<...”How do we determine what is real and what is not?”...>
When one starts ‘believing’ everything he hears, everything he reads, every youtube video and every author and/or whistleblower out there,.... without applying some critical thinking, ...without questioning the opinions and/or beliefs it ‘becomes a stronger “belief”’ and is no longer a quest for truth.
It’s written....”You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free”.....We determine what is real by understanding where truth resides.
Buddhists would naturally claim the world is an illusion....they are already deceived by what they believe...if one believes the world is an illusion then there is no sense of responsibility or incentive for life, for excelling etc. ....which is why India has so long remained in the state it is in. The people cannot “see” the gift of ‘this life’ they have been given for climbing up an imaginary ladder that leads to nowhere...and in thier practices loose or never develope critical thinking skills in which to determine reality as it really is.
Where does it reside?