On the spiritual path, for a long time, true nature appears as various manifestations that challenge and expose the elements that form the basis of our sense of self. This is how inquiry usually happens. As we begin to inquire, we notice various structures, obstacles, and issues, and the understanding of them frequently occurs in tandem with the arising of true nature in one form or another. So in some sense, true nature functions by way of illuminating delusions, illusions, and obscurations; and through the illumination of what is darkened, it reveals its secrets. That is what self-illumination means. True nature illuminates obstacles by manifesting certain powers and in doing so recognizes something about itself that it hasn’t seen before. True nature is revealing itself and knowing itself as it is practicing seeing through the obstacles. – The Alchemy of Freedom: The Philosophers’ Stone and the Secrets of Existence, Ch. 6