The Five Illusions

The Five Illusions

Living Awake is not something we do, it is an art; a way of being; a moment by moment presence to the greatness that is always here, within and without. As with art there are no rules, manuals to follow or set paths, The Art of Living Awake is unique to every person, and completely new in every moment. Living Awake is an inner commitment to see beyond the illusion of thoughts and feelings to the deeper truth that resides in every person, in every moment. While we believe we are these sense perceptions of thought, feeling and sensation we will live trapped in their cage, living in a limited world and restricted to brief tastes of the magical truth that lives in the beyond.

As we step beyond this cage we will see this truth and will sense the beating heart of our true nature; a nature untouched by the troubles of the mind and the swirl of pleasure and pain. In this nature our perception is vast, we see ourselves not as an individual but as part of an ongoing interconnected cycle of evolution. The petty constructs of our limited identity dissolve and we fill with simple joy.

The 5 Illusions

We cannot find truth, for it is already there, the best we can do is to throw out everything that is not truth knowing that truth is what will fill up the empty space. We make this space by looking at some core fundamental illusions that make up our identity and ways to see beyond them. There are five illusions to unveil.

These are Time, Money, Love, Health and Patience

Time

The form based identity lives in a world of duality, of opposites and contradictions. This is the nature of form reality, for here cannot exist without there, up without down and inside without outside. As too with time, tomorrow cannot exist without yesterday. This illusion that you are living in this linear reality of time creates a big confusion for the truth within. For the truth in you knows you are part of everything, all that ever was and will be, and so could not ever be somewhere that is closer or further from anywhere else. So as you feed this belief in linear time you feed your form identity and before long you buy into the illusion that you really can become more than you already are. For time to exist so too must incompleteness, and so while you live in time you will forever be seeking your completeness (“tomorrow will be better”, “remember the good old days”) and while you seek you shall never find. So that innocent looking clock on your mantelpiece is actually torturing you! Throw it out! Or at least let it know that its truth is rather limited! You wouldn’t use a calculator to raise your children so let go of thinking tomorrow will be the day you awaken. You are fully awake right now, this is the truth that time hides.

Money

Especially in the modernized countries money is a deeply entrenched system that we build our lives around and like time, is hiding a very radiant truth. Money was created as a system of practical exchange but soon became an energy in and of itself. To have money was to be abundant, to not have money was to be poor. Before long whole cultures developed around having more and having less, each feeding the others world. The poor resenting the rich, the rich fearing the poor, both living inside an illusion that you could have more or less. Giving your experience to the amount of money in your wallet is like getting a tarot reading from a turnip, at best useless and at worst rather dangerous. Your experience of whether you have ‘enough’ lives deep in your being, and is always there. The amount of money you have or don’t have has absolutely no bearing on the fullness of who you are. You are completely full of all life right now, this is the truth money can hide.

Love

Love, as I talk about it here, is the personal exchange of energy between people that we have named love. This energy exchange, with your beloved, workmates or a person on the street is central to your understanding of who you are. We create our sense of self in relation to those around us and the roles we each play. Each of these roles, mother, father, son, friend, enemy, workmate etc are set up as agreements for the exchange of love (energy). We live inside these roles and receive energy from others and the collective energy in alignment with cultural norms. An employee receives a different energy than a managing director, a postman different than a mum at home. We weave in and out of these roles, feeding our sense of identity and attempt to fulfill these various roles in a way that keeps our personal energy system (Identity) alive. A husband agrees to love his wife, a teacher agrees to teach their students etc. These roles are a natural part of how we understand ourselves to exist but they are deeply dangerous when it comes to authentic liberation. As we have learnt to survive by playing these roles and receiving the agreed energy it can be very challenging to let go of them. Just like an addiction to drugs there is an inner force that holds these in place for fear of the losing of energy that they have given. This illusion is a great challenge for anyone choosing to authentically awaken, for they all must be dropped to receive the only permanent energy source, Essence. Can you give up your addiction to knowing who you are? Can you step beyond any and all roles and greet the nothingness with a yes? Again, and again and again? This is the rehab program for the love addicted!

Health

Health, as I define it is the physical organism behaving in a way that you agree is good. So if you have energy and vitality this is good, if you have tiredness or sickness this is bad. This is an almost universal belief, we express sadness at sickness and decay and joy for health and growth. But this is not the truth of the physical body, it is a stunning masterpiece beyond any mental understanding, and each and every experience is a divine invitation. We spend so much of our lies seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, but when we look deeply with the eyes of truth we see that this eternal questing has created nothing but suffering. See beyond your need for your body to be a certain way or to be experiencing a certain thing and an extraordinary freedom blossoms. Imagine if you could be in divine radiant joy even if you are tired or unwell! Do not seek to control the body with your imposed projections, dance with it and learn to listen to its ancient mysteries. Go beyond health and pleasure, and the body becomes always perfect, a magical mirror of Essence.

Patience

What is patience? Patience is the illusion that you need to wait for awakening, the belief that spiritual virtue is somehow acquired over time. This is a joke! We each think we can stand at the door of awakening but cannot enter it until we’ve polished the doorknob, given it a new coat of paint and understood the complete evolution of hinges. The doorway of awakening is always open now, and at no other time, you either step through or you do not. There is no badges to earn to be worthy of stepping through, there is just a choice, right now. Do you step through with all the circumstances as they are, or do you show some ‘patience’ and change the circumstances around a little until it’s the right time? Now is the only moment you could awaken, do not explain the doorway away with notions of healing or evolution, the door is open and calling you right now, now. What do you choose?

-- Any Questions? Ask Arion here or in the comments below.