Everything is illusion.

[effilang]

Someone asked:

Where do the gurus get this idea that because we are temporal, we are not real?

 

 

I answered based on what I have experienced to be true:

That is a misunderstanding of the meaning and a misrepresentation of the truth by unskilled teachers.

When the Buddha (and many before him) said that all is illusion, they did not mean that the world is not real. Rather, they were pointing out that the world simply IS and all phenomena exist absolutely.

However, because we perceive them through the 6th consciousness we warp the true appearance of absolute reality before it even has the chance to reach our mind unobstructed. Just like a prism refracting one beam of light into the many colours of the rainbow. Thus we create a relative experience of reality subject to our own perception.

You see, the goal is to perceive the beam of light in it's original state, before it is filtered through the prism and turns into Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

The many different colours are pretty, but some of us have impaired vision. Some see less red and more green, others more blue and less yellow, some see more orange but less red and there are those that are completely blind.

This is why we all have a relative experience of what IS and this is also why two people may look at the same thing, but see two entirely different objects all together. Each will defend the opinion of their perception adamantly, claiming power and superior understanding over the other, when fundamentally both observers are interpreting a relative illusion and not the true nature of the object in the first place. Sort of like the blind leading the blind. Only where both parties are extremely stubborn.

If we do away with the prism, which is an analogy for the ego-mind and acquired discriminating intellect, then we allow ourselves to perceive that one unifying all encompassing beam of primal light before it is distorted by our senses.

This is the truth we all aspire to. This is the absolute goal of spiritual cultivation. The realization of reality.

This is all meditation aims to achieve.

When we sit to meditate it is important to always employ the Taoist concept of Wu Wei - Effortless Action.

You see, the acquired ego-mind is like the surface of a lake. It is always active with thoughts, ideas and concepts and because of this it's surface remains turbulent and in a constant and unceasing rippling. One ripple bounces of the edge and creates many more. It is an avalanche effect and if we do not assume control of our mind, we will get buried under the snow and freeze, until someone pulls us out.

This is the nature of our acquired ego-mind. It loves constant motion and activity. When the 5 senses perceive something, they immediately stir the heart and ideas and emotions are created.

Thus, when we smell something, pleasant aromas bring about the desire to satisfy our olfactory stimulation and all manner of fantasies begin to formulate in our mind.

When we taste something with our tongue, the desire to savour the many tastes arises and brings about fantasies of food and drink.

We we hear a lovely sound, the desire for melodious music arises and brings about fantasies to prompt you to further satisfy it.

When we see something beautiful, the desire to possess it arises and we dream up fantasies about how to obtain it.

When we feel something with our skin, the desire to experience forms arises and we create fantasies about pleasuring the body.

Like a skilful thief, the 5 senses thus steal the stillness from your mind and heart and replace it with many thoughts. Making you a slave to your own mental illusions and ideas.

The acquired ego-mind loves motion and activity while the original mind thrives in stillness.

If we constantly succumb to satisfying our senses we create the environment for thoughts, fantasies and ideas to thrive and the ego-mind will remain in constant motion. This is the domain of the acquired-mind.

When we sit down to meditate and let our thoughts gradually disappear, we create stillness and facilitate the activity of our Tao-mind.

In Taoism we aim to subside the activity of the acquired ego-mind and through that stillness, allow the Tao-mind to naturally emerge.

The mind of the Tao, our original nature, is like the bright moon in the sky. It is always there. It has always been there. It will always be there, shining brightly with the light of all creation. It simply wants a surface off which to project.

You may ask, but why does the moon have to reflect on the surface of the lake? Why can't we just look directly at it, to realize it? Is this not quicker and easier?

This is a good question!

The reason it is hard to directly look at the moon and realize it's presence is because in the first place, we can't make out if it the image is of the moon or not! When the surface of the lake is so rippled because of the motions and activities of thoughts in the mind, it can't reflect anything. All you see is a scrambled image. So how can you look directly at the moon if you don't know it's the moon you should be looking at?

This is how the ego-mind tricks you.

By keeping you in constant activity, it effectively never allows you to become still enough and in so doing, successfully obscures reality from you. Like a skilled trickster, it keeps you trapped in it's illusion and soon, you begin to believe it is real

The Tao must be approached subtly and by skilful means. Through doing without doing.

Time after time, as we meditate, the ripples on the surface of the lake begin to subside.

