Q. During meditation, I have telepathic conversations with friends, the content which is often verified afterwards when I meet them in person. What are your thoughts about telepathy and what it says about consciousness in general?

A. Such experience can feel so wonderful and attractive that people are often tempted to mistake it for enlightenment and cling to it. However, such an experience is a phenomenon that happens once in a while when practitioners cannot make strong concentration on their koans. Your experience indicates that you are not focused on your question but deluded by illusions. People who practise like this are said to be housekeeping in a fox burrow. You should remember that no matter how holy a thing you may see, or however mysterious a thing may happen during your practice, it is nothing but an illusion. That is why ancient masters would warn that we should not be attracted even if one hundred Buddhas appear before us.

©Boo Ahm

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