Search results for: "consciousness"
- To Know the UnconditionedWhich comes first, matter or consciousness? Materialists will say that matter comes first, and consciousness is its byproduct. But if that’s the case, there’s no way there can be any knowledge of unbinding, any knowledge of anything unconditioned, because knowledge is, by definition, conditioned by matter, and matter itself is conditioned. That’s not the Buddha’s approach. You can ask yourself …
- A Goal Without Limits… The Buddha asks him, “Which consciousness are you talking about?” The monk says, “This consciousness that I experience right now.” The Buddha says, “Didn’t I say with regard to dependently co-arisen consciousness that consciousness doesn’t last, that it’s inconstant?” Notice he makes that qualification: “Dependently-originated” consciousness doesn’t last, it keeps getting replaced by other acts of consciousness, but …
- Consciousness, Awakened & Not… And it feeds on the act of consciousness itself. You have to be especially alert to that last one, because this consciousness that people say is unconditioned right here, right now, is sometimes just conscious of consciousness itself. It’s got an object. And if consciousness has an object, it’s conditioned. There’s also the consciousness at the six senses that arises because …
- Food for Consciousness… In this last case, one act of consciousness can provide the food for another act of consciousness. After all, consciousness is self-reflective. We can reflect on our awareness, we can reflect on the way we know things, and because of that we can feed off one moment of consciousness to nourish the next. This is why consciousness can keep going and why it …
- Dedicating MeritDedicating Merit September 28, 2015 There are two ways of looking at consciousness. One is from the outside. We look at other people, other beings, and their consciousness seems to be dependent on their bodies. Without their bodies, we would have no sense of their consciousness. When the body dies, their consciousness seems to disappear. In this view, the body comes first and consciousness …
- Consciousness, Name, & Form… In dependent co-arising, the Buddha says that name and form depend on consciousness, consciousness depends on name and form. You can interpret this on many different levels. On the level of rebirth, if there’s no physical basis for rebirth, then even if there is a consciousness, consciousness has no place to land. If there are physical requisites for name and form, but …
- Dhamma Is a Quality of the Heart… He also said that it was a kind of consciousness, a consciousness without surface, outside of space and time. He never explained how that consciousness was related to the consciousness in the aggregates, but it’s definitely something different. Consciousness in the aggregates has to do with consciousness that is near or far; past, present or future. In other words, it’s in time …
- Events as Events… In dependent co-arising, the Buddha says that name and form depend on consciousness, and consciousness depends on name and form. You can interpret this on many different levels. On the level of rebirth, if there’s no physical basis for the new being to take birth, then even if there’s a consciousness, the consciousness has no place to land. Or if there …
- The Skill of Letting Go… Everything you could possibly imagine—you’re not supposed to cling to it, you’re not supposed to let your consciousness depend on it. You can’t even let consciousness depend on consciousness. Ven. Sariputta says that several times: in the context of the six properties, in the context of consciousness of the six senses, consciousness in the aggregates, and the infinitude of consciousness …
- Feeding Instructions… How can consciousness, if it’s conditioned, know something else is conditioned? Well, that’s precisely the nature of knowledge. Your consciousness is conditioned by its objects. Without those objects, there would be no sensory consciousness. Now, there’s a great sense of ease when you learn to feed on consciousness itself, as you make consciousness the object. You can’t push this; you …
- How the Breath Helps You to Die Well… And then based on fabrication, there’s consciousness. So the consciousness that goes on to the next lifetime is shaped by fabrications. If you don’t understand these fabrications, you’ll have no control over where it’s going to go. Focusing on the breath also focuses directly on these fabrications so that, at the very least, you get some control. Or even better …
- Feeding on Ardency… physical food; contact; intentions of the heart, mano-sancetanahara; and then consciousness itself. Consciousness feeds on itself. One act of consciousness feeds on another. This is why the mind is able to observe itself. A lot of times consciousness feeds on junk food. As we all know, the Buddha said it’s because of our feeding habits that we suffer. But you can’t …
- Develop Your Inner Observer… Some people mistake it and say, “This must be the unconditioned mind.” Well, any consciousness that has an object is conditioned by the object. Consciousness may seem to be continuous, but that’s because moments of consciousness blend very easily into one another. We tend to glom them together. But each time the object changes, that’s a different moment of consciousness. So we …
- The End of Karma… The first quality is that it is a type of consciousness, called consciousness without surface: *viññāṇaṁ anidassanaṁ. *It’s consciousness outside of the aggregates. The aggregates arise and pass away, and they can be clung to. They exist in space and time. But this is a consciousness outside of space and time, which means it’s not subject to the changes in space and …
- Safety in Awareness… He finally gets to the point where he says, “You have to let go of your consciousness of consciousness. Don’t let your consciousness rely on consciousness.” This is the point, of course, where Ananthapindika starts crying. “All those years I was with the Buddha, and he never taught me this!” Because of that reaction, he didn’t get the full benefit of the …
- Faith in the Buddha’s Awakening… Even though some of the texts talk about consciousness depending on the meeting of the eye, say, and an object of the eye, or the ear and a sound, that’s sensory consciousness. There are six kinds. But then the Buddha also says in some other passages that there is a consciousness that’s known independently of the six sense spheres. That’s the …
- The Logic of Not-self… For example, you may decide that you are your consciousness. Consciousness may be impersonal, but you can still identify with it, have a sense of self around it, even if you don’t define it as a person. You may sense that your consciousness owns the aggregates, in which case you might be a permanent owner or an impermanent owner. As for the idea …
- Isolating the Aggregates… And then there’s consciousness, which is the awareness of all these things. Consciousness comes in different types. There’s focused consciousness that spotlights specific sensations and mental activities, and then there’s a background awareness that’s already there throughout the body. When we talk about spreading your awareness, it’s primarily a question of letting your spotlight concentration get in touch with …
- Whole-body Consciousness… Now, in the Canon in Majjhima 140, the sutta that talks about the elements it has you go through the different elements, the four physical elements plus space, and you even get to consciousness. Now, the sutta calls it “pure consciousness,” but it’s still fabricated. This is an important point. One of the reasons why the forest tradition monks call it phuu ruu …
- The Questions of Suffering… Thought fabrications, consciousness: When everything else seems to fail us, we hold onto the act of consciousness, thinking, “Just the knowing I, that’s me.” You want to be the knowing. That seems to be the thread that ties everything together. And yet, when you look at acts of consciousness, they come and go. Your consciousness of things that were happening five minutes ago …
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