Returning perception to Mind
Ananda, a moment ago you said that you saw my shining fist; tell
me, how did its brightness come about, what caused it to take the
form of a fist and with what did you see it?
Ananda replied: The Buddha golden hued body is like a precious
hill and manifests (the state of) purity and cleanness, so that the
fist shone. It was really my eyes that saw Him bend the fingers and
form a fist which was shown to all of us.
The Buddha said: In truth wise people should be awakened by
examples and analogies. Ananda, if I had no hand I would have no
fist and if you had no eyes, you would have no (faculty of) seeing.
Is there any connection between your organ of sight and my
fist?
Ananda replied: Ues, World Honoured One. If I had no eyes, I
would have no (faculty of) seeing; so there is an analogy between
my organ of sight and the Buddha fist.
The Buddha said: Your reasoning is incorrect. For instance, a
handless man has no fist, but a man without eyes still has his
(faculty of) seeing. When you meet a blind man and ask him what he
sees, he will tell you there is nothing but darkness in front of
him. Therefore, though things may be screened from view the
(faculty of) seeing continues.
Ananda said: If a blind man sees nothing but darkness before
him, how can this be called seeing?
The Buddha asked: Is there any difference between the darkness
seen by a blind man in front of him and that seen by a man who is
not blind when he is in a dark room?
(Ananda replied): World Honoured One, there is no difference.
The Buddha said: Ananda, when a blind man who used to see only
darkness suddenly recovers his sight and sees every thing clearly,
if you say that it is his eyes which see, then when a man who saw
darkness in a dark room suddenly lights a lamp which enables him to
see what is there, you should say that it is the lamp that sees. If
a lamp can see things, it should have (the faculty of) seeing and
should not be called a lamp; if it really sees, it has no relation
to you. Therefore, you should know that while the lamp can reveal
form, seeing comes from the eyes but not from the lamp. Likewise,
while your eyes can reveal form, the nature of seeing comes from
the mind but not from the eyes :)