MooNiNite Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) "illusion and enlightenment cannot be separated. This is an old truth, don't think it was discovered recently." -Ryokan Edited May 24, 2014 by MooNiNite 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silent Answers Posted May 24, 2014 The inescapable illusion of reality and its relationship to the Tao ...or the illusions that afflict the weak minded as they search for enlightenment? There seems to be a lot of people who are on the right path but then fall into a ditch, mistaking it for the destination. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MooNiNite Posted May 24, 2014 quite a destination indeed. but that is when the true work begins... so it's not really a destination at all 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grady Posted May 24, 2014 Truth cannot be understood without the study of falsehood. Reality cannot be approached without passing through the gate of illusion. This is "Cultivation 101". 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mystique Enigma Posted May 24, 2014 When a Child is a Child When the child was a child, it walked with its arms swinging. It wanted the stream to be a river, the river a torrent, and this puddle to be a sea. When the child was a child, it didn’t know it was a child. Everything was full of life, and all life was one. When the child was a child, it had no opinions about anything. It had no habits. It sat cross-legged, took off running, hand a cow lick in its hair, and didn’t make a picture when photographed. When the child was a child, it was the time of these questions: Why am I me, and why not you ? Why am I here, and why not there ? When did time begin and where does space end ? Isn’t life under the sun just a dream ? Isn’t what I see, hear and smell only the illusion of a world before the world ? Does evil actually exist ? And are there people who are really evil ? How can it be that I, who am I, didn’t exist before I came to be ? And that someday the one who I am will no longer be the me I am ? When the child was a child, rice and dal were enough for it, and it is still that way. When the child was a child, raindrops fell into its hands as only raindrops do, and they still do. Fresh cashew nuts made its tongue raw, and they still do now. One very mountain top, it had a longing for a yet higher mountain, and in every city it had a longing for a yet bigger city. And it is still that way. It reached for guavas in the treetop with the elation it still feels today. It was shy with all strangers, and it still is. It awaited the first rain of the season, and it is still this way. When the child was a child, it threw a stick into a tree like a lance and it still quivers there today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAOLONG Posted May 24, 2014 end of illusion = enlightenment Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 24, 2014 end of illusion = enlightenment I have nothing to say. Everything that needs be said has already been said. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) I have no idea about the OP or comments above. One way or the other. Not a clue. I do think that outsourcing our thinking to quotes, texts or 'scriptures' puts us onto less than firm ground though. Edited May 24, 2014 by GrandmasterP 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) I do think that outsourcing our thinking to quotes, texts or 'scriptures' puts us onto less than firm ground though. Yep. It is my opinion that if we cannot relate something in our own words then we don't yet fully understand it ourself. (But, adding a quote for reforcement or support is all well and good.) Edit to add: ... for reinforcement too ... Edited May 24, 2014 by Marblehead 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
