The Black Box World (Part 30)

Why are all the perceptible six dusts merely images within a black box? Some people, upon encountering the issue of internal manifestations, refuse to believe that all dharmas they contact and perceive are merely shadowy internal manifestations within a black box. They consider everything they see to be utterly real and reliable, impossible to be mere shadows. This is because the shadows bear an extreme resemblance to the external manifestations, being almost identical. Consequently, everyone feels that their walking, sitting, lying down, eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating are all so genuine and tangible. They feel that when they see forms or hear sounds, they are perceiving the actual external scenery and hearing the actual external sounds; they sense the actual external sunlight. They fail to comprehend how all this could be mere shadows. How could it be false?

If one reads the Diamond Sutra, where the Buddha says, "All phenomena are illusory," everyone can accept it and even recite it fluently from memory. However, if it is analyzed specifically, stating that these six dusts are all shadows, all within the black box, and therefore all illusory, then it becomes difficult to understand and accept. If the explanation becomes too concrete, forcing one to confront the actual issue, it becomes very challenging. When reciting the Buddha's words, one need not engage in specific understanding or contemplation, nor truly face these problems. Moreover, since it is the Buddha's teaching, people tend to recite it parroting others, without actually comprehending its meaning.

Since beginningless kalpas, we have been accustomed to clinging to appearances and to being deluded. This has become a long-standing habit. Our views and understanding are difficult to correct immediately; it is hard to reverse the delusion. We need to gradually change our cognition and slowly return to correct views. Now, let us take specific examples for contemplation and observation, using concrete instances to observe that all the six dust realms we contact are merely shadows within the black box.

For example, consider this question someone asked: "When I travel from point A to point B, everything I experience along the way—what I see, hear, feel, and know—is clearly so real. Points A and B are also so real. Whether I take a car, a plane, or walk, it all feels so real. How can it all be shadows within a black box?"

Let's first discuss walking. While walking, all the phenomena contacted by the six consciousnesses are the six dust realms within the black box. Firstly, because the body moves continuously when walking with two legs, all phenomena contacted by the six consciousnesses are constantly changing. During the process of walking, the scenery of the external manifestations is constantly changing. This change encompasses all alterations in the six dusts: changes in visual scenery within the form dust, changes in sounds within the sound dust, changes in smells within the smell dust, changes in tastes (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy) within the taste dust, changes in tactile sensations (cold, heat, pain) within the touch dust, and various changes in thoughts and mental activities within the mind.

The various scenes we experience are constantly changing. However, our eye consciousness fundamentally cannot contact the true external scenery. Despite this, we still perceive various continuously changing scenes, and thus we assume it is the constantly changing external scenery. In reality, the external scenery is indeed constantly changing because the physical body is continuously moving, the locations contacted are constantly shifting, and the scenery continuously transforms. Consequently, the internal scenery—which depends on the external scenery, meaning the shadows—must also change continuously.

But why can the body move from point A to point B? Why do the contacted locations continuously shift? Why does the scenery need to constantly change? This touches upon the secret operation of the Tathagatagarbha, which we must decline to reveal. Because the scenery of the external form dust is constantly changing, the Tathagatagarbha, through the eye faculty, captures particles of various form dusts and transmits them into the black box, where it generates internal manifestation images. Thus, the images change moment by moment, yet what our eye consciousness sees changes gradually, not very rapidly.