What are the “three illusions”?

1. The Illusion Of Free Will.
2. The Illusion Of Time.
3. The Illusion Of Identity.

Most people have a goal of being happy. Wealth, love, success, enlightenment, health – these are all goals people have with the ultimate desire of being happy. Unfortunately, happiness for most people involves a sequence of mental and emotional gymnastics that make it difficult to achieve and even harder to maintain. They achieve happiness momentarily, only to find life throws them a curveball and they lose their happiness again. They lose a job, a marriage fails, they can’t pay the bills, they get sick – and suddenly they find that they are no longer happy.

This doesn’t have to be the case.

This book is a guide for people who would like to be permanently happy, at peace with both yourself and the world.

It is a small book and is supposed to be a quick read. The ideas contained in it aren’t complex and aren’t new. You will have probably heard at least some of them before. The goals of this book is to take some fundamental concepts of science and use them to develop a philosophy of life.

I’ve done my best to avoid using scientific terminology and metaphysical or philosophical jargon. Understanding the ideas contained in this book requires no scientific training, no years spent studying ancient texts or any supernatural abilities.

All you will require is the ability to consider ideas which, at first, might seem strange and challenging.

With the ideas contained in this book, you can be truly and genuinely happy with whatever happens in your life. You will find a deep, abiding and constant contentment with every twist and turn that happens in each day of your existence.

It comes from the complete conviction that every thing that happens does so because it is the only thing that could have happened in that particular moment. Instead of judging events as either good or bad, we accept them as ‘what is happening’, as ‘what must happen’ based on the laws of science.

According to the ancient Greek writer Pausanias, the aphorism “Know Thyself” was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Exactly who it is attributed to is uncertain. Pythagoras and Socrates are two possibilities but there are several others.

Today, thanks to the discipline of science, we know more about ourselves and the universe that we live in than the author of the inscription probably could have ever imagined. If we are to truly know ourselves, if we are to know how to live, we must understand as much as possible about who – and what – we are.
In this book, we will examine three illusions pertaining to who we are – the illusion of identity, the illusion of free will and the illusion of time.

Dispelling these three illusions, these mistaken ideas, will allow you to live your life with a sense of enduring peace and happiness.