What is our practice about? Our practice is about transcending the limitations of our normal perception. In the beginning, we start by using our sensory and mental faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) as tools to practice. This also includes the "simultaneous mental awareness." Gradually, we learn to detach from these faculties, letting go of their interpretations and attachments. Ultimately, what remains is the raw essence of cognitive experience, a pure self-awareness beyond the constructed world of thoughts and sensations, which is called "realization." If we just use the simultaneous mental awareness to perceive an object, it becomes the mere emptiness or the Alayavijnana (storehouse consciousness), so it is not true realization.
When you start being aware of your thoughts, they start losing their strength and become very faint. This state or feeling is what we call "awareness." For example, when you practice the mere emptiness to a certain point, the chattering thoughts in your mind and body quiet down, and the activity of your five senses become very subtle, blurry, and illusory. At this time, these experiences and feelings will definitely be known by your mind. If not, then what are you practicing?
No matter how vivid, these experiences are mere ripples on the surface of the mind. They are not realization or awakening, because experiences themselves still ripples there. Dzogche says: “All experiences and feelings will vanish like clouds drifting across the sky,” leaving behind only the pure awareness of the mind. Seeing it is what we call realization or awakening.
Once you understand these concepts well, you will find out that reading texts on Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and Dzogchen becomes a much easier task. Admittedly, for some, the path of dense philosophical texts may seem daunting. But remember, even a single seed, nourished by curiosity, can eventually bloom into a magnificent garden of knowledge for realization.
Excerpted from:Cognition and Expression Part One
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