by Bob Trowbridge

Created on: January 20, 2008   Last Updated: April 27, 2009

Much passion will undoubtedly be brought to bear on this debate, especially by those who believe in the literal teachings of the New Testament. Nevertheless, this question cannot be answered with any certainty by either side.

Does Anything Exist Outside of the Mind?

There is no evidence that heaven is a real place but then there is no evidence that any place is "real." There are differences of opinion among quantum physicists. Some, however, have come to the conclusion that both time and space are fictions. This is also the conclusion of certain spiritual or metaphysical teachings.

From this point of view, it could be claimed that everything we experience, including space and time, is a state of being, a state of consciousness. This would include the idea of heaven. It would also include the idea of physical reality. The Hindus believe that physical reality is maya, an illusion. Maya comes from the word "to create." So our physical universe and our own physical experiences are an illusion created by mind or being.

Reality as Illusion

From a religious point of view, one would say that some divine being is the creator of this great illusion. You could also say that we are the creators of our own illusions or at least participate in their creation. There is some interesting evidence that we can and do affect our physical experience with our minds. I won't go into all of the studies on psychic abilities. There are other powerful pieces of evidence for physical reality as an illusion.

One of the most interesting to me is multiple personality disorder. Those suffering from this bizarre disorder have an amazing capability of changing their bodies as they change from one state of being/consciousness/ personality to another. Just to name a few of the more interesting changes, tumors and birth marks come and go, illnesses, including diabetes, come and go, handwriting changes, skills and knowledge change, visual acuity (and eye color in one case) change from one personality to another.

This suggests that even the physical body is far more fluid than we assume. Miraculous instantaneous healings also suggest this kind of fluidity. In a recent study, shared by a friend of mine, researchers studied some housekeeping ladies who worked at a hotel. They noticed that these ladies worked very hard every day and yet all were overweight. Their hard physical labor didn't seem to affect their bodies in a positive way.

The employees said that they didn't have time to exercise or go to a club

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