--- In [email protected], Mel <gunnar19632...@...> wrote:
>
>
> Is not this notion based upon the unfounded assumption that you are a subject
> experiencing and object?
> Â
> Â
> MEL: Unfounded assumption? I don't understand. Please elaborate. The use ofÂ
> one's daily activities may help
Hi Mel. Subject and object are conceptual constructs that are inter-dependant
and relative to one another. It is meaningless to say that some object exists
if it is not ever perceived. 'Exists' just means 'perceived'. By the same
token, if there were no objects of perception, including mental objects such as
thoughts, then subjective awareness could not be aware of itself, could not be
aware that it existed as such. The subjective ego-self is just a conceptual
boundary line that does not really exist as such. Observe this curved line: ( .
Is this curved line concave or convex? It is both and neither. The Flower
Garland Sutra says that everything exists as a reflection of everything else.
In order to see ourselves as subjective ego-selves we must draw boundary lines
that do not actually exist. All of this is just conceptualization and, as such,
is not Zen, just Idealistic Buddhist philosophy (Yogacara, Vijnanavada,
Cittamatra). Zen wants to capture life as it actually happens. In the actual
moment of any experience, such as hearing a bell ring, there is no conceptual
division between subject and object.
Only later (a split-second) do we conceptualize about our memory of the
experience and thereby divide Just This into subject and object.
In the moment of experience, before deciding whether the curved line is concave
or convex by positioning a subject on one side and an object on the other, we
are the totality of the experience. In the case of the ringing bell, we ARE the
ringing. A split-second later, we conceptualize a subject that experiences an
object, and then decide whether we like the object or dislike it. Anyone who
does zazen long enough realizes that consciousness is discontinuous, that there
are momentary gaps. This arises in consciousness and then that.
As the spotlight of attention rests here and there the skanda of samjna or
perceptual recognition arises to reinforce the feeling of being an ego-self in
relation to an object of perception. But if one pays very close attention to
the gaps in between perceptual recognitions, one will rest in the awareness of
no-self, before the boundary lines are drawn. In those moments we experience
life as it really is, before we cut Just This up into fragmented pieces and
decide which pieces are agreeable and which are not. These momentary gaps can
be seen at all times. Between one movement and the next. Between one thought
and the next. Between one breath and the next.
You must see this for yourself, and not just think about it. IMO.
Namo Amitabha!
Steve
"All Buddhas and all sentient beings are no different from the One Mind. In
this One Mind there is neither arising nor ceasing, no name or form, no long or
short, no large or small, and neither existence nor non-existence. it
transcends all limitations of name, word and relativity, and it is as boundless
as the great Void. Giving rise to thought is erroneous, and any speculation
about it with our ordinary faculties is inapplicable, irrelevant and
inaccurate. Only Mind is Buddha, and Buddhas and sentient beings are not
different. All sentient beings grasp form and search outside themselves. Using
Buddha to seek Buddha, they thus use mind to seek Mind. Practicing in this
manner even until the end of the kalpa, they cannot attain the fruit. However,
when thinking and discrimination suddenly halt, the Buddhas appear." -Huang Po
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