Yes, it is of the stuff of dreams, but let us be more specific. The tree does not exist in isolation; it is a relational construct. Recall that the first law of immaterialism is that to exist is to relate. There are no unobserved worlds, for instance.

A tree can only exist in relation to a very complex ecosystem, and behind that ecosystem is an even more complex spiritual ecology. Our world is merely a 3+1D projection or extrusion of the one and only spiritual cosmos.

When I see the tree I am seeing the reconstruction of a particular relational node. It is not that photons are bouncing off the tree and into my eyeball. The photons are just another construct. We see by the light of the spirit, not by the Sun, contrary to some opinion. This is not to denigrate the Sun but merely to remind the scientist that they may not be the final cosmic arbiters.

But let us hasten to add that the fact that I have the particular illusion that I call a tree, is not a cosmic accident. It is part of the greater system of things. My mystical experience of the tree may be closer to the ultimate reality than my normal experience, but clearly the normal experience is not gratuitous either.

Normal experience is shaped and learned through our use of language and socialization. The toddler's experience of the tree may be closer to the mystic's than to ours, and so might be the blind person's experience.

Also our experience of a tree is strongly shaped by our interactions with all related phenomena, i.e. by all the rest of our experience. The visual tree, per se, is the end product of an ongoing filtration process that allows us to have a seemingly localized intercourse with the spirit world. Does this answer every question? The real question is what are we to make of this state of affairs? Does it present us with unrealized opportunities? Of course!

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rev. 5/28/98