Gradually the bright moon of our original Tao-mind will begin to show itself on the surface of the lake.

Thus, when the mind is still, the lake will be serene and the water will resemble a polished mirror.

The more the lake stills, the more apparent the reflection of the moon becomes. Until one day the ego-mind is so still, that not one thought arises, and the surface of the lake becomes as smooth as fine silk. Not a sound, not a motion. Only complete stillness. This is the awakening to reality.

Like a reflective mirror polished through countless hours of meditation you finally realize the absolute image of the moon. For the first time ever, you see all it's fine details. It no longer looks like a wavy and indiscernible blob of white paint morphing about in the rhythm of the ripples and you finally realize, it is the moon. Without a doubt, you know it is the moon you are observing, reflecting on the surface of this calm lake.

This is emptiness. This is realization. The realization of the reflection of the moon within you.

But this is not the final goal. Why?

Because we are still looking only at the reflection of the moon and not the actual moon!

But you know what? It no longer matters. Because once you know, you know. Because once you are liberated from the illusion of the ego-mind, the only thing that is left to do is to but gently raise the gaze of the eyes from the lake to the sky in order to reveal the original heavenly nature of your mind. To look upon the very moon itself!

To leap out of the motion, into the stillness and from beyond the stillness to leap into the absolute reality of the Tao.

This is the practice of meditation.

If we do not apply Wu Wei and simply allow the ripples on the surface of the lake of the mind to subside on their own. If we attempt to use our hand to calm the surface, we will simply cause even more ripples.

Even if you use one finger! You will still cause a ripple! Even if you use a goose-feather, you will still cause a ripple. All it takes is one ripple to distort the reflection.

Therefore, there must be no desire to achieve. For the desire to achieve is in itself a desire and a product of the ego-mind.

Thus, Wu Wei employs doing without doing. Desiring without desiring. Working without working. Meditating without meditating! Achieving without achieving!

As you release your mind from the desire to act. The ripples will turn to nothing and the bright moon of your original mind will reveal itself in all it's glory!

Good luck in your meditation practice! : )

Edited August 13, 2013 by effilang

[effilang]

Q: My issue with the word 'illusion' stems from it having been given the connotation of 'fake' when the word 'ludre', from which the word came, had the connotation of 'play' (As did 'maya') I prefer the term 'Allusion' as in 'a pointing towards a deeper truth'.

 

My answer: That's just it though. The function of the acquired ego-mind is not to point to the truth, but to keep you comfortably settled within the illusion and trick you into thinking it is the truth. It has no intention of leading you to the truth, for in doing so it advocates it's own annihilation. It cannot do this, because it is a self preserving matrix. Illusion, because like with a dexterous magician, there IS something to see (the truth), but so skilled is he that they make us see something else entirely and obscure the truth from us. That it's all just a trick : )

 

I agree with you that the meaning of illusion is misunderstood. But as with the very task we are aiming to achieve through questioning reality to come to the acknowledgement of illusion, further investigation is required to realize the true meaning of that illusion. Beyond the surface and into the depth.

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[三江源]

You will find a wonderful lucid talk about this topic, effilang, currently running in the thread started by Nikolai1, here:

 

http://thetaobums.com/topic/30902-philosophical-tao/

[effilang]

I can't agree with you more Rene.

 

Things need to be broken DOWN! When you understand something you can break it down.

If you can't you don't understand it.

 

Fancy words will only confuse people.

 

Cat, thanks! I'll check it out now

[Apech]

That is a nice post.

 

Sadly, unless the elaborations come along with the words, (like they did in your post), the phrases "Reality is an Illusion" and "Everything is Emptiness" and "Eliminate all Desires" among countless others... will only continue to mis-lead, mis-inform, and mis-direct those who continue to search for what is not lost in the first place!

 

Of what use are terms that do more harm than good?

 

All they do is keep people stuck in the mindset of the missing.

 

 

Perpetual IMO applied.

 

The terms are useful and point to a view of how things are which supports your practice. Out of context and not elaborated they do tend to confuse though. But its not the terms which do harm but their unintelligent application.

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[zerostao]

nice post effi, again you have impressed me

this is the type of dialogue that i can resonate with.

from my view it shares some nice taoist concepts in crystal lucidity

and it cuts thru the chase

[effilang]

I am humbled Zero!

