Delusion

207. WIDENING THE CIRCLE

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest. ... This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for the few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures.”

ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879–1955), GERMANY/USA

208. THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

To illustrate the fact that doctrinal arguments are based on personal opinions, the Buddha called for eight blind men to be shown an elephant. Each man touched part of the elephant: head, ear, tail, leg, trunk, tusk, side, and the tuft of the tail. Then each was asked what an elephant was. The man who had touched its head declared, “An elephant is a pot!” Another who had the ear said, “No, an elephant is a leather flap.” Others asserted that the tail was a brush, the leg a pillar and so on. Eventually they argued, unaware of the partiality of their views.

209. THE SCARECROW

“A farmer will set up a scarecrow to protect his seeds and for a time the birds will mistake it for a man. Similarly, sense and mental objects deceive our mind by producing a false impression. The Buddha, therefore, compares perception to a mirage.”

PIYADASSI THERA (1914–1998), SRI LANKA

210. MYOPIA

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.”

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788–1860), GERMANY

211. DOING GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH

“People under delusion accumulate tainted merits but do not tread the Path. They are under the impression that to accumulate merits and to tread the Path are one and the same thing. Though their merits for alms-giving and offerings are infinite, they do not realize that the ultimate source of sin lies within their own mind.”

THE SUTRA OF HUI-NENG

212. ONE BIG MISTAKE

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.”

YASUTANI ROSHI (1885–1973), JAPAN

213. WILLING DUPES

“Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.”

NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI (1469–1527), ITALY