What is this ledge you speak of? Is it real or is it only in your dreams? Is anything really real? Do we ever see things as they really are without the cloud of our past experiences, without our expectations getting in the way? How can two people so differently perceive one thing? Arguments over something as simple as the color of "the internet dress"...it's black and blue, no it's white and gold. So much time spent dedicated to finding out the "truth", what color is it really? But what is truth except something that our mind has created. One day we look in the mirror and feel fat, the next we look and the most beautiful face is staring back at us.
The only truth I've been able to find is the one in the moment of quiet solitude, when I'm meditating. Brief seconds, if not nano seconds, when all things cease to exist. During a good savasana or after a yoga nidra when I can no longer tell where my body's boundaries end and where the floor begins. I can feel the reality of space between my atoms and the floor's atoms. I can feel that we are actually not solid entities as we believe we are, but we are just space, 99.99% space. I mean if most of the time I can't even trust my senses to determine whether I'm actually a solid entity or not, then how can I trust my mind to determine the truth about anything?
Reality, truth, exists in the breath. I breathe, in and out, therefore I am alive and I'm paying attention to what's going on in front of me right here and now. Breathing = reality. No distortion. Unless the mind starts to step in..."your breath is in your chest, you must be a bad breather. Geeze, you can't even get this breathing thing right, forget this yoga shit, go back to bed." The distortion has taken over, it is winning. The truth fades into the background.
Do not let yourself be fooled. The breath is the truth, the story, is NOT the truth, the story is just that, made up. The story changes, the breath is constant.
The body - another truth. How does your body feel? P.S. the body can't feel fat. Feeling fat is not an emotional state, it's a mental state. There's that story again. What does your body feel, what is the physical experience of your reality? That is truth, that is real. When I see a spider, I feel a tightening in my stomach, I feel energy rising up my torso into my chest and head, I feel my breathing get faster, I feel a gasping in my chest. My heart beats quickly.
These physical manifestations are real. They can't be distorted. "That spider is a danger to my safety and well-being. It is lurking behind every corner of my kitchen, so I must be on high alert" is a story, a lie, an untruth made up by my mind's interpretation of my body's sensations. Feels pretty damn real though doesn't it?
Reality? Lie? They're sometimes hard to untangle, it is hard to unwind the web of perception.
So we must constantly be seeking the truth out of the bullshit our mind spins. Reality test it with your body, with your breath. A life long journey I do believe.