What is perceptually aware?

We are both perceptually aware of external objects and inner mental things.  But such things of which we aware are afterimages; they are also mere percepts; they are not true reality.  True reality lies elsewhere than in the ordinary world we perceive.   

This brings us to an interesting question.  What exactly is it that is perceptually aware? which is devoid of objects, not to mention even subtle mental states.  This is a difficult question to answer because it is not a percept or an afterimage we can apprehend.  

In Zen, to answer this question, one must go in a direction seemingly impossible in order to behold that which is perceptually aware which is not a percept.  It is like being put between a rock and a hard place with the only direction we can take being a vertical one.

If all this sounds confusing it is especially so for any beginner who has not profoundly looked within.  They are clueless, in other words, as to even the possibility of verticality.  Their life as been spent wallowing in the mire of external physical objects and internal mental states—caught in the jaws of birth and death.

Taking the vertical path, while it may seem impossible today, was not impossible for early Zennists.  Much of Chinese Sung Zen literature we have attests to this marvelous vertical path which is attained after a life, let's say, spent living between a rock and a hard place.  In fact, serious students of Zen walked all over China in search of anyone who had, so to speak, gone vertical so they might learn how to do it themselves.  Expressing this desire, Zen master Chao-chou (J., Joshu) once said:  "Even with a seven-year-old child, if he is superior to me, I shall follow him and beg for his teaching."

Today, much of Zen has taken a different course.  A modern Zennist shows little or no interest in beholding what, exactly, is perceptually aware.  They just believe one has to be aware as if awareness, itself, is Buddhahood. But the question is what is it that perceptually aware?  Awakening to it is essential, not just being aware of external or internal mental states of being.

Comments

[JB]

My comment did not regard your comment WuWeiTV. My comment regarded the blog entry, which does indeed depart from the Buddha's teachings. Whatever methodology or approach might be behind the blog entry, it should not be presented as the Buddha's teachings. Best wishes

[Frank]

I've been reading your works for years now. Have you considered making YouTube videos? The ZOOM q3 video recorder/mic costs about 200.00 and has a built-in YouTube downloader.

[WuWeiTV (youtube)]

Whoa!Hua t'ou anyone?!The question "who is aware?"Is,I think, intended to turn Mind's capacity for attention back to it's source:"Turn the light within on that which is not born and does not die".What,I believe,is referred to as Self-attention in my previous link.It is not intended as an intellectual exercise which might ensnare one in "a thicket of views".This is evident from the post.Anyone with a passing familiarity with the theory behind the Koan or Hua T'ou methods should know this.And if they have no familiarity,then perhaps they should question whether their confidence in their critique far outstrips their knowledge of the subject.Your welcome.

[JB]

That question -- "What is aware?" -- is an example of the type of question that the Buddha described as reflecting a "thicket of views," as clearly discussed in MN 2. It has a lot in common with the iconic loaded question, "When will you stop beating your wife?" The question itself contains an invalid assumption. The question is unhelpful and misses the point. This "Zennist" essay is a departure from the Buddha's teachings. Thank you.

[WuWeiTV (youtube)]

Surely,if you can behold what is perceptually aware then whatever you are beholding would be an object of perception which the perceiving subject(which is perceptually aware)is aware of.Isn't the idea that our true Self/Mind can perceive itself objectively part of the root-problem?I don't know if this link is relevant and helpful to the topic:
http://www.albigen.com/uarelove/sadhu_om_self_inquiry.aspx