The Unknown Foe Within
Do you know there is a foe within you? “Foe” may not be the exact expression to describe what is hidden within you that you are not aware and its nature is to produce unnecessary stress and suffering. But since it gives nothing except pain and the misery of a false façade that you have taken as true, this word “foe” comes close to that. But as you read on do bear in mind that this “foe” is not a kind of entity that has the ability to hurt you. It is merely something that you are not aware of and thus get hurt by it. Like a thorn that does not hurt you unless you touch it, similarly this “foe” is such.
So, what is this “foe”? Does everyone have it? Or is it just occurring in some of us? What is it? It is this nature called “delusion”. Not the kind of delusion where we often label someone or ourselves as being "deluded". Rather, delusion that is already inherent in us, or more precisely, within our mind, such that we don’t even know of its existence. A simple metaphor will be like one born in prison and never knowing that there is a world outside of the walls, thus believing in his or her entire life that the world is just what he or she could experience. Yet, this metaphor cannot even come close to what each of us are going through since this wall of delusion is found within our own mind itself and it is not something that is separate from us. That makes it more difficult to believe or even acknowledge since you don’t even know of its existence. Not knowing delusion is taking place is itself a delusion. The prime work of delusion is covering-up what is true and replacing it with something that is wrongly taken as true. In short, what is false is seen as true and what is really true is hidden from sight.
Certain delusions can be easily pointed out whereas the deeper ones will need some kind of meditative training to reveal them. Let me share here a few examples of delusion that you may or may not be able to notice.
You can’t experience anything you touch except what the body experiences. For example, you can’t experience the floor. You only experience your own bodily experience in relation to the floor. Hard or cold, which you think is the floor, is actually your bodily sensation.
You don’t experience anything further than your own mind. Whatever you experience is but an effect of your mind.
Your experience of upset is never due to anyone or any event outside of you. It has something to do what is already within the mind. Furthermore, the unpleasant feeling that is derived from the upset is also not because of any external factor.
The world that is seemingly “out there” as separated from you is actually “in here”.
Last, but not least, "the you" is actually a kind of delusion, yet to be realized.
Now, you may not necessarily believe what I have just stated in the few examples above, yet this is what delusion does to us – covering up what is true and pointing to you what is false as true. For example, you think the world is out there yet the world is never separated from you. Bizarre as it may seem, when you come to realize it directly, it is pretty liberating. Telling you and you realizing it directly has a different result altogether. One is just a believe, the other, a direct realization.
So, what is it that finally makes one become aware of all these delusions? It is the arising of a unique transcendental wisdom. This unique wisdom only occurs after a systematic process of consistent awareness or mindfulness training directed towards our mind-bodily processes. More importantly, it is not any kind of awareness. It is an awareness that is supported by right attitude with regards to what is really happening now. A certain initial pointing is required for one who wishes to unravel this mystery of delusion. It is not an overnight development but a journey in itself. You may wish to know why you need to find out about this delusion. As said earlier, delusion always results in some kind of suffering which you may not even be aware of. Thus, the overcoming of it brings forth the end of suffering, which you will know instantaneously when this unique wisdom arises. If you are interested in this journey, do join us in the new season of Mindfulness A Starting Point. Do check out our website for more details.
Before closing I wish to share here a verse made by Jesus. Try not to see him as a religious figure but rather as a wise one who has realized what is within him. Many other enlightened masters who have realized this fact will express it differently, in their own unique ways. The following phrase is found in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, “That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you.” This Transcendental Wisdom is what you need to bring up in your mind if you wish to realize what delusion is. In the language of quantum physics – “what you think you or the world is, is not exactly what it is.”. Awakened, as in the Buddha, is just that. There is the Beyond that each of us will come to realize, in their own time, once the delusion is finally seen for the last time.
May this new year 2021 bring an awakening in you.
In grace,
Tuck Loon
Newsletter 06 January 2021