Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
[b]The Buddha said to Ananda, Ananda, dont be
nervous.
Ananda, dont be upset. Youre asking what it is that is able
to
investigate, arent you? Now I will tell you in detail. It
is your
perception of false appearances based on external
objects.
False means it is unreal. The mind that investigates is not
your
self nature; it is not your true mind. It is merely a more subtle
form
of false thinking which makes distinctions. The shadow of
external
objects deludes your true nature and has caused you
from
beginningless time to your present life to recognize a thief
as
your son. You have mistaken the false perception of
externals for
your son, and so you have lost your eternal
source. You have lost
all your gems, all your family heirlooms; your basic,
permanently
dwelling, unchanging true mind. The meaning here is the same as
it
was above: its not that you have actually lost it; it just seems
to be
lost. This causes you to undergo the wheels
turning. Because you
are unaware of your own family treasure, you do not know how
to
make use of it, and so you rise and sink on the turning wheel
of
birth and death. The wheel governs you and turns you, and you
cannot transcend its cycle. That is why you are the way you
are
now. This life, next life, life after life will follow that same
endless
turning, suddenly high, suddenly low, suddenly above,
suddenly
below. Sometimes you are born in the heavens and sometimes
you
fall back to earth. There is a saying that goes:
Out of a horses belly
into the womb of a cow.
How many times back and forth
have you passed by Yamas halls,
As you go from Shakras palaces
down into Yamas pot?
~ The Shurangama Sutra, commentary by Ven Hsuan Hua [/b]
This is interesting but do not go overboard and start to become
delusional. Heaven and earth and hell is not one not two not
three... but it is also one, two and three...
