Posts
Thusness's
reply to Yacine's post in Dharma Connection
Hi
Yacine,
Both
the talks and link you provided are pointing to a special kind of consciousness
that I am familiar and was once very attached to (more than 3 decades ago). The
experience is precious but still fabricated One can trigger similar
experience/phenomena through self-enquiry or koan which in my opinions are much
more direct and effective.
Therefore
I do not think Buddha is teaching that; contrary he taught the path to end that
by realizing anatta, dependent origination and Emptiness.
Sounds pretty cool John.I think where the confusion pops from is
that some approaches talk about the citta as a special kind of consciousness,
ie a consciounesses not glued to any of the other khandas, a consciounesses
released (the citta as Ajahn Maha Boowa calls it)
Pls see https://www.dhammatalks.net/.../Maha_Boowa_The_Path_to... The
non-dual teaching (say Rupert Spira talking about the fabrications of time in
his classic video:https://youtu.be/PNdjzm8dKOc) would then be a pointer a
skilful means but still with a slight subtle reification left (Greg Goode
mentions the complete dissolution of awareness once memory is seen as no
referential) ? I am mentioning that because Rodney Smith proposes such a nice
pointer on his talk on mental fabrication in the DO series above.
ie this image of the dead center from which past and future (and
stories) emerge as mental fabrications. In his book he talks about the vertical
axis of timeless awareness (the unconditioned) and the horizontal axis of
conceptual time and stories.And how with thoughts we invest the "Buddha
inside" into (apparently) buying into the conceptions of the horizontal
axis stretching self, object and time (as Rob Burbea would put it) out of the
pure awareness, out of the Deathless.
That's a nice pointer I found but there is this reification of the
dead center in it that might need complete deconstruction (thanks to
emptiness). What's your take on that? (Sorry, too many questions at once lol)
Let’s take the below example:
“With the arising insight of anatta, self is seen through. A
new mode of perception arises. A mode of perception that pierces through
reification.”
Does this sound like the practitioner has now acquired “a new mode
of perception” as if a third eye suddenly appears in between the eyebrows?
In truth nothing new has arisen; contrary it is a process of elimination.
What eliminated is the habitual tendency to “reify”.
Now using the same analogy, let’s look at “non-dual”?
It will be helpful to understand the 2 major causes that gave rise
to such phenomena like awareness as an observer and non-dual awareness.
They are:
1. one's ability to suspense "conceptualization".
2. habitual tendencies to "reify" and "dualify"
Without conceptualization experience becomes direct, clean, clear,
vivid, crystal, brilliance and transparent.
Without the layer of conceptualization, there is no layer that
separates observer from the observed. If there is no insight that all
along the subject-object division is assumed, then “non-dual” becomes a state
and there is oscillation between duality and non-duality. If there is
realization of the emptiness of the “division”, then experiences turns
effortlessly non-dual.
How does “non-dual awareness” arise?
It is the continuation of the habitual tendency to reify that
objectifies the "clean, clear, vivid, crystal, brilliance and
transparent" state of experience that is free from duality into non-dual
awareness. This also means that latent tendencies lie far deeper than
surface conceptualization, mere cessation of conceptual thoughts is unable to
overcome these tendencies.
How is it to see "the world" from an arahant point of
view? Without fabrication or rather with fabrication seen as fabrication and
therefore divested from investment.Also some teaching say that freed
consciousness is awareness and awareness bathes in the unconditioned, the
Deathless (very similar to non-dual teaching ie what you're looking for your
looking from it).
Would the unreified Deathless simply be seeing interdependence of all fabrication as emptiness itself ? (And of course the consciousness that cognizes emptiness has to be empty itself, dependent on seeing emptiness to co-arise) How do you see the Deathless fitting into this John?
Is untainted consciousness = non-dual awareness?
This brings out another point. That is severing the habit of
abstraction and generalization also implies ceasing the reified
abstraction from flowing moment to moment. For this is the cause of
attachment. If there is no "abstraction" that flows, there is
no base for grasping and the rational of why there is no permanent soul
that is reincarnated from life to life in Buddhism becomes clear. Which
is also why Buddha taught there is no self, only the 5 aggregates and no
pure consciousness, only the 6 classes of consciousness that dependently
originates with conditions (internal and external bases).
Saying untainted consciousness is non-dual awareness is no
different from saying
sound-consciousness is the same as eye-consciousness
or
mind-consciousness is same as body-consciousness.
When we conceptualize and abstract, it appears there is as if a
pure consciousness that transcends conditions and it is the same consciousness
throughout we are talking about in differing situations. However for one
that is free from abstraction and reification, the actual experience is
completely different. For them,
In hearing, whole body-mind-environment is that sound and what we
termed as “sound-consciousness” is that “sound”.
In seeing, whole body-mind-environment is that scenery and what we
termed as “eye-consciousness” is that lurid and vivid scenery.
At this point, it is crucial to emphasize that when the trace of a
background mirror vanishes without remainder, knowingness/presence is “form”. Touch anything, feel anything, smell anything. Vividness throughout, aliveness everywhere! Poetically practitioners is eating “knowingness”, touching “knowingness”
and tasting “knowingness” in real-time.
Zero effort, fully spontaneous!
‘Mind
as mountains, rivers, and the earth is nothing other than mountains, rivers,
and the earth. There are no additional waves or surf, no wind or smoke. Mind as
the sun, the moon, and the stars is nothing other than the sun, the moon, and
the stars.’
Shobogenzo, Soku-shin-ze-butsu
For non-dualists, it is always tempting to say non-dual awareness
appearing as sound and scenery but sound is of course not and nothing like
scenery. We also can't say sound has changed to scenery. Therefore
dualistic consciousness cannot be said to be non-dual awareness yet neither are
they different!
The language of forms and abstraction become clumsy and very often
misleading when we deal with the nature of direct experience. Fortunately
Buddhism has quite creatively devised a tool that helps us see through
conventions, dissolve reification and still not miss out the importance of
conditionality (another big topic). As such it is advisable to sever this habit
of abstraction by familiarizing oneself with dependent arising and emptiness
when dealing with everyday conventions.
As a side note, in addition to the path of renunciation
(dispassion/disenchantment), you may want to look at “grasping” from “energy
being tied up in withholding mental constructs”. Many seem unable to have an actual taste of
the relationship between “grasping” and “reifying”, if this isn’t clear then
the whole practice of anatta and emptiness (Buddhism) will not be very fruitful
imo.
From this prespective, grasping is not holding on
to reification, it is that reification!
How is it to see "the
world" from an arahant point of view?
From the example above, one may be able to extrapolate the
experience. For one that has severed self, experience is free, clean,
radiance and non-dual. Seen is just seen. Heard is just
heard. Radiance all around and free!
As for "the deathless", I believe Soh has posted you a
past discussion on the topic (see http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.sg/2018/01/the-deathless-in-buddhadharma.html).
I couldn't have put it better.
Lastly Yacine, for
Rodney Smith’s talk
on mental fabrication in the DO series,
Imo, the "NOW" radiating out is no different from
"Self", deconstruct it.
There is no "here", just impression of "here"
formed by sensations and thoughts.
No "now", just impression of the mere presence from
appearances of thoughts, sound, shapes, colors, light.
The tendency to reify is amazing,
All these are merely empty reifications,
Hope that helps!
Going to sleep, pen off.
