Self Help Radio 112119: Illusions

(Original illusion here.)

According to this website (which does not cite its source), the Buddha said, "We live in illusion & the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, & being nothing, you are everything. That is all."

I hope the Buddha meant, "That is all," as in, "That is what everything is," instead of like what a boss says at the end of a meeting which means "Now get the hell out of here, I have some heavy day-drinking to do."

Most of us understand illusion to mean something that's not real, either generated by our minds or perpetrated by someone else to fool us.  But if the universe is an illusion, who is doing the perpetrating?  Oh wow man that's some heavy shit.  This is going to be a heavy-ass radio show, isn't it?

Not really.  Is it ever?  You can lose all your illusions, or make some more, by listening whenever you feel the illusion needs it to this week's Self Help Radio, now available at the Self Help Radio website.  Music, interviews, maybe a magic trick or two - though you obviously can't see those on the radio, sorry.  Username SHR, password selfhelp, what's on the two-hour program is listed below.

It might be better to remember the words of the great Pete Shelley: "Life's the illusion, love is the dream."

Self Help Radio Illusions Show
"Illusion" Nat "King" Cole _The Touch Of Your Lips_
"Illusions" The Human Instinct _Singles _1966–1971_
"Illusions" One Way Street _Pass The Caviar_

introduction & definitions

"Illusions" Isolation Ward _Point Final_
"Illusions" Stagnant Pools _Temporary Room_
"Illusions" Shout Out Louds _Optica_
"Illusions" Dinner _New Work_
"The Illusion" Dream Machine _The Illusion_

interview with illusionist David Fruchter

"Want To Buy Some Illusions" Marianne Faithfull _20th Century Blues_
"My Illusions" Sugar Pie DeSanto _Moaning, Groaning, Crying: A Galaxy Of Soul_
"Lost Illusions" Rosie & The Originals _Angel Baby Revisited_
"Optical Illusion" Al Stewart _24 Carrots_
"A Life of Illusion" Spent _Umbrella Wars EP_

interview with lawyer Bobcat Sloan

"I'm Set Free" The Velvet Underground _The Velvet Underground_
"The Desert" Smog _Burning Kingdom_
"Everybody's Happy Nowadays" Buzzcocks _Complete Singles Anthology_
"Monkeyland" The Chameleons _Script Of The Bridge_

interview with body artist Bogogob Smith

"Is This An Illusion" The Mighty Diamonds _Jam Session_
"La Grande Illusion" Television Personalities _...And Don't The Kids Just Love It_
"Season Of Illusions" Ladytron _Velocifero_
"Web Of Illusion" Soul Merchants _1985-1987_
"Velvet Illusions" Velvet Illusions _Pebbles, Vol. 9: Southern California 2_

conclusion & goodbye

"Illusion" Chris & Cosey _Trust_
"World Of Illusion" The Forum _The River Is Wide_