Huangbo: The Self and Perceptions

Once again my last podcast recording with ewk (not yet published) led me to some interesting ideas. This time about the relationship between the Self and perceptions (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, cognition). I'm going to start with some Huangbo related to the topic.

Blofeld Huangbo: It is that which you see before you—begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error. It is like the boundless void which cannot be fathomed or measured.

Huangpo here says the Mind is that which you see before you. What do we see before us? Our perceptions. And by "see before you" I don't think Huangbo is just talking about sight. I think he's talking about everything presented in our awareness, all six senses (the sixth being cognition) aka our perceptions. Also he doesn't mean just objects considered separate from the body. Our bodies, bodily sensations, and thoughts are presented to us in awareness just like a table or chair is. So when he says try to reason about it and you fall into error I think he's talking about those things as well. The error doesn't come from perceptions, but attempting to build unalterable dharmas (conceptual frameworks) out of those perceptions.

Chatgpt Huangbo: When one lets go of all visual, auditory, and sensory perceptions, the path to the mind is cut off. However, one should recognize the true mind at the point where the senses are perceived. Although the true mind is not part of the senses, it is also not separate from them. One should not attach interpretations to sensory perceptions, nor should one generate thoughts based on them. One should also not depart from sensory perceptions to search for the mind, nor should one abandon them to seek the path. Neither attachment nor detachment, neither abiding nor grasping.

I find this translation of this particular Huangbo passage interesting mainly for the line that says we should recognize the true mind "at the point where the senses are perceived". I've had people in this forum tell me that the Self is some transcendental awareness that persists after the body dies and lasts forever. That it is fundamentally separate from what it illuminates. Huangbo is clearly saying the opposite. Although our perceptions cannot be combined to construct a Self, the Self is nonetheless not separate from perceptions and in fact cannot be recognized apart from them. Like Foyan says below:

Do you want to understand? Just discern the things perceived; you cannot see the Self.

This makes sense when you think about enlightenment stories. Seeing peach blossoms. Hearing a pebble strike bamboo. Our perceptions appear to be gateways or entrances to enlightenment.

Sheng said, “Do you hear the sound of rain dripping from the eaves?” The monk’s mind was opened; he unconsciously cried, “Yea!” Sheng said, “What principle have you seen?” The monk replied in verse,

The sound of rain dripping from the eaves

Is distinctly clear.

The dripping breaks up heaven and earth;

Right away the mind stops.

You can't run away from perceptions and think you're going to find the Self. I've been to modern day Zen centers. They absolutely teach that people should meditate to learn to dampen or ignore perceptions and see "what's behind them" (actually said by a "Roshi" who's Zen center I visited). They espouse a belief that the Self is separate and above the every day perceptions we all have. Some around here believe the same thing. But clearly Zen masters are not talking about something that is apart from the ordinary world of perceptions.

Submitted April 30, 2023 at 08:35PM by koancomentator https://ift.tt/3vGUYhc