(continued..)
This gesture of attending to the deathless is thus a core spiritual
practice but not a complicated one. We simply withdraw our
attention from the objects of the mind and incline the attention
towards the deathless, the unborn. This is not a massive
reconstruction program. It's not like we have to do a whole lot.
It's very simple and natural. We relax and notice that which has
been here all along, like noticing the space in a room. We don't
notice space, because it doesn't grab our attention; it isn't
exciting. Similarly, nibbana has no feature, no color, no taste and
no form, so we don't realize it's right here. The perceptual
systems and the naming activity of the mind work on forms; that's
what they go to first. Therefore we tend to miss what's always
here. Actually, because it has no living quality to it, space is
the worst as well as the best example, but sometimes it is
reasonable to use it.
Unsupported Consciousness
In the Theravada teachings, the Buddha also talked about this
quality in terms of "unsupported consciousness." This means that
there is cognition, there is knowing, but it's not landing
anyplace; it's not abiding anywhere. "Attending to the deathless"
and "unsupported consciousness" are somewhat synonymous. They are
like descriptions of the same tree, from different angles.
In describing unsupported consciousness, the Buddha taught:
Wherever there is something that is intended, something that is
acted upon or something that lies dormant, then that becomes the
basis for consciousness to land. And where consciousness lands,
that then is the cause for confusion, attachment, becoming and
rebirth, and so on.
But if there is nothing intended, acted upon or lying latent, then
consciousness has no basis to land upon. And having no basis to
land, consciousness is released. One recognizes, 'Consciousness,
thus unestablished, is released.' Owing to its staying firm, the
heart is contented. Owing to its contentment, it is not agitated.
Not agitated, such a one realizes complete, perfect nibbana within
themselves. (Samyutta Nikaya 12.38 and 22.53)
The Buddha used a whole galaxy of images, similes and forms like
this because they spoke to different people in different ways. In
another passage the Buddha asked his disciples, "If there was a
house with a wall that faced out towards the east and in that wall
there was a window, when the sun came up in the morning, where
would the shaft of sunlight fall?"
One of his monks replied, "On the western wall." The Buddha then
asked, "And if there's no western wall, where would the sunlight
land?"
The monk answered, "On the ground." Then the Buddha responded, "And
if there's no ground, where will it land?" The monk replied, "On
the water."
The Buddha pushed it a bit further and asked, "And if there's no
water, where will it land?" The monk answered correctly when he
said, "If there is no water, then it will not land." The Buddha
ended the exchange by saying, "Exactly so. When the heart is
released from clinging to what are called the four
nutrimentsphysical food, sense contact (sight, sound, smell,
taste, touch), intention and consciousnessthen consciousness does
not land anywhere. That state, I tell you, is without sorrow,
affliction or despair" (Samyutta Nikaya 12.64).
Consciousness: Invisible, Radiant, Limitless
In several instances, the language of the Dzogchen tradition seems
strikingly similar to that of the Theravada. In Dzogchen, the
common description of the qualities of rigpa, nondual awareness, is
"empty in essence, cognizant in nature and unconfined in capacity."
A different translation of these three qualities is "emptiness,
knowing and lucidity, or clarity." In the Pali scriptures (Digha
Nikaya 11.85 and Majjima Nikaya 49.25), the Buddha talks about the
mind of the arahant as "consciousness which is unmanifest,
signless, infinite and radiant in all directions." The Pali words
are viññanam (consciousness), aniddassanam (empty, invisible or
signless, non-manifestative), anantam (limitless, unconfined,
infinite), and sabbato pabham (radiant in all directions,
accessible from all sides).
One of the places the Buddha uses this description is at the end of
a long illustrative tale. A monk has asked, "Where is it that
earth, water, fire and wind fade out and cease without remainder?"
To which the Buddha replies that the monk has asked the wrong
question. What he should have asked is, "Where is it that earth,
water, fire and wind can find no footing?" The Buddha then answers
this question himself, saying it is in "the consciousness which is
invisible, limitless and radiant in all directions" that the four
great elements "and long and short, and coarse and fine, and pure
and impure can find no footing. There it is that nama-rupa
(body-and-mind, name-and-form, subject-and-object) both come to an
end. With this stopping, this cessation of consciousness, all
things here are brought to an end."
Such unsupported and unsupportive consciousness is not an abstract
principle. In fact, it was the basis of the Buddha's enlightenment.
As the Buddha was sitting under the bodhi tree, the hordes of Mara
attacked him. Armies were hurling themselves at the Buddha and yet
nothing could get into the space under the tree. All the weapons
and spears they threw turned into rays of light; the arrows that
they fired turned into flowers that came sprinkling down around the
Buddha. Nothing harmful to the Buddha could get into that space.
There was nowhere for it to land. Sight, sound, smell, taste and
touch, long and short, coarse and fine, pure and impure are all
aspects of body and mind. They represent attributes of all
phenomena. Yet none of them could find a footing. The Buddha was in
a non-stick realm. Everything that came toward him kept falling
away. Nothing stuck; nothing could get in and harm the Buddha in
any way. To get a better sense of this quality of unsupported
consciousness, it's helpful to reflect on this image. Also very
useful are the phrases at the end of the passage just quoted,
particularly where the Buddha says, "When consciousness ceases, all
things here are brought to an end."
(continued in the website... too long to paste)