I am just a little wiggly worm, wiggling a modest little wiggle, trying to get to the centre of the apple before I get eaten!

 

Wiggle wiggle wiggle : )

[Apech]

Yes and 'unintelligent application' is assuming while using them others know what view you are pointing at. Why not use simple, commonly used terms that most everyone understands? Unless, of course, an aura of mystery is desired, to keep searchers wanting more...

 

Some of the more developed philosophies use technical terms because they are being very precise. To try to use those terms in an everyday way would be very confusing ... which is probably why people are confused. For instance saying everything is empty is using common words but the meaning is far from common but profound.

[effilang]

This may be due to my limited understanding of things, but IME I have yet to come across a science of the mind that has elaborated the workings of the mind in a greater depth than that of Buddhism. Yet, I don't see any complicated words there.

 

In fact, science nowadays, including psychology and psychoanalysis hardly even scratches the surface of Buddhist literature on the functions of the mind.

 

I really think if one understands it, they can explain it plainly. Because if they can't, then what good is their understanding if it remains an exclusive privilege to the learned. It is the unlearned that need the learning, for they are most lost. The learned can find their way : )

 

It probably explains why psychologists with all their technical lingo have one of the highest rates of suicide.

 

tee hee : )

Edited August 13, 2013 by effilang

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[Apech]

Yes, but with an uncommon usage. The word 'illusion' is also a common word. But does it convey what is meant to those who don't already know what is intended? I don't think we are in disagreement. My point was that more effort should be made, if sharing and understanding is the goal, to use simple words in their common usage. Then again, if it takes 'complex' term usage to explain 'complex' ideas... maybe the real difficulty isn't in the terms at all. (-:

 

I agree about more effort. Simply quoting obscure sayings without commentary or explanation is not helpful.

[Apech]

This may be due to my limited understanding of things, but IME I have yet to come across a science of the mind that has elaborated the workings of the mind in a greater depth than that of Buddhism. Yet, I don't see any complicated words there.

 

In fact, science nowadays, including psychology and psychoanalysis hardly even scratches the surface of Buddhist literature on the functions of the mind.

 

I really think if one understands it, they can explain it plainly. Because if they can't, then what good is their understanding if it remains an exclusive privilege to the learned. It is the unlearned that need the learning, for they are most lost. The learned can find their way : )

 

It probably explains why psychologists with all their technical lingo have one of the highest rates of suicide.

 

tee hee : )

 

Buddhism is full of many long and complicated (or perhaps very precise) Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan terms. I agree that if you have understood the teaching properly you should be able to explain it in terms which people can understand easily ... and hiding behind complexity is not a good thing ... but I think that when we try to get very precise about what we are saying we do develop a specific language of terms. Its inevitable. Most philosophers begin by defining terms and quite often they use words in very specific ways which are not ordinary ways.

[zerostao]

Which Taoist concepts would those be, zerostao?

rene, you dont see wu wei, naturalness, stillness, original nature, meditation as taoist concepts?

i will not speak to the spiritual part of the op, but i am a spiritual taoist.

i see chuang tzu influence thru the post., you dont?

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[Aaron]

 

Someone asked:

Where do the gurus get this idea that because we are temporal, we are not real?

 

Prism.jpg

 

I answered based on what I have experienced to be true:

That is a misunderstanding of the meaning and a misrepresentation of the truth by unskilled teachers.

When the Buddha (and many before him) said that all is illusion, they did not mean that the world is not real. Rather, they were pointing out that the world simply IS and all phenomena exist absolutely.

However, because we perceive them through the 6th consciousness we warp the true appearance of absolute reality before it even has the chance to reach our mind unobstructed. Just like a prism refracting one beam of light into the many colours of the rainbow. Thus we create a relative experience of reality subject to our own perception.

You see, the goal is to perceive the beam of light in it's original state, before it is filtered through the prism and turns into Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

The many different colours are pretty, but some of us have impaired vision. Some see less red and more green, others more blue and less yellow, some see more orange but less red and there are those that are completely blind.

This is why we all have a relative experience of what IS and this is also why two people may look at the same thing, but see two entirely different objects all together. Each will defend the opinion of their perception adamantly, claiming power and superior understanding over the other, when fundamentally both observers are interpreting a relative illusion and not the true nature of the object in the first place. Sort of like the blind leading the blind. Only where both parties are extremely stubborn.

