I said to Dave Bird:

And Bernie responded:

Actually, it was quite, but that's another matter.  Bernie goes on to say:

I disagree.  I don't create any reality.  Rather, I experience reality and am a
part of reality.  My experience is a subset of my existence.  

 It is not an illusion, but a necessity of biological survival.  If you want a
vivid example of how "what is currently Bernie" is an existing state and not an
illusion, try breathing under water.

But, Bernie, there is a separation between you and me.  You are wherever you
are, I'm wherever I am.    Consciousness may simply be a point of reference, or
a path of trajectory, or whatever, but they are >different< points of
references or paths of trajectory.  While the set of things that define me from
beginning to end have much in common with the sets of things that define a lamp
post from its beginning to end or Steve Guttenberg from his beginning to end,
all have--to varying degrees--much in common, they are not in fact the same.
There is a distinct set of ME, however tenuous, and, therefore, boundaries that
define that set in the same way that banks define rivers or rivers define
banks.  To say that there is no difference between a river and its bank, or
matter and energy, or life and death, to say that "all things are one," is
quite lofty and Buddha-like, and quite a calming thing to remember when you
have trouble getting your mortgage payment together, but really doesn't have
any value beyond that.    

LilAlex

It's easy to conceal your identity on the net.  It's much more
difficult to conceal your true character --Diane Richardson

My havingness and ability to confront has increased tenfold, plus my
hair is so shiny and manageable--Mike de Wolf