ED,
I agree with NM's statement below but it can't be read casually.
When NM says "Discover all you are not...", I'd interpret that to be a reverse
view of discovering (or uncovering) Buddha Nature. You discover that which
real (Buddha Nature) and then everything else is illusory ("...all you re
not..."). "...feeling [emotions], thoughts [logic/rationality], time [past and
future], space [self/other or here/there duality)..." are indeed examples of
illusions ("...all you are not..."). Sight, sound, touch, smell and taste are
examples of what is real, 'what you are'. So I see NM just coming to the same
place as zen from the opposite direction, from what I would call a negative
direction {"...what we are not...", instead of a more zen-like positive
direction of 'what we are'. A zen example: 'What is the meaning of
Bodhidharma coming to the China? [What is Buddha Nature?] 'The cypress tree
in the garden'. This is a positive answer. Another example of differing
negative/positive approaches can be found in the Bible. The Old Testament 10
Commandments are mostly negaive, 'Thou shalt not...', whereas in the New
Testament Jesus' teachings are mostly positive, 'love one another'.
Also please note he used the word 'perceive' and not 'experience'. 'Perceive'
is not the same as 'experience'. 'Perceptions' are what the discriminating
mind adds onto 'experience' after-the-fact. All the examples of illusions and
"...what we are not..." above are perceptions. The examples I gave above of
what is real, 'what we are', are experiences, not perceptions. They are Buddha
Nature.
These are my thoughts/perceptions/illusions when reading NM's quote.
...Bill!
--- In [email protected], "ED" <seacrofter001@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> In consonance:
>
> "Discover all that you are not -- body, feelings thoughts, time, space,
> this or that -- nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be
> you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you
> perceive." Nisargadatta Maharaj
>
>
>
> --- In [email protected], ChrisAustinLane <chris@> wrote:
> >
> > "To forget the body and mind is to be enlightened by the ten thousand
> things"
>
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