Bodhicitta777 on Nostr: From a friend. What is Sentient and what Knows? In every sensory and mental ...

From a friend.

What is Sentient and what Knows?

In every sensory and mental experience, perception, feeling, dream, daydream, thought construct and egoic state; there appears the qualities or characteristics of any experience as what’s “known”, as well as the cognitive sentience which “knows” the experience and its characteristics as they occur.

If we say only the experiences as the various “knowns” exist and that the knowing quality is imaginary, we arrive at the view of the materialists.

If we say only the knowing quality of awareness is real and experiences are purely imaginary and unreal, we arrive at the position of the Idealists.

If we say both knower and known are equally real, we arrive at the paradox of not being able to understand where and how the immaterial “knower” and the material “known” converge; where convergence is necessary for any experience to occur.

What’s experienced here, is that the place of “convergence” is limited to the inner space of the Crown Chakra, which could be localized to coincide with the center-most point of the brain and skull; like a spherical domain of crystal clear transparency as aware cognizance.

All thoughts, dreams, perceptions, sensations and events appear and converge here and only here, in this inner space of unchanging Knowingness.

A multitude of various reflections can appear within a crystal glass ball, without altering or changing the crystal glass ball in any way.

The cognizant empty inner space of the crystal ball itself, is nirvana.

The contents as mere empty reflections, appearing within the unchanging crystal glass ball (Crown Chakra) when including a centralized thought-construct of self identity as the “me” or “I”, becomes for that imaginary self, samsara. Like a dreamed self and its dreamed world.

The empty cognitive space of the crown chakra (Knowing Awareness) doesn’t generate or project the contents appearing within like reflections.

The appearing contents arise due to “dependent origination” as the cause and effect interdependencies of the brain’s neurons, bio-computer (intellect), sensory organs, external sensory stimulations due to contact with photons, sound waves, matter, energy, gravity and all the networked and linked external phenomena of the universe.

I believe traditional Dzogchen errs on the side of “Idealism” as it considers that appearing phenomena arise FROM the empty inner Awareness as its own energetic expression (tsal, rolpa, thugje). This would be like a mirror generating the reflections that appear in it.

I further believe that traditional Mahamudra errs also on the side of “Idealism” because it believes the Awareness manifests its inner and outer world based on the totality of one’s own karmic propensities within the “Store-House consciousness” or Alayavijnana; like a movie projector projecting its own karmic vision or movie.

I also believe traditional Advaita Vedanta errs on the side of “Idealism” as it believes the external universe is a dream-like illusion projected by a mysterious power of Brahman called “maya”, and that you are this Brahman.

Kashmiri Shaivism considers that you are the creator Shiva and project your own universe as your own energetic Shakti; again erring on the side of extreme “Idealism”.

Here, it seems that of any Eastern traditions, only the Samkhya tradition seems to survive the modern discoveries of physics and neuroscience as it considers Awareness and energetic phenomena of mind and matter (prakriti) to be independent of each other.

From the perspective of prakriti as intellect (buddhi) Samkhya seems to be clearly dualistic, but from the perspective of Awareness (Purusha), Awareness is intrinsically free of all concepts, the very notion of dualism has no meaning.

Zen is different as it’s much more like the Buddhist school of Logic called Prasangika; as neither tradition make any affirmative assertions regarding the nature of Reality, subject/object or non-dualism. Prasangika even refutes the existence of any “entities” whether as individual selves or independently existing objects, including the alayavijnana, the collection of karmic seeds and propensities. Since there is no findable self, how could a non-existent self collect and store karma?

In the end, only a non-conceptualized Knowing Awareness remains which can’t possibly be captured by words or concepts or ideas. It is this same Knowing Awareness which is the innermost, cognitive nature of the Crown Chakra which hosts all the dependently arisen appearances as moments of non-dual “convergence”.

Closing one’s eyes while being aware of occurring sounds; notice the sounds as they occur. That which is noticing the sounds in direct experience IS the inner, empty Awareness being described.

How much closer could Awareness get to Itself?