The veils between worlds

The image of veils separating different worlds is a common metaphor in mystical traditions. In Buddhist thought, while the cosmology includes many realms of existence — from heavenly realms to hell realms — the veils are not physical barriers but mental obscurations that prevent clear seeing.

These veils are the layers of ignorance, craving, and delusion that distort perception. Each being dwells within their own “world” shaped by habitual patterns of mind. The hungry ghost suffers not because of external conditions alone, but because of insatiable craving; the celestial being enjoys bliss, yet remains bound by subtle attachments; the human, caught in restlessness and dissatisfaction, weaves yet another world of becoming.

At the deepest level, the “worlds” we inhabit arise from the mind’s projections. The veils between these worlds are not fixed; they thin or thicken depending on our mental state. Moments of clarity — through meditation, insight, or grace — briefly lift these veils, offering glimpses of deeper truth. Conversely, unwholesome actions and deluded views reinforce the partitions, hardening the illusions of separateness.

Ultimately, the path is not one of traveling from world to world, but of dissolving the veils themselves — revealing the fundamental openness and unity that was always present beneath conditioned perception. When the veils fall, the multiplicity of worlds resolves into the simplicity of suchness — ungraspable, immediate, and free.

“When the clouds part, the full moon is seen shining brightly. So too, when the veils of ignorance are lifted, the true nature of mind is revealed.”
— Zen saying