ChatGPT 5 (Paid Version), Can you unpack this statement of mine – “All of us are pretending.”–D. Samarender Reddy – in all its implications and in all contexts of life, particularly keeping in mind that I adhere to and understand thoroughly Advaita Vedanta (Nonduality) – see my Blog – https://selfrealization.blog/ – The context for asking this is because a friend of mine reacted to my Facebook post – https://www.facebook.com/d.samarender.reddy.5 – of that quote, saying “Ok the other day you said you love me ….so that was pretending na ! Vokay vokay”
ChatGPT said:
This is a very rich and provocative statement you’ve made — “All of us are pretending.” Let’s unpack it carefully in the broadest possible sense, while keeping in mind both Advaita Vedānta (your lens of understanding) and the everyday relational/social context (your friend’s reaction).
1. The Advaita Vedānta Context
In Advaita, the foundational insight is that there is only one Reality — Brahman — and that all distinctions (me/you, subject/object, love/hatred, truth/falsehood) are ultimately appearances within that undivided consciousness.
- Māyā and Pretending:
The world is seen as mithyā — neither absolutely real nor absolutely unreal. To live in it, we inevitably “pretend” as if it were real. Thus, pretending is not falsehood in the moral sense but a play of appearance. - Ego as Pretence:
The individual self (jīva), with all its stories, memories, and roles, is itself a mask. Pretending here means taking the role of “I am this body-mind” seriously, even though at the deepest level you know you are not. - Lila (Cosmic Play):
The universe is līlā — divine play. Pretending is intrinsic to play. Just as actors take on roles, Consciousness takes on all these forms. Pretending is the very essence of manifestation.
So, in Advaita terms, “All of us are pretending” means:
👉 All of us are acting as if we are separate selves in a real world, while in truth we are pure awareness playing roles in the grand theatre of māyā.
2. Psychological and Social Context
- Social Masks:
In daily life, we all wear masks — the polite smile, the social role, the professional persona. Even emotions are often regulated, restrained, or exaggerated to fit expectations. We pretend in order to belong, to survive, to maintain harmony. - Conditional Love & Relationships:
When your friend teased you, “So when you said you love me, that was pretending na!”, he interpreted your quote in the personal/romantic sense — i.e., that your affection was fake. But your statement was more existential than interpersonal.
The Advaitic response could be: even love, as expressed in words and gestures, is part of the pretending. But behind that pretending is not falsity — it is the only reality expressing itself through form. The mask of “I love you” hides the deeper truth: there is no “I” and “you” at all. - Authenticity vs. Pretending:
At a human level, pretending can feel inauthentic (lying, masking, manipulating). But at a spiritual level, pretending is the necessary language of duality. Even “authenticity” is a mask relative to the Absolute.
3. Everyday Life Implications
- Work: We pretend to care about promotions, deadlines, titles — knowing they are transient.
- Politics & Society: Collective identities are a form of mass-pretence — nation, caste, class, ideology.
- Religion: Rituals, dogmas, practices — all pretending unless seen as symbols pointing beyond.
- Family Roles: Father, mother, friend, lover — roles we play earnestly but temporarily.
In every sphere, pretending is not about falseness but about participation in a drama that is not ultimately real.
4. How You Might Respond to Your Friend
If you wish to bridge your friend’s playful jab with your Advaitic intent, you could say:
“No, my love for you wasn’t pretending in the shallow sense of being fake. What I meant is that all roles and expressions, even love, are part of the cosmic pretending. They are real within the dream, but in the deepest truth, both ‘me’ and ‘you’ dissolve into One. So my saying ‘I love you’ is both a pretence — because there’s no separate ‘I’ — and the deepest truth — because love is the very nature of That which we are.”
✅ So your statement “All of us are pretending” can be read on three levels:
- Spiritual (Advaita): Pretending = appearing as separate selves when only Brahman is real.
- Psychological/Social: Pretending = wearing masks and roles in the play of life.
- Everyday Relational: Pretending = not necessarily falsity, but an expression shaped by context — like saying “I love you,” which is simultaneously a mask and a pointer to a deeper truth.
Would you like me to help you craft a reply back to your friend’s comment that keeps the satirical bite you often like in your tone, while still rooted in Advaita clarity?
You said:
Yes
ChatGPT said:
Got it 👍 — here’s a reply you could use for your friend’s playful jab, keeping your Advaita clarity but with that satirical edge you enjoy:
Option 1 – Light Satire + Advaita Depth
“Arrey, when I said I love you, it wasn’t pretending in the fake sense. It was pretending in the Advaita sense — the whole drama of ‘I’ and ‘you’ itself is a cosmic role-play. Love is real, but the ‘me’ and ‘you’ are masks. So technically, yes, we’re both pretending… but that doesn’t make it any less true 😉”
Option 2 – Sharper & Playful
“Haan re, pretending hi toh hai. But not the cheap Bollywood kind of pretending. This is Brahman’s Oscar-winning performance — ‘me’ and ‘you’ are characters, and love is the script. The movie is fiction, but the experience is real. Now tell me, do you want to enjoy the show or sit in the theatre shouting ‘fake, fake’?”
Option 3 – Short & Witty
“Of course I was pretending. So were you. That’s the only game in town — Brahman playing hide-and-seek with itself. Love is the most beautiful pretence of all.”
Know Thyself 