Realisation: The Silent Yet Noisy Falling
Tree?
e Silent Yet Noisy
Falling Tree?
The practice of all the
bodhisattvas is never to entertain concepts, which revolve around
dualistic notions of perceiver and perceived, in the knowledge that
all these appearances are but the mind itself, whilst mind's own
nature is forever beyond the limitations of ideas.
- (#22 of) 'The 37 Bodhisattva Practices' (Ngulchu
Thogme Zangpo)
If a
tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, is there a
sound?' I once asked a
friend this classic philosophical and koan-like question through a
text message. A few moments later, he replied, 'I heard it while
thinking about it.' I responded, 'But I already said there was no
one there to hear it. Why did you put yourself there?' Perhaps this
is a trick question that cannot be answered properly with the
thinking mind, not unlike trying to 'not think of a pink elephant'!
When my friend read the question, he 'heard' the 'sound', as his
mind moved accordingly to make sense of it by thinking. This is not
unlike the case of Zen Master Huineng, who resolved an argument
between two monks on whether it was a flag or the wind that was
moving – by saying that it was their minds that moved. Movement is
so only when perceived by the mind, just as a sound is so only when
registered by the mind through hearing. The mind is the prime
'mover' of experience, with which we perceive and process sensory
inputs
Does
this mean that there was no sound of the falling tree, that the
flag and wind did not move at all? Surprisingly, the answer is a definite
'yes'! A sound is so only when air vibrations reach one's ears.
Since there was no one to receive the vibrations, they were not
translated to be sound by anyone. Likewise, movement in space and
time is defined as so only when there is perception of
displacement. And to do so, one's perception has to be displaced
from stillness – to move. If my friend's mind did not move, he
would not hear a mind-made sound. Similarly, sight is sighted only
when light falls upon eyes, smell is smelt only when smelling,
taste is tasted only when tasting, touch is a sensation only when
touching, thought is thought only when thinking. The world
perceived through the senses exists only when sensed. As our sense
faculties differ from one to another, though this world is one, it
is experienced differently (but sometimes similarly), subjectively
and dependent on our karma and perception.
This does not mean that the world
does not exist if there is no one to perceive
it. An objective world
exists beyond our limited senses corrupted by misperception. This
means it is quite pointless to argue over relative experiences such
as whether a sight is beautiful or ugly, or whether a sound is loud
or soft, as these would depend on our varying sensitivities and
preferences (attachment and aversion). Also, some beings have less
senses, and some with more refined senses. In insight meditation,
the thinking mind is silenced, so as to realise the nature of
reality by direct non-judgemental mindfulness of whatever
transpires. Naked reality is that seen without movements of the
mind, which would blur the perception of things as they really are.
Direct and pure experience through the senses is enabled. The more
silent you are, the more accurately defined will reality be known
and seen, without imposition or supposition
Our
mind and the world are connected as one like the ends of a single
line, dual as the perceiver and the perceive but really one,
without real division of 'self' from the
world. The perceiver
perceived as a separate 'self' impairs perception, and is an
illusion. It blocks and taints clear perceiving of reality.
Meditation helps to dissolve this illusion, by perceiving the
workings of perceiving itself, by realising that there is only
perceiving without any perceiver. When we truly realise this, we
attain the 'beginner's mind' as taught in Zen, that is able to
respond instantly, appropriately and selflessly to all experiences
without needless mental proliferations based on the illusion of
'self'. Free from this delusion, we will be able to be fully
absorbed, engaged in whatever we are experiencing and doing. This
is authentic enlightened living!
If this world perceived with delusion seems 'real',
a Pure Land without delusion is even more real.