The Pit of Illusion

Let’s use an example today to talk about the Pit of Illusion. Let’s say you are in a grocery store and you pass a woman who lives in your neighborhood. You enthusiastically greet her with a warm, “How are you?” and she nods, doesn’t say anything, and pushes her cart on down the aisle. At this point you begin to tell a story to explain her behavior. The story can be positive about how the woman must have a lot on her mind or that she’s worried about something or that she just received bad news. Or the story can be negative about how she doesn’t think you are good enough for her or she is so proud and haughty or she is so thoughtless and unfeeling. 

The point is, you are telling a story when the only thing you need to deal with is the Truth. And what is the Truth? The woman responded to your greeting with a nod. All of your stories are based upon the fact that she” should have” done something different. But the Truth is she didn’t. 

When you tell yourself the negative story you fall into the Pit of Illusion. You are not dealing with Truth, you are dealing with a lie, an illusion, and whenever you are in the Pit of Illusion you are vexed. You experience misery in the form of jealousy, bitterness, anger, self-pity or hundreds of other negative, vexing emotions. You hurt yourself. 

Whenever you are in the Pit of Illusion you experience self-inflicted pain, and that pain is totally UNNECESSARY. So Living in Truth is all about living in a way that we never experience the vexation that comes from negative emotions.

Optical Illusion from http://interactive.usc.edu/members/yuechuan/archives/optical-illusion-wheels-circles-rotating.png