If we do away with the prism, which is an analogy for the ego-mind and acquired discriminating intellect, then we allow ourselves to perceive that one unifying all encompassing beam of primal light before it is distorted by our senses.

This is the truth we all aspire to. This is the absolute goal of spiritual cultivation. The realization of reality.

This is all meditation aims to achieve.

When we sit to meditate it is important to always employ the Taoist concept of Wu Wei - Effortless Action.

You see, the acquired ego-mind is like the surface of a lake. It is always active with thoughts, ideas and concepts and because of this it's surface remains turbulent and in a constant and unceasing rippling. One ripple bounces of the edge and creates many more. It is an avalanche effect and if we do not assume control of our mind, we will get buried under the snow and freeze, until someone pulls us out.

This is the nature of our acquired ego-mind. It loves constant motion and activity. When the 5 senses perceive something, they immediately stir the heart and ideas and emotions are created.

Thus, when we smell something, pleasant aromas bring about the desire to satisfy our olfactory stimulation and all manner of fantasies begin to formulate in our mind.

When we taste something with our tongue, the desire to savour the many tastes arises and brings about fantasies of food and drink.

We we hear a lovely sound, the desire for melodious music arises and brings about fantasies to prompt you to further satisfy it.

When we see something beautiful, the desire to possess it arises and we dream up fantasies about how to obtain it.

When we feel something with our skin, the desire to experience forms arises and we create fantasies about pleasuring the body.

Like a skilful thief, the 5 senses thus steal the stillness from your mind and heart and replace it with many thoughts. Making you a slave to your own mental illusions and ideas.

The acquired ego-mind loves motion and activity while the original mind thrives in stillness.

If we constantly succumb to satisfying our senses we create the environment for thoughts, fantasies and ideas to thrive and the ego-mind will remain in constant motion. This is the domain of the acquired-mind.

When we sit down to meditate and let our thoughts gradually disappear, we create stillness and facilitate the activity of our Tao-mind.

In Taoism we aim to subside the activity of the acquired ego-mind and through that stillness, allow the Tao-mind to naturally emerge.

The mind of the Tao, our original nature, is like the bright moon in the sky. It is always there. It has always been there. It will always be there, shining brightly with the light of all creation. It simply wants a surface off which to project.

You may ask, but why does the moon have to reflect on the surface of the lake? Why can't we just look directly at it, to realize it? Is this not quicker and easier?

This is a good question!

The reason it is hard to directly look at the moon and realize it's presence is because in the first place, we can't make out if it the image is of the moon or not! When the surface of the lake is so rippled because of the motions and activities of thoughts in the mind, it can't reflect anything. All you see is a scrambled image. So how can you look directly at the moon if you don't know it's the moon you should be looking at?

This is how the ego-mind tricks you.

By keeping you in constant activity, it effectively never allows you to become still enough and in so doing, successfully obscures reality from you. Like a skilled trickster, it keeps you trapped in it's illusion and soon, you begin to believe it is real

The Tao must be approached subtly and by skilful means. Through doing without doing.

Time after time, as we meditate, the ripples on the surface of the lake begin to subside.

Gradually the bright moon of our original Tao-mind will begin to show itself on the surface of the lake.

Thus, when the mind is still, the lake will be serene and the water will resemble a polished mirror.

The more the lake stills, the more apparent the reflection of the moon becomes. Until one day the ego-mind is so still, that not one thought arises, and the surface of the lake becomes as smooth as fine silk. Not a sound, not a motion. Only complete stillness. This is the awakening to reality.

Like a reflective mirror polished through countless hours of meditation you finally realize the absolute image of the moon. For the first time ever, you see all it's fine details. It no longer looks like a wavy and indiscernible blob of white paint morphing about in the rhythm of the ripples and you finally realize, it is the moon. Without a doubt, you know it is the moon you are observing, reflecting on the surface of this calm lake.

This is emptiness. This is realization. The realization of the reflection of the moon within you.

But this is not the final goal. Why?

Because we are still looking only at the reflection of the moon and not the actual moon!

But you know what? It no longer matters. Because once you know, you know. Because once you are liberated from the illusion of the ego-mind, the only thing that is left to do is to but gently raise the gaze of the eyes from the lake to the sky in order to reveal the original heavenly nature of your mind. To look upon the very moon itself!

To leap out of the motion, into the stillness and from beyond the stillness to leap into the absolute reality of the Tao.

