The Three Levels of "Understanding" of Non-dual Awareness
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:What I said here, is not really correct. Thought is, but no thinker. Sound is, but no hearer. Awareness cannot be separated from thoughts and manifestation.
Yes but what said can still have the following scenario:
1. There is an Awareness reflecting thoughts and manifestation. ("I AM")
Mirror bright is experienced but distorted. Dualistic and Inherent seeing.
2. Thoughts and manifestation are required for the mirror to see itself.
Non-Dualistic but Inherent seeing. Beginning of non-dual insight.
3. Thoughts and manifestation have always been the mirror (The mirror here is seen as a whole)
Non-Dualistic and non-inherent insight.
In 3 not even a quantum line can be drawn from whatever arises; whatever that appears to come and goes is the Awareness itself. There is no Awareness other than that. We should use the teachings of Anatta (no-self), DO (dependent origination) and Emptiness to see the 'forms' of awareness.
Comments
Unlike Advaita, we do not posit Awareness as some truly existing substratum or source of all phenomena. The spontaneously appearing and self-releasing display is self-luminous and aware as mind itself. Mind/awareness IS the flow of phenomena, there is no mind-entity that can be pinned down apart from the flow of process in the same way there is no river-ness behind flowing, no wind-ness behind blowing, mind/wind/river are conventions but empty of inherent existence or an established or locatable self-entity, while the flowing energy is uninterrupted.
Therefore we do not posit any self or any Self on "awareness", nothing is made ultimate or ontological, nothing is conceived as changeless or independent, all phenomena (including non-dual presence) that dependently originates are vividly present but not clung to but self-released upon inception. Rather than everything being "One Awareness", I see six streams of consciousness, in seeing just the seen (no seer), in hearing just the heard (no hearer), etc, nothing is subsumed into some changeless substratum which Alex Weith explains.
On the difference between Advaita and our view on Awareness, you can refer to Zen priest Alex R. Weith's well-written article: http://awakeningtoreality. blogspot.com/2011/10/zen-exploration-of-bahiya-sutta.html
This article by asunthatneversets is also good: http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2012/03/sun-that-never-sets.html
http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2009/06/bodhidharma-on-awareness-and-conditions.html
"What's seen is Awareness. What's heard is Awareness. All experiences are non-dual in nature. However this non-dual luminosity cannot be understood apart from the ‘causes and conditions’ of arising. Therefore do not see ‘yin’ as Awareness interacting with external conditions. If you see it as so, then it still falls in the category of mirror-reflecting. Rather see it as an instantaneous manifestation where nothing excluded. As if the universe is giving its very best for this moment to arise. A moment is complete and non-dual. Vividly manifest and thoroughly gone leaving no traces."