Mental Fabrication 2.0

Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna, taught that all phenomena are “empty.” This may strike many Theravada Buddhists as an odd idea. The Pali Canon seems to refer to phenomena in concrete and absolute terms. Yet, even in original Buddhism, there is the important teaching of the Five Aggregates, with “Mental Formation” being one of them. Unfortunately, most Buddhists are not aware of its immense implications. This essay is an attempt to elaborate on how “reality” is manufactured.

I grew up in a culture where people frequently claimed to see ghosts and spirits. But the debate over what is real and what is imagined stretches far beyond my hometown. Across the globe, people argue about the existence of paranormal phenomena, from Bigfoot and UFOs to the Bermuda Triangle and the Loch Ness Monster. In 2015, the “Dress” controversy took social media by storm, with people divided over whether a photo of a dress was blue and black or white and gold. While some debates seem trivial, others have far-reaching consequences.

Take the case of the Slender Man stabbing in 2014 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Two 12-year-old girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, lured their friend Payton Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times. The girls believed they had to kill Payton to prove their loyalty to Slender Man, a fictional character from the internet. The attack was premeditated, leaving Payton for…