Part of the Personal Awakening Series
Delusion & Awakening — How Do You See Your World?
Zen Master Dogen on the difference between the world as the “illusion” we create & the world as the “awakening” inside us.
“To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion.
That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening.“
— Dogen, in ‘Genjokoan’
I LOVE this saying from Zen Master Dogen (1200–1253 CE). I interpret these two lines as …
To experience and act in the world with the idea that “I” am at the center of acting and experiencing is delusion.
This is because it assumes that the “I” (meaning my outer ego personality) at the center of the world is my true self. It assumes that the world that my ego personality is experiencing is my only reality, and is my true reality. And it assumes that “I” have control over what I am experiencing.
In fact, most people believe that this is true. They are certain that what their emotions are telling them is the truth of the world. They believe that their desires…
