3.2.9. The Metaphor of the Film Projector

“The mind is luminous, monks, but it is defiled by incoming defilements.”

— Aṅguttara Nikāya 1.61

I’ve long found that the simplest metaphors can pierce through complex ideas better than the most intricate scholastic arguments. In this chapter, I turn to an old-fashioned film projector—its light, reels, and distortions—to illuminate how our own mind becomes entangled in the illusions it projects. Though necessarily imperfect, this analogy offers a tangible way to contemplate the afflictive and cognitive obstructions that keep us cycling through Saṃsāra, rarely questioning the authenticity of the show.

Imagine, for a moment, a dusty cinema and an old reel of film humming through its projector. On the screen, a story unfolds—filled with colours, characters, and drama. For most people, life is little more than sitting in the darkened theatre, utterly engrossed in the movie. We react to its triumphs and tragedies as if they were undeniably real. In truth, we are like Plato’s cave dwellers, mistaking shadows for reality.

The Movie

For the uninitiated, everyday existence is this movie—an unexamined stream of experiences that provokes endless emotional reactions. We are so taken by the spectacle that we fail to question its mechanics, let alone the deeper nature of our own mind.

The Initiate’s First Glimpse

When a flicker of insight arises—perhaps through suffering, study, or sheer exhaustion—a person begins to wonder what lies beyond the movie. At first, this is unsettling; attachments to the film’s narrative still run strong. But gradually, curiosity outweighs fear.

Afflictive Obstructions: The Content on the Film

At this stage, we confront the first kind of hindrance: the afflictive obstructions. These are like the vivid scenes and dialogue of the movie itself—representing our ingrained likes, dislikes, fears, and desires. They keep us spellbound until the threshold of arahantship (or the Bodhisattva’s Path of Seeing) is crossed.

Innate Obstructions: The Material of the Film

Beneath these narrative distractions lies the filmstrip itself. It holds the images, yet it too introduces subtle distortions. These distortions stand for our deep-seated instincts—cultural, genetic, and karmic patterns accumulated over countless lives. They form what are called the innate afflictive obstructions, only fully dissolved by a Bodhisattva at the eighth bhūmi (stage) of the Path of Meditation.

Cognitive Obstructions: The Inner Mechanics

Then there are the projector’s internal mirrors and lenses. These shape and bend the light before it even reaches the film. They represent the cognitive obstructions: the subtlest habitual tendencies, so entwined with awareness that they seem indistinguishable from it. Overcoming these requires an almost unimaginable refinement of perception.

Table: The Three Veils of Reality

The Veils Unfolded

The First Veil: Attachment to Existence

This veil is pierced momentarily at the sotāpanna stage. This glimpse is brief yet irreversible—it stirs a relentless yearning to probe deeper. Attachment to one’s personal movie falls away at anāgāmi, while all interest in any movie at all ceases with arahantship. The arahant stands entirely free, whereas the Bodhisattva, out of compassion, remains engaged with others’ entanglements.

The Second Veil: Instinctual Residues

This veil concerns the deeply embedded instincts shaped over innumerable lifetimes. The Bodhisattva on the Path of Meditation progressively dismantles these obstructions, fully transcending them at the eighth bhūmi. In many traditions, this is poetically named the “Veil of Isis”—it lifts only when all cognitive grasping ceases.

The Third Veil: Subtle Cognitive Habits

Finally, the cognitive obstructions are like faint etchings left by countless past impressions. They are so subtle that without immense purification, they remain undetected. Their eradication is what enables omniscience—direct, unclouded apprehension of reality.

The Birth of the Bodhisattva

The Bodhisattva arises from a spontaneous compassion—a sincere wish to liberate all beings. This initial stir is called aspirational bodhicitta. Though fragile at first, it deepens through the Bodhisattva vow, which solidifies into engaging bodhicitta, likened to gold because it cannot degenerate.

Table: The Bodhisattva’s Early Path

As practice ripens, the Bodhisattva passes through these preparatory stages, naturally lessening attachments. By the time the Path of Seeing dawns, emptiness is directly realised, and the movie is viewed with lucid detachment.

The Path of Meditation: Refining Perception

From here, the Bodhisattva uses subjective experience as a tool. Now, the movie is understood as mere projection, and attention turns to subtle patterns still shaping awareness. Progressively, innate tendencies dissolve, the pāramīs (perfections) blossom, and finally, at the eighth bhūmi, afflictive obstructions are extinguished.

Yet finer work remains. Like an artisan cleaning the last specks from a polished lens, the Bodhisattva eliminates the faint residues of past perceptions. Only then does pure, unobstructed awareness—omniscience—shine forth.

So this simple metaphor of a film projector has served us well. It helps reveal how experience is layered with distractions—from glaring emotional dramas down to nearly imperceptible habits of mind. By understanding these veils, we gain a clearer sense of what our work as alchemists truly demands: a gradual, courageous uncovering of the luminous mind that was never absent, only obscured.

This text is excerpted from the upcoming book Citrinitas: A Course in Modern Alchemy. The complete volume will include additional study guides, glossaries, and extended teachings. Learn more about the book here.