A wooden elephant, a gold lion, or a pot made out of clay are not binary in the sense there is an elephant apart from the wood, a lion apart from the gold, and a pot apart from the clay. As regards the substance such as wood, etc., there isn’t an elephant, a lion or a pot. There is only substance. Understanding this helps us to understand the fundamental teachings of Mind. This means that when we awaken to Mind we behold, for the first time, the ultimate substance from which all things are composed; which means things don’t actually exist. This substance Mind is the only reality—in fact, so real that the phenomena which arise from it are completely illusory and will never be otherwise.
This, I need to add, is not meant to lead up to some kind of new philosophy; nor should we consider Mind under the lens of metaphysics leaving it as that. We are not supposed to conceive or think about it. We are supposed to realize Mind. This is the most arduous task a human being can undertake but one that can be accomplished. All else is being like the prisoners sitting in Plato’s cave gazing at shadows, speculating about them.
While many texts in the canon are saying essentially what I am saying this is all but missed or purposely ignored by modern Buddhists who don’t have much time for penetrating through the phenomenal veil of mind-composed phenomena to behold Mind, itself. No, they’re still attached to the world of shapes like the elephant, the lion and the pot, including the new home, the BMW, a vacation in the Hawaii, etc., all of this being the very antithesis of pure Mind. Somehow they believe Buddhism is supposed to help them live a good life in the world of shadows. Not so. To believe such is a misreading of the Buddhist canon—a terrible misreading.
One of your more succinct posts. Funny you mention Plato's cave; I've often though about the relevance of that story to Buddhism.
Posted by: Keen_eddie | January 22, 2011 at 04:25 AM