It almost goes without saying that ontology can easily fall into a world of metaphysical abstractions or the same, intellectual speculation. It is only with mysticism that ontology finds its rightful place which is direct communion with what is most real, i.e., the absolute substance, apart from its phenomenalizations/differentiations.
From this we can say that concealment of the real is nowhere more obvious than in our phenomenal world and this present life we lead; and the limit of the phenomenal world and its life is nowhere else to be found except in the direct mystical experience of true reality which transcends it. Anything else is an exercise in self-delusion which is also to say that sensory consciousness cannot perceive true reality. It is adequate for everyday reality but that is as far as it goes.
So after this somewhat long introduction, how far does modern Buddhism go as far as being a process of self-delusion? For example, the common Zen practice of just sitting seems to fall into the category of self-delusion more than mystical communion. Is every ernest sitter suddenly catapulted into nirvanic bliss by just sitting on a stuffed pillow? It hardly seems possible. True reality is concealed by our temporal body and the thoughts which race through it. It is not possible that sitting takes us out of the enclosed samsaric world. Wisdom or prajñâ is not so easily won by sitting on one’s ass!
I know that my words cannot stop the intention of those caught up in impossible dreams and practices. Delusion is a monster. It rules because it provides us with both a seeming path and a seeming enlightenment which only keep us smack-dab in samsara, that is, phenomenalized reality. One of the surest indications of this is when mysticism is attacked or ignored as if there is really no such thing as gaining access to absolute substance or pure Mind—we need only to just sit.
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