Eight similes of illusion

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The eight similes of illusion (Tib. སྒྱུ་མའི་དཔེ་བརྒྱད་, gyumé pé gyé, Wyl. sgyu ma'i dpe brgyad) are (in the order in which they appear in Longchenpa's Finding Comfort and Ease in the Illusoriness of Things):

  1. Dream: like a dream, objects perceived with the five senses are not there, but they appear through delusion
  2. Magical illusion: like a magic illusion, things are made to appear due to the temporary coming together of causes and conditions
  3. Hallucination or trompe-l'oeil: like a hallucination, things appear, yet there is nothing there
  4. Mirage: like a mirage, things appear, but they are not real
  5. Echo: like an echo, things can be perceived, but there is nothing there, either inside or outside
  6. City of gandharvas: like a city of gandharvas, there is neither a dwelling nor anyone to dwell
  7. Reflection: like a reflection, things appear, but have no reality of their own
  8. Apparition: like an apparition, there are different types of appearances, but they are not really there