Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Pure Awareness does not come from a cause, it is said to be
[b]unborn, and therefore undying. It is not an object,
materialless, yet nowhere is it not found. Therefore it is known as
all-pervading and omnipresent. The true nature of ourselves is only
this Pure Awareness. When we do not impute reality, it is mere Pure
Awareness, neither is there seperation of inner and
outer. But every time when a condition and cause arise,
contact is made, perception arise almost immediately, that is the
problem. Therefore the immediate Awareness is not known. Pure
Awareness is like a clear bright mirror that reflects anything that
comes in its way, but due to our illusions, it is covered up like a
layer of dust on top of the mirror.
Conventionally, all the 'things' we see, hear, etc, experience, all
these things are dream-like, they are all conditioned arisings,
empty. Since they are empty, it is ungraspable.
So it doesnt mean phenomenal existence is seperate from our true
nature of pure awareness. There is no purest state, every moment
NOW is purest. Every moment is Pure Awareness (although he might
not be mindful and aware). Whether in dream or in life, whether one
is delusioned or enlightened, his true nature is not lessened or
increased. It is only the matter of ignorance or awakening.
----
Chuang-Tzu once dreamed he was a
butterfly. When he awoke, he no longer knew if he was a butterfly
dreaming he was a man, or a man who had dreamed he was a
butterfly.
-----
"Besides, we all talk of 'me.' How do you know what is this 'me'
that we speak of? You dream you are a bird, and soar to heaven, or
dream you are a fish, and dive into the ocean's depths. And you
cannot tell whether the man now speaking is awake or in a dream. "A
man feels a pleasurable sensation before he smiles, and smiles
before he thinks how he ought to smile. Resign yourself to the
sequence of things, forgetting the changes of life, and you shall
enter into the pure, the divine, the One."
- Chuang Tzu
------
The Tao is omnipresent, even in
excrement.
Tung-kuo Tzu asked Chuang Tzu "Where is the Tao?"
`It is everywhere,' replied Chuang Tzu.
Tung-kuo Tzu said "You must be more specific."
"It is in the ant" said Chuang Tzu.
"Why go down so low?"
"It is in the weeds."
"Why even lower?"
"It is in a potsherd."
"Why still lower?"
"It is in the excrement and urine," said Chuang Tzu.
There is nothing that is not so-and-so. There is nothing that is
not all right. [ii]
The space under the sky is occupied by all things in their unity.
[xxi][/b]
Hmm... Is Buddhism and Taoism closely related...? 
