual acts governed by the law of karma? Virtually at least? The answers will depend on the depth of intentional will expressed, as karma is created via volition, in the mind, even if not verbally or physically. In short, ethics do apply, what more when there is habit-forming indulgence, that can spill over to real-life. ‘Fun and games’ are never just inconsequential fun and games. Just ask any hardcore gamer, whose games are as ‘real’ as their lives can get.
With the lucrative gaming industry’s creations, there will be more hooked to alternating between the real and virtual, before there is less, when the virtual feels more ‘real’ than the real world, with less desire to exit. Enter the ‘Matrix’ of delusions with self-‘Inception’. This might seem like a dream come true for some, but nothing samsaric lasts forever. The very meaning of the virtual is that impermanent and unsubstantial; which is just like this world. The virtual is even less stable, with its subject to many worldly conditions. Thus, the virtual is ultimately dissatisfactory, a false refuge that brings no True Happiness. The most challenging yet fruitful ‘game’ then, is to break free from all dissatisfactions, by fully realising the nature of reality!
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The ‘Black Mirror’ That Reflects Darkness
https://thedailyenlightenment.com/2018/05/the-black-mirror-that-reflects-darkness
