The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it………
“The screen is always there; the pictures come and go, but do not affect the screen. What does the screen care whether the pictures appear or disappear? The pictures depend upon the screen. But what use are they to it? The man who looks only at the pictures on the screen and not the screen itself, is troubled by the pains and pleasures that occur in the story. But the man who views the screen, realises that the images are all shadows and not something apart and distinct from the screen. So also with the world. It is all a shadow play.”
Ramana Maharshi – Letters
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances ;And one man in his time plays many parts……
William Shakespeare – As You Like It