Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Delusion & Illusion in Zen Buddhism.

A quote.

'Delusion, Illusion:

To be deluded is to be totally deceived. Delusion implies a belief in something that is contrary to reality.

Illusion, on the other hand, suggests that what is seen has objective reality but is misinterpreted or seen falsely.

In Buddhism, delusion is ignorance, an unawareness of the true nature of thing or of the real meaning of existence.

We are deluded or led astray by our senses (which include the intellect and discriminating thoughts) insofar as they cause us to accept the phenomenal world as the Whole of reality when in fact it is but a limited and ephemeral aspect of reality, and to act as though the world is external to us when in truth it is but a reflection of ourselves. This does not mean that the relative world has no reality whatever.

When the masters say all phenomena are illusory, they mean that compared with Mind itself the world apprehended by the senses in such a partial and limited aspect of Truth that it is dreamlike.

See also: "Six Realms of Existence"'.

-- Quoted from: 'The Three Pillars of Zen' by Roshi Pilip Kapleau.
(I've reformatted the text to be easier to read).

Links:
- Ego, Delusions, Stiff Ideas & Mind's Veils,
- Reality is Illusion, Worldly Knowledge is Delusions,
- Emptiness, Interdependence, Equanimity & Illusory Nature of Reality.

No comments:

Post a Comment