Delusion
Delusion is current in my mind after being somewhat drawn short over the last week. Delusion is defined as a strong belief that is false, fanciful or not real in some way. It sounds like some kind of psychiatric condition except delusion is like gravity - an all pervasive force of nature that affects us all and that we are completely unaware of in our day to day lives.
How does that work?
In the case of gravity, when we stand up we don't think 'gravity is making me work hard, I feel my muscles straining under the demands of gravity', we just stand up and accept the world we live in. With delusion, our brains are designed to interpret and filter vast amounts of information so that we can make sense of the world and act according to our perceived needs. So, immediately there is a disconnect between what is going on in reality and what we think is going on - this is where delusion sets in.
Not all delusion is bad. For example, it is useful to believe that I'm still going to be here tomorrow and it's useful to have a brain that removes the needless minutiae of living from my field of consciousness - (when you meditate you'll get an idea of the vast array of sensations going through your system at any one time). However, this layer of interpretation is insidious and slowly but surely we come to believe everything that our brain tells us even when it tells us things that are not really true. We form constellations of ideas about ourselves and the world - I'm this kind of person, life should be like this, I'm always right, I'm stupid, it's my fault, I control my body, I'm not deluded, and so on.
One of my major delusions goes like this - I'm having a good day, I'm feeling a bit better, I'm great, I'm cured, I can beat this, it's time to resume normal living, yippee. Then reality bites and I'm taught another valuable lesson.
How does that work?
In the case of gravity, when we stand up we don't think 'gravity is making me work hard, I feel my muscles straining under the demands of gravity', we just stand up and accept the world we live in. With delusion, our brains are designed to interpret and filter vast amounts of information so that we can make sense of the world and act according to our perceived needs. So, immediately there is a disconnect between what is going on in reality and what we think is going on - this is where delusion sets in.
Not all delusion is bad. For example, it is useful to believe that I'm still going to be here tomorrow and it's useful to have a brain that removes the needless minutiae of living from my field of consciousness - (when you meditate you'll get an idea of the vast array of sensations going through your system at any one time). However, this layer of interpretation is insidious and slowly but surely we come to believe everything that our brain tells us even when it tells us things that are not really true. We form constellations of ideas about ourselves and the world - I'm this kind of person, life should be like this, I'm always right, I'm stupid, it's my fault, I control my body, I'm not deluded, and so on.
One of my major delusions goes like this - I'm having a good day, I'm feeling a bit better, I'm great, I'm cured, I can beat this, it's time to resume normal living, yippee. Then reality bites and I'm taught another valuable lesson.
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