Black Box World (8)

Why is it that everything we come into contact with consists of inner naimaṇḍala (inner object-aspects), all shadows within the black box? Let us explain this from another angle: there is a difference in distance between external material sense-objects and our eye faculty. From the tip of the nose before our eyes to material sense-objects very, very far away, the differences in distance are enormous, and the time required for transmission to the external eye faculty differs. Although all of this is done by the tathāgatagarbha and the transmission is extremely fast, faster than the speed of light, there is still a time lag, so what the eye consciousness sees has a sequence of earlier and later. If the eye consciousness were seeing external material sense-objects, we would first see the material sense-objects near at hand and only later see those far away; it would be impossible to see distant and near forms simultaneously. But if what we see are the inner material sense-objects within the black box of the supreme faculty at the back of the brain, then it would be different: as long as the material sense-objects are in the black box, the eye consciousness, so long as it directs its attention, can see them all simultaneously, regardless of distance, height, or depth.

Because the material sense-objects in the black box are shadows, all located within the supreme faculty, they have no distance from the eye's supreme faculty; as soon as the eye consciousness makes contact, it contacts them all simultaneously—it cannot first see near forms and later see distant forms. Therefore, what our eye consciousness sees are all shadows within the black box, not substantial external material sense-objects. After the eye consciousness contacts the inner material sense-objects, it accepts and receives them, discerns them, and confirms what kind of material sense-objects they are; thus we know what the material sense-objects are—and we know distant and near forms simultaneously. In fact, both far and near are illusory dharmas; there is no far or near—it is merely an illusion.

When our eyes see material sense-objects, observe carefully: are not distant and near forms all gathered into the eyes together? Do not all forms, far and near, high and low, enter our field of vision together? All forms within the visual range are seen simultaneously, though sometimes it also depends on where the attention is directed among the material sense-objects. Only when our attention is focused on a single point, or directed toward very few material sense-objects, do we fail to see the other material sense-objects; if the attention is not focused on a single point, we can see all the other material sense-objects. This shows that the material sense-objects we see are the inner material sense-objects that the eighth consciousness has already transformed into the black box of the supreme faculty; what we see is precisely this shadow.

It is the same with our hearing of sounds: distant and near sounds are heard simultaneously. Sounds coming from the left, from the right, from above, from below, from all directions—east, west, south, and north—we hear all of them simultaneously; that is hearing the shadow of the inner sound sense-object. The Buddha said in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra that the ear faculty is complete with twelve hundred merits: sounds from all directions can enter the ear and can all be heard; even if there are obstacles, sounds can still pass through them and reach us.

That is because the eighth consciousness simultaneously transmits the sounds from all directions, through the ear faculty, into the supreme faculty of the brain, right there at the black box, where they form the sound images of the inner object-aspects. Then the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness arise there in transformation; thus, when the ear consciousness hears sounds, it can hear the sounds from all directions simultaneously. From this, one should be able to understand that the material forms we see and the sounds we hear have all already passed; what we discern are all contents of the past that have already been completed, and therefore they are all virtual and not real. By the time we take action and adopt responsive measures, it is one step later still. All these processes of discernment and these responsive actions and formations are hindsight—like firing a cannon after the horse has bolted—and can only change and influence the occurrence of the next step of events.

The sound of thunder in the sky is extremely far from the ear faculty, while the buzzing sound in our head is extremely close to the ear faculty; yet these sounds are heard simultaneously—that is the sound within the black box. Lightning in the sky is extremely far from the eye faculty, while a finger an inch before the eyes is extremely close to the eye faculty; yet the eye consciousness also sees them simultaneously—that is the material sense-object within the black box. The distant sandalwood fragrance is extremely far from the nose faculty, while the scent right at the face is extremely close to the nose faculty; yet the nose consciousness also smells them simultaneously—that is the scent sense-object within the black box. The sunlight in the sky is extremely far from the body faculty, while the sensation of a headache is extremely close to the body faculty; yet the body consciousness also feels them simultaneously—that is the contact sense-object within the black box. All these realms of the five sense-objects are images of the inner object-aspects within the black box at the back of the brain; once the conscious mind contacts them, it can receive and discern them all simultaneously.