Moha, Delusion

Moha, Delusion

Palmer Park by David
Palmer Park by David

It’s struck me how much of my old karma is directly related to past choices, often a decision to avoid something. And how so many people, even with conscious choice, will choose the dark side.

They choose to believe in negative possibilities, a darker future. They choose from fear, anger, or resistance.

Certainly we can have challenging times. But largely those are structured to work things out. If we do the work, we come out the other side in a better place.

While it is wise to be aware of general trends, we want our attention to primarily be on what is now, and what is good. I’ve mentioned, for example, the habit of gratitude.

This is because what we put our attention on grows stronger. Do we feed our fears or our joys?

This is innocent favouring, not resisting what is arising in our experience.

There is a lot of fear rising in the collective at the moment. But this is purification moving through. Some will do the work and make progress. Some will invest in the fear and increase it, causing themselves problems.

There’s a Sanskrit word I’ve run into several times recently, Moha. It means delusion.

If we don’t know who we are and what the world is, we’re deluded about reality and will make mistakes and suffer. Science has made remarkable strides but remains invested in materialism, limiting our vision and potential.

The Yoga Sutra (v2:34) tells us greed, anger, and delusion precede negativity. The results of negativity are “unending suffering and ignorance.”

We may not consider ourselves deluded or suffering. But are you living love and bliss? Do you feel fully supported by life? If not, there is healing to do.

Of course by “know” here, I don’t mean having a concept about who we are. Your name, role, and occupation are part of the story, the delusion of who you are. Ditto spiritual concepts about reality. By “know,” I mean the direct experience of our true nature.

By transcending the mind and emotions, we discover our true nature. This is a nature we share with all others and the world. With that direct experience, we see through our delusions and come to end our suffering.
Davidya

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17 Comments

  1. Guru

    Hello, suffering is accepted as normal and we are ignorant that we are not our stories. conditioned layers of existence are to be seen through as you have been emphasizing. Transcending collective is the key.

    1. Hi Guru
      Transcending our personal body-mind is key to discovering our true nature. But we can’t transcend the collective. We’re in it. But we can transcend its hold on us. It’s kind of a group version of our personal body-mind. That is an expression of our true nature.

      1. Kerri Heffernan

        When I had my what you call a flashy awakening (I did not sustain) the first thing I wanted to do was fix the world. I have come to learn that all I need to do is work on myself and things around me naturally change. Like my kids for instance…. When I am present and happy so are they or much more anyways.

        1. Excellent recognition, Kerri. That external movement is often a deflection of the need for inner work. And yes, “the world is as you are.” When enough people shift this way, the momentum will shift in the whole.

  2. K

    “Moha” also has the flavor of infatuation/obssession at least the way it is commonly used in India. It has made its way from Sanskrit into other Indian languages like Hindi and Telugu (and likely other languages that I am less familiar with). In these languages, it is used to imply obssessed infatuation. It does not necessarily have to be romantic though it is commonly used in that context. One can feel that way about one’s children, for instance.

    1. Ah, thanks for the observation, K. Makes a lot of sense. Ego tends to be obsessed with its story and identity to stay in control. As well, when love contains identified attachment, it gains a quality of delusion. We don’t see them as they are. That leads to “surprises.”

      The Yoga Sutra also translates bhraanti as delusion. I was wondering about the difference.

      1. K

        Yes – Bhraanti means being under a mis-perception or false impression or false mindset or misunderstanding or confusion. It is also translated as delusion. The famous analogy of mistaking the rope for a snake is bhraanti.

        1. K

          Bhraanti however does not have the flavor of infatuation and obsession that Moha has. Bhraanti could be something as simple as seeing bright moonlight through the window and thinking it was dawn. Moha is the tougher one – Moha is being under a spell and is about another object or entity.

              1. It’s broader than that. Anyone not clearly awake is in some value of moha. Certainly there are collective delusions, like these days around vaccines and politics.

                But why is someone flying that flag? Rebelliousness? That was common earlier. Misplaced pride in the South? Or some of the recent crazy narratives?

                Keep in mind actions are an effect, not the cause.

    1. Hi Guru
      Ah – you raise a good point. By “collective” here, I mean collective consciousness. Consciousness as a whole is inclusive of many universes containing life beyond imagination. Within that are various collectives, including the collective of earths humanity. This is what I mean by the word.

      Cultural conditioning is mainly mental and energetic. Archetypes are patterns on the level of the intellect which express forward into various ideas and themes. All of these are in the collective but not the same as.

  3. Peter

    I have been noticing recently, a willingness to be with the feelings as they arise, As presence become more powerfull/ bright it shines on delusion and the delusion can almost seem empowered by it.

    As though the light of awareness is lending it’s brilliance to the delusion. The mind begins to convince itself that the feeling of Presence and Power is associated with pursuing this delusion into “the world”. That there is something to gain by pursuing ‘my’ personal obsession. The longing becomes too great and I succumb… or at least thats the play of experience. Almost like i can’t contain the intensity and choose the illusion instead. (safe, comfortable illusion)

    1. Hi Peter
      I’d suggest that what you’re observing is whats always been going on. Now you’ve just become more conscious of it, of the power of attention. However, clearer attention is more powerful. In time, the delusion is seen through deeply enough that it fades. Or the vasana or obsessive aspect is resolved and it becomes more neutral.

      Of course, we all have a balance of laws of nature. Some we might not consider ideal. In that case, there’s a process of acceptance and learning how to not favour while not resisting.

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