The Relationship Between Depth and Ignorance

November, 2026

This is something I have been pondering and exploring for many years. When I speak about depth, I am not speaking about psychological depth. I am speaking about the feeling of depth, the sense that there is something more, something underneath, something further down. And I began to see that this feeling of depth has a lot to do with ignorance or delusion.

A Structure Appears

When a thought is believed, when “I,” “me,” and “mine” are taken as solid, a whole structure appears. There is suddenly a sense of a solid self and center. And from that center, there seem to be layers. Surface and underneath. Known and unknown. A funnel going down somewhere. That is what I have been calling depth.

But look closely. Delusion can take shape as a mental formation. Thoughts cobbled together with feeling loops. Which is what we call story and our sense of self. The moment perspective shifts, the whole thing shifts. What felt true before is gone in an instant. It does not stand or continue on its own. It has no inherent existence.

And yet, when it is believed, it seems to create verticality. It creates the feeling that there is more to uncover, more to penetrate, more to understand. It creates a knower and something to be known. That movement itself seems to create depth. If there is a center, there can be distance. If there is distance, there can be layers.

Dimensionless

But what happens when thought and understanding are no longer the primary identity? When “I” is seen as a display of mind, arising and disappearing like everything else, the structure fades. The verticality dissolves. There is no underneath or above. No further chamber. Just this. Not shallow. Not deep. Dimensionless.

Perhaps ignorance creates the feeling of depth because it creates a sense of separation, a subject and object. It creates the idea that something is hidden and that someone must find it. When there are glimpses of true not knowing, not conceptual confusion, but real non-grasping, there is nothing to hold onto. Nothing to be uncovered. Nothing to dig into. And without structure, how could there be depth?

Nothing Hidden

This kind of depth seems to require position. Position requires identity. Identity requires belief. When that belief loosens, what remains does not have layers. It does not have a bottom. It simply reveals itself.

This sense of no depth is not a lack. Nothing is missing. It is the absence of the illusion that something is hidden behind what is already here. It is complete, just as it is. There is no funnel. Just this movement appearing and disappearing.

If you would like to explore this together, I offer one-to-one sessions, online and in person. Begin with a free 20-minute conversation.