Illusion: C14: from Latin illūsiō deceit, from illūdere; see illude

“The opposite of lying is honesty. Truth has no opposite.”

Often, and with some judgement and dismissal, our spiritual discussions can be hijacked by the statement “it’s all just an illusion.”

This is not only a conversation stopper, but also can be a rejection, breaking the communication, devaluing experience, and even slamming shut the doors of compassion. If we are on a roll, manifesting ourselves in joy, the most likely response will be that we don’t care. But if we are in great pain – for example, after the death of a loved one – the statement that this loss, or this pain is an “illusion” can feel like hypocritical insult.

That all the happenings in this life of ours, all that is said and all that is done, all we think and feel and all we perceive, that our very being here is illusory, is not outrageous, however, it is sourced in ancient wisdom.

But rather than using the illusion card to reject the “other”, perhaps it is worthwhile to inquire into what this illusion is, where illusion begins and where it ends, and what is the reality that must be here, for us to even make a claim that something is not real?

What is illusion?

Where do we draw the line between illusion and reality, and who decides that? The teacher? The latest book? Ancient texts written out of another culture in another era, interpreted by generations of diverse teachers?

The wisdom of the illusory nature of being here is not random. It is based on the realization of pure subjectivity. Every impression, every moment of perception, is entirely and utterly subjective. Every thing is relative to another thing.

Even an awakening into pure consciousness is generated out of this particular body, mind, heart and nervous system. The story is then imprinted on memory and processed and told subjectively. Each and every moment of experience is relative to the next: based on a certain perspective – a perspective always limited within time and space.

If all that is changing – or passing in time is an illusion, then what is the end point? Where can we stand and be for real? When all we are breaks and we find ourselves in an infinite or eternal pool of light, god-like, alive and unbounded, then this is the end point, right? Is this the “reality” beyond illusion?

From the gut of compassion, and as a responsive human being, I must say: “Yes, No, Maybe, Not only.” The reason for this, is a severe illusion plaguing our time based on the illusion about the very nature of illusion.

Is the body ‘just’ an illusion when our child is physically threatened?

Not only is illusion precious, it is sacred; it is our purpose; it is who we are; what we are and where we are.

What is NOT illusion?

If illusion is all that moves, all that changes, all that is caught in time; if illusion is the whole of creation in its dynamic, incomprehensible immensity; if illusion is the tenderness we feel for a baby; or the empathy we feel in witnessing starvation; then illusion is a very precious thing indeed.

Not only is illusion precious, it is sacred; it is our purpose; it is who we are; what we are and where we are.

Illusion is the potentially blissful and ecstatic miracle of being here, right now, in a human body, reading these words – even if the reception of the words is entirely unique, subjective, changing, relative and seemingly non-absolute.

After a spiritual awakening, or dramatic shift in a process of inner-growth, for a while there can be a sense of liberation from old beliefs, limiting perspectives, and tired or outgrown identifications of the mind. This can be exhilarating. Freedom floods through the windows of the mind and heart with a recognition that this freedom has always been here, never lost, and that it can never be taken away.

Yet we are still here, in “this” illusory world.

Yet we are still here, in “this” illusory world. There are still social norms, financial realities, issues from North to South, suffering, rejection, betrayal and the genetic legacy of our birth families. Fear is still here. Cruelty is still here. Our impending physical illness and death are still here. How easy it could be if we could just dismiss all this as illusion and root ourselves instead in pure consciousness, resting as the light which is the source of all creation – identifying with the creator rather than the created. But identification with the creator that excludes the created is perhaps the most severe illusion of all.

This transcendental position anyway pales within time, because there are ‘others’: other hearts, other perspectives, other minds, other feelings, other people. So, for a while we could preach “the truth”, (while secretly seeking affirmation of an illusory experience). From a superior perspective we can run through our illusory  world, revealing the unfettered light source of all we are. The less others are convinced, the more we will protest from our blissful superiority. The more stubborn the “other” illusions, the more we feel compelled to reject this life as nothing more than “illusion”, (especially when it hurts).

Beyond Perception, Beyond Creation

Few are able to take the next step beyond illusion – and to apprehend that even the most blazing experience of absolute truth could also be “illusion” – a relative perception or reflection in time and space. How could this transcendental experience be just as illusory as the old lady with the shopping bags cursing the rain, or as illusory as our boredom, or worse, as illusory as our pleasure?

Few are able to allow that consciousness itself – this pure light of perception – could also be a grander, transient form of master illusion

Few are able to allow that consciousness itself – this pure light of perception – could also be a grander, transient form of master illusion, which is relative, passing in time and changing in space. Few will allow the humility to accept that a perspective that needs to be defended from other perspectives cannot be itself the ultimate truth.

Truth – beyond all illusion of changing experience – must be a continuum – it must be always, already here, at the gut of every second of our existence – never absent, never affected, unconditional, never changing, beyond all “otherness” or duality. Above all, it cannot be an end-point to the human mind and heart.

It is here, when we are in the glories of meditation, and it is here when we scrape the rotting grog from the bottom of the fridge. It is here when we are driving our car to work, and it is here where we are in the unconscious depths of sleep. It is here when we are holy and here when we are in an alcoholic stupor. It is here when we are organized and it is still here when our minds decompose in old age from neuro-degeneration. It is here when we have power, and here when we crack in nervous breakdown. It is here when we are expanding in unconditional love, and it is here when we are contracted in a pit of jealousy. It is here when we lie, and here when we strive to be honest. It is here, unconditional to any happening in time, space or perspective.

I am That

Can you find it, within your self, and sink back into That? That, which is the very core substance of all illusion and through and within the burning core of creation, yet entirely untouched by it all at the same time? Can we be that, which as the source of love, is not itself loving, and as the source of peace is not itself peaceful? Can we allow that which is the background of all we are, through which even the very pulse of consciousness flickers?

For the one that rests in That, there is no rejection, no judgement and no need for the label “illusion”. From here, every happening, appearance, dance and creation is simply a reflection of itself, never divided, always whole.