--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we're deluded there's a world to…" description: "\"When we're deluded there's a world to escape. When we're aware, there's nothing to escape.\" — Bodhidharma" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg" --- # When we're deluded there's a world to escape. When we're… ![“When we're deluded there's a world to escape. When we're aware, there's nothing to escape.” quote by Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg) > “When we're deluded there's a world to escape. When we're aware, there's nothing to escape.” [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When deluded, one seeks escape; when aware, there is nothing to escape, emphasizing mindfulness and the illusion of avoidance. **In simple terms:** Awareness eliminates the need to flee. Key Takeaway Cultivate mindfulness to confront reality directly. Themes mindfulness awakening illusion freedom self‑knowledge Mood calm reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - daily reflection - stress management Key Concepts philosophy spiritual practice Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness change your response to stress? - What practices help maintain clarity? A Different Perspective Escapism can be a coping mechanism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“It's possible to remain long in the state of deprivation if you are not aware you can escape it. Knowing what exists and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/it-s-possible-to-remain-long-in-the-state-of-deprivation-if-you-are/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“We may compare this mad, deluded world to a company of poor, blind men, dancing about the brink of a very dangerous pit, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fox/we-may-compare-this-mad-deluded-world-to-a-company-of-poor-blind-men/) [John Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fox/) > [“All the best stories in the world were of escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/all-the-best-stories-in-the-world-were-of-escape/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“What he had really wanted to do was to tear a hole in his world and escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/what-he-had-really-wanted-to-do-was-to-tear-a-hole-in-his-world-and/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Neither the writer nor the reader can save the world by themselves. Or escape it entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/neither-the-writer-nor-the-reader-can-save-the-world-by-themselves-or/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [“You’re never too old to create the world to escape in, The world to fight for what you want, Learn to love and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-tompsett/you-re-never-too-old-to-create-the-world-to-escape-in-the-world-to/) M.L. Tompsett > [“What he really wanted was to tear a hole in his world and escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov-signs-and/what-he-really-wanted-was-to-tear-a-hole-in-his-world-and-escape/) Vladimir Nabokov Signs and > [“To die was not to leave the world, not to escape somewhere else; it was the simultaneous change of every piece of yourself into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/to-die-was-not-to-leave-the-world-not-to-escape-somewhere-else-it-was/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something, always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/people-of-this-world-are-deluded-they-re-always-longing-for-something/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [But deluded people don't realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/but-deluded-people-don-t-realize-that-their-own-mind-is-the-buddha/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [“It is Nature that causes all movement. Deluded by the ego, the fool harbors the perception that says "I did it".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veda-vyasa/it-is-nature-that-causes-all-movement-deluded-by-the-ego-the-fool/) Veda Vyasa > [The world being illusive, one must be deluded in some way if one is to triumph in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/the-world-being-illusive-one-must-be-deluded-in-some-way-if-one-is-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Do not be deluded by the abstract word Freedom. Whose freedom? Not the freedom of one individual in relation to another, but freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/do-not-be-deluded-by-the-abstract-word-freedom-whose-freedom-not-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More by Bodhidharma > [Unless you see your nature, all this talk about cause & effect is nonsense. Buddhas don't practice nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/unless-you-see-your-nature-all-this-talk-about-cause-effect-is/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [“Those who worship don't know, and those who know don't worship.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/those-who-worship-don-t-know-and-those-who-know-don-t-worship/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [If you see your nature, you don't need to read sutras or invoke buddhas. Erudition and knowledge are not only useless but also cloud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/if-you-see-your-nature-you-don-t-need-to-read-sutras-or-invoke/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [People who don't see their own nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are liars and fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/people-who-don-t-see-their-own-nature-and-imagine-they-can-practice/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [The mind is the Buddha, and the Buddha is the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/the-mind-is-the-buddha-and-the-buddha-is-the-mind/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [Whoever realizes that the six senses aren't real, that the five aggregates are fictions, that no such things can be located anywhere in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/whoever-realizes-that-the-six-senses-aren-t-real-that-the-five/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [If you use your mind to study reality, you won't understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/if-you-use-your-mind-to-study-reality-you-won-t-understand-either/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/many-roads-lead-to-the-path-but-basically-there-are-only-two-reason/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [All Buddhas preach emptiness. Why? Because they wish to crush the concrete ideas of the students. If a student even clings to an idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/all-buddhas-preach-emptiness-why-because-they-wish-to-crush-the/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [Buddhas don't practice nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/buddhas-don-t-practice-nonsense/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/not-thinking-about-anything-is-zen-once-you-know-this-walking-sitting/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [When you don't understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/when-you-don-t-understand-you-depend-on-reality-when-you-do/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [And the Buddha is the person who's free: free of plans, free of cares.