How to Handle Hallucinations During Meditation

All dharmas are illusory and unreal; even those that feel profoundly real are still illusory and unreal. Therefore, the hallucinations that arise during meditation are even more illusory—illusion upon illusion. There is no need to engage with or counteract them; simply disregard them. The illusory states will vanish automatically, and the hallucinations will cease.

In the past, someone entered deep meditation and saw a person coming to kill them with a knife. Mistaking that person for reality, they stabbed back in self-defense. Upon emerging from meditation, they discovered knife wounds on their own body, bleeding, and realized they had been deceived by an illusion, filled with deep regret. Another meditator took the phenomena they encountered as real, entered into that state, and consequently fell into a demonic realm.

During seated meditation and the cultivation of concentration, one should maintain the correct understanding: whatever phenomena or sensations arise within the state of concentration are entirely illusory and unreal. Disregard them all without exception, and one will remain safe and unharmed.

Those with a tranquil mind are less likely to encounter such phenomena during meditation. It is when the mind harbors thoughts or attachments that phenomena easily arise, leading to various illusory perceptions. In daily life, one should train to not cling to appearances or phenomena, ensuring the mind is empty and free of thoughts. Then, during meditation, one will enter concentration swiftly and will not encounter such phenomena.