Frames of reference and the illusion of non-existent forces

I have started to reflect on what I can learn from this 1960 video from the University of Toronto where they showed me, through the clever use of video cameras and television sets, some experiments in fundamental physics. Through a series of experiments, they have shown me how what I see in the same object moving through space could change depending on which frame of reference I am looking at it from (i.e. fixed, moving or accelerating frames of reference).

Without a fixed frame of reference, it is rather difficult for me to tell whether it is I and the objects near me are fixed while the more distant background objects are moving or is it vice versa. More interestingly, in accelerated frames of reference objects that are moving in a straight line appear to move in curves as if acted upon by a fictitious non-existent force. It’s quite mind-blowing for me to realise how much cognitive effort my mind has to exert to see through this illusion.

This makes me reflect on how if this is challenging to do on a relatively simple phenomenon of a ball being dropped or a puck gliding through a smooth surface then how much more complex and challenging it would be to see the reality of living beings.

No wonder the Buddha is reputed to have said that to see reality as it is is what liberates us from suffering. It just so happens that at the same time as I’m watching these physics videos, I am also retracing and deepening everything that I’ve learned from my formal Buddhist studies. Foremost among these is the proposition that ultimately everything including my experience and consciousness of self is at the core empty, that is without an inherent, abiding essence. But that it is not a nihilistic emptiness either. Rather the phenomenal universe is held together and unfolds through the causal relatedness of the fleeting coming together of physical and mental factors.