Bingo!
I was having a similar discussion recently and this is one of the points that came up.
Light. No one sees the same thing exactly the same way. The light traveling from the object that hits our eyes is unique. No person receives the same light into their cornea; therefore, no two people see the world exactly the same way. It's an example from the natural world that describes the difference between what is Real and what is True.
Example: If you and I are standing in the same place at sunset, it's easy for us to agree that the sky is lovely shades of pink purple blending into blue.
This is assuming you are not red-blue color blind.
For someone who is red-blue color blind, their version of a sunset is very different from mine. I propose that both versions are Real. But the True sunset includes both Red wavelengths and Blue wavelengths of light along with many wavelengths of light that the human eye cannot detect.
Consider though, what if we are talking to someone who has never seen a sunset before, they may not believe us. they may not believe in sunsets at all.
Amanaki: You can take this concept to some very deep places when related to the spiritual / supernatural phenomena and experiences you have reported in other threads.
But I digress...
I think, everyone has their own Reality, but there is only one Truth.
Most people don't distinguish between what is Real and is True. This is because when 2 ( or more ) people are in the same time, the same place, it's easy to agree on what is Real.
Here's a another example:
There was an amazing picture i saw of a smoke cloud from a demolished power-plant that looks exactly like a person. I mean exactly. If I hadn't seen the picture, and someone tried to describe it to me, I would not believe it was real. And I propose, until I saw the picture for myself, it wasn't Real for me, but since it actually happened, it was still True. This is the difference between what is Real and what is True.
Two people can disagree on what is Real, but Truth is always true.
To demonstrate this idea from a religious perspective:
For me God is Truth.
For you, as a cultivator, maybe, Dao is Truth?
For Hindu, maybe, Brahman is Truth?
Using this to answer your question:
Two people from the same religion reading the same scripture often come to similar conclusions. If these two people have very similar life experiences and very similar prior knowledge on the subject matter, they will be even more likely come to the same conclusions.
However if these two people have different life experiences and vastly different knowledge on the subject matter, even if they identify as the same religion, they may come to two totally different conclusions.
If these conclusions are vastly different they may argue vigorously. Why? Because they both agree the book exists, they both speak the same language, and maybe they both agree the book is divine. But if they are coming to a different conclusion, someone has to be wrong. If they never come to an agreement, they are in a way, living in different Realities. And this is frustrating if these two people believe there is only one Truth.
My opinion: It doesn't matter which opinion reflects Truth. Who's right and who's wrong doesn't matter. Everyone can have their own reality. As long as everyone is healthy, happy, not hurting anyone; that's what matters to me.
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