For, on the one hand, there is the real world, and on the other,
a whole system of symbols about that world which we have in our minds.
These are very very useful symbols; all civilization depends on them;
but like all good things they have their disadvantages, and the
principle disadvantage of symbols is that we confuse them with reality,
just as we confuse money with actual wealth; and our names about
ourselves, our ideas of ourselves, our images of ourselves, *with*
ourselves.
Now of course, reality, from a philosopher's point of view, is a
dangerous word. A philosopher will ask me, what do I mean by reality?
Am I talking about the physical world of nature, or am I talking about
a spiritual world, or what?
And to that I have a very simple answer. When we talk about the material
world, that is actually a philosophical concept - so in the same way, if
I say that reality is spiritual, that's also a philosophical concept -
and reality itself is not a concept.
Reality is - [...]
... and we won't give it a name.
See also: "the TAO that can be named is not the true TAO;" or, Crowley in Konx om Pax on the "fools who mistake names for things."