Delusion is Enlightenment

The Case: “Delusion is Enlightenment; enlightenment is delusion.”

Shortly after starting Zen practice, I got a free ride, one of those spontaneous instants where space and time don’t apply. My assigned meditation technique4 at the time was counting breaths, and somewhere between six and seven, things landed in the numberless absolute. Everything known was wiped out in a swoop, yet nothing was lacking, nothing was anything, everything was utterly ordinary. The lesson was that perceptions can be overturned instantly. In fact, someone told me at the time that I’d had an enlightenment experience, which pleased me greatly. That’s delusion. There’s no telling how moments like that happen – and then un-happen. The path of awakening seems to be “Now you see it, now you don’t,” like driving through a stunning landscape that is periodically obscured by low cloud cover. I know of no better explanation for the periodic lifting of the veil of illusion than grace, since no personal virtue is involved. Glimpses of unbounded existence come unbidden, with or without spiritual practice, even to those who aren’t so nice.

Elizabeth Hamilton
Untrain Your Parrot
and Other No-Nonsense Instructions on the Path of Zen