This is the practice of meditation.

If we do not apply Wu Wei and simply allow the ripples on the surface of the lake of the mind to subside on their own. If we attempt to use our hand to calm the surface, we will simply cause even more ripples.

Even if you use one finger! You will still cause a ripple! Even if you use a goose-feather, you will still cause a ripple. All it takes is one ripple to distort the reflection.

Therefore, there must be no desire to achieve. For the desire to achieve is in itself a desire and a product of the ego-mind.

Thus, Wu Wei employs doing without doing. Desiring without desiring. Working without working. Meditating without meditating! Achieving without achieving!

As you release your mind from the desire to act. The ripples will turn to nothing and the bright moon of your original mind will reveal itself in all it's glory!

Good luck in your meditation practice! : )

 

 

Okay,

 

Much of what you're talking about is a hybridization of Buddhist thought and Taoist thought, similar to what's taught in the Hua Hu Ching. There's nothing wrong with that, but to be entirely clear, most people don't believe that the Hua Hu Ching is actually written by Lao Tzu or the authors of the Tao Te Ching, hence what you're presenting here is a form of hybridized Taoism. The fact that you start your post with a quote from Buddha is very telling in regards to where your notions arise from.

 

For instance, color is never talked about in the context that you're talking about it now, in fact the only mention of colors I can recall is from chapter 12 of the Tao Te Ching where it states "The five colours blind the eye." Ego-mind and Tao-mind is never mentioned either, rather there are numerous passages that encourage clarifying one's mind, but it's not the same as what's being taught in Buddhism, or what you're talking about here. The clarification of the mind that's talked about in the Tao Te Ching is the stilling of the mind, cessation of thought so that one can come closer to the source, the bellows, the spirit of the fountain, the process of tao that exists within each of us.

 

I get the feeling that you've been taught these things through a lineage or school that adheres to these beliefs. They may even be a "Taoist" school, but keep in mind that there are many schools that claim to be "Taoist" that have little to do with what Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu were teaching.

 

I encourage you to continue practicing as you are, if you find benefit in what you're doing, but in doing so remember that just because someone claims to be "Taoist" doesn't necessarily mean they are Taoist.

 

Again this is Buddhism that you're talking about. It seems that the notion that Buddhism and Taoism are the same is contagious, maybe because too many people believe Zen and Tao are the same. Now on your behalf, I will admit that in China many people would consider this to be Taoist thought, since they are more open to mixing the traditions together to find a harmonious path, but for the sake of clarity I think it's important to clarify which idea comes from which tradition so that the newcomer isn't confused or misled into believing something that may have no actual context to the actual philosophy.

 

Aaron

Edited August 13, 2013 by Aaron

[zerostao]

aaron , you take the position that only lao tzu is taoist all else is not?

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[effilang]

I think one can throw a plant into a blender, and still taste the root in the sludge... but that doesn't mean the stem is the leaf is the flower.

 

Thanks for your reply, though. (-:

 

But it doesn't mean it's not either

 

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[effilang]

Aaron, I appreciate that you've taken the time to "qualify" my thoughts, but I couldn't care less about what you've posted.

 

I'm not interested in what people want to call it, so long as it helps them practice and in doing so leads them to their own experience of my...well experience.

 

Honestly, the last thing I expected was for someone to reply to the thread in address of such superficiality.

 

But I suppose you did it with good intentions.

I'm afraid I do not see them at all, but I am not saying they are bad either. Maybe I am just blind to your wisdom.

 

I just do not see the benefit of it to anyone else, but yourself.

 

I've never been interested in what people call something, but rather what that thing achieves.

 

If you removed every mention of the word Taoism, Taoist or Buddhism, Buddhist from the context of my post, it would still be an effective post. This is the essence of my learning and teaching.

 

Having said that, It seems people are sensitive to these titles and I hadn't considered It.

I apologize in advance If I have offended anyone's beliefs by using any names inappropriately.

 

I would advise everyone however to remember that provocation is the root of all wisdom.

If something I have said has provoked you. Perhaps you should take the opportunity to ask yourselves why?

 

I will do the same.

 

[rene]

.

Edited August 15, 2013 by rene

[Marblehead]

Yet another nice post!

 

Good suggestion!

 

I'll ponder why I prefer clarity over confusion.

 

warm regards (-:

But let's be honest, confusion is so much more fun.