Thanks everybody for your thoughtful posts.
What I am reading is that, to use a shitty analogy, the mind is like the matrix, and the shadow-play never stops. Enjoy the show but do not expect to get beyond it. Is that right?
(by "the show" I mean the continuous suppression/projection and decay of these projections.)
My question was based in two things:
Past experiences and my attempts to understand them better, and some reading I have been doing.
I have this "academic" drive to try and figure out the nuts and bolts of how things work...it's a control thing *winks*