Buddha saw delusion as anything that shifts us out of peace and leads to someone or something else controlling our minds. All delusions are illusions that are given life due to feeding them attention. It’s almost akin to an individual version of an egregore, or our own self-created wetiko. Delusions distort how we see ourselves, others, and reality. It’s essentially like a funhouse mirror that is distorted and so it reflects a distortion back to us.
Delusion is a net unlike any other. There is the First Net that most people have gotten trapped in, which is what we today call being Basic. Then, there is a Second Net that is even more dangerous than the first. We find people like the Woke and Spiritual Narcissists in this one, among others. There is even a Third Net that, albeit rare, which leads to apathetic nihilism after escaping the first two nets yet falling into this last potential one.
Getting out of the nets of delusion is one of the most difficult undertakings because it means your ego has become so entrenched as the controller of your being that it’s taken several precautions to make sure it’s not put in its rightful place as a servant rather than a master. However, there are steps you can take to free yourself from delusion.
What causes suffering? You could say it’s desire, attachment, and fear, and you would be right. However, other states of consciousness also lead to profound levels of suffering that could be avoided with a consciousness shift.
Siddhartha Gautama, aka Buddha, taught much when it comes to suffering. In the Dhammapada, which is a collection of Buddha’s aphorisms, there are four specific states of consciousness he calls out as leading to immense suffering.
In Buddhism, fire is sometimes seen in a harmful context. While it has the ability to purify, it can also burn.
Lust is the expression of overactive and imbalanced sacral energy. When energy is not brought up the central channel throughout the rest of the energy body, it gets stuck in the sacral, growing so great that it leads to lust, a form of desire. This lust can lead to actions that can cause immense suffering for both the person experiencing the lust, as well as others who are the target of that lust.
Lust can arise in anyone but it can be fleeting and be treated like a transitory event, without focusing on it and making it grow. Watch your feelings of lust arise and notice that you previously did not experience this state of consciousness, while also realizing that there will come a time when you will no longer experience it as well. Allow it to flow through you while you close your eyes and take nice long, deep breaths. Allow this pranic inflow and outflow to be gentle.
Hate stems from anger and feeling that you were wronged. Buddha calls this one of the Three Poisons, and can also be considered to include anger based on how he described it.
Hatred and anger will burn you more than they will anyone else. It’s essentially self-sabotage. However, people who you direct your anger to can also suffer, be it mental, physical, or emotional suffering, especially if you act on those states of consciousness with your words and actions. It is hatred that has led to much of the enslavement we have seen of humans, both on an individual and collective level, in the past and present through various means....<<<Read More>>>...