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/and-the-buddha-is-the-person-who-s-free-free-of-plans-free-of-cares/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [The Way is basically perfect. It doesn't require perfecting. The Way has no form or sound. It's subtle and hard to perceive. It's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/the-way-is-basically-perfect-it-doesn-t-require-perfecting-the-way/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) > [The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/the-dharma-is-the-truth-that-all-natures-are-pure/) [Bodhidharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) [Explore all 112 Bodhidharma quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/) ## More Deluded quotes > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [Do not be deluded by the abstract word Freedom. Whose freedom? Not the freedom of one individual in relation to another, but freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/do-not-be-deluded-by-the-abstract-word-freedom-whose-freedom-not-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The world being illusive, one must be deluded in some way if one is to triumph in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/the-world-being-illusive-one-must-be-deluded-in-some-way-if-one-is-to/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“It is Nature that causes all movement. Deluded by the ego, the fool harbors the perception that says "I did it".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veda-vyasa/it-is-nature-that-causes-all-movement-deluded-by-the-ego-the-fool/) Veda Vyasa > [If you submit to the ocean, you drown. If you try to control the ocean, then you're deluded. You learn how to live with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-restall-orr/if-you-submit-to-the-ocean-you-drown-if-you-try-to-control-the-ocean/) [Emma Restall Orr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-restall-orr/) > [Men are constantly attracted and deluded by two opposite charms: the charm of competence which is engendered by mathematics and everything akin to mathematics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/men-are-constantly-attracted-and-deluded-by-two-opposite-charms-the/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [Since I move about with you, eat like you, and talk with you, you are deluded in the belief that this is but an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/since-i-move-about-with-you-eat-like-you-and-talk-with-you-you-are/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-wattleton/i-think-we-have-deluded-ourselves-into-believing-that-people-don-t/) [Faye Wattleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-wattleton/) > [If you're deluded, you live in a place where there isn't everyone else's reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-guest/if-you-re-deluded-you-live-in-a-place-where-there-isn-t-everyone-else/) [Christopher Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-guest/) > [How deluded we sometimes are by the clear notions we get out of books. They make us think that we really understand things of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/how-deluded-we-sometimes-are-by-the-clear-notions-we-get-out-of-books/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [An artist in 2014 who is thinking about album sales is either sadly deluded or has to make so many commercial compromises that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/an-artist-in-2014-who-is-thinking-about-album-sales-is-either-sadly/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [Every generation of humans believed it had all the answers it needed, except for a few mysteries they assumed would be solved at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/every-generation-of-humans-believed-it-had-all-the-answers-it-needed/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [I will not avoid doing what I think is right, though it should draw on me the whole artillery that falsehood and malice can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-murray-1st-earl-of-mansfield/i-will-not-avoid-doing-what-i-think-is-right-though-it-should-draw-on/) [William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-murray-1st-earl-of-mansfield/) > [No matter how confused or deluded we may be at the moment, the underlying and essential nature of our being is clear and pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-confused-or-deluded-we-may-be-at-the-moment-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 162 Deluded quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we're deluded there's a world to escape. When we're aware, there's nothing to escape.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bodhidharma" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-escape-when-we-re-aware-there-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deluded" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-escape-when-we-re-aware-there-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/bodhidharma-4333_deluded_when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-es_2730324.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we're deluded there's a world to escape. When we're aware, there's nothing to escape.” — Bodhidharma", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bodhidharma", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bodhidharma/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When we're deluded there's a world...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-escape-when-we-re-aware-there-s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bodhidharma/when-we-re-deluded-there-s-a-world-to-escape-when-we-re-aware-there-s/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```