The Illusion of Dome-Screen Films

The six consciousnesses discern the inner six sense-objects within the black box, perceiving the various sense-object realms as extremely three-dimensional and vivid, thus appearing very real, without the slightest feeling that these sense-object realms are illusory and unreal. It is like a person sitting in a dome-screen cinema watching a dome-screen movie—the feeling is extremely real: seeing the airplane on the screen as if it were about to fly right over one's head, seeing a sharp knife about to stab into one's heart, seeing a bullet just about to fly toward one's forehead, seeing a club as if it were about to strike one's body.

In short, whatever one sees feels especially real, as if one were personally on the scene—and of course this includes the sounds one hears. Yet when we calm down and think rationally, we know that not a single dharma on the screen actually exists in reality, and there are no real objects on the screen either; it is all merely a synthesis of various modern technological information, deceiving our senses into trusting it, giving rise to various mental states and various feelings and experiences—even feeling stimulated and thrilled, or feeling fear and fright.

The six sense-object realms we perceive are just like this. The black box is like the dome-screen cinema; the six consciousnesses sit inside the black box, watching the six sense-object realms within it, feeling that all realms are especially real—the realms are so vivid, three-dimensional, and alive that one simply cannot let go of them, or hates them to the bone. One truly feels personally on the scene, situated within these various realms, inseparable from them. In actuality, these realms are the same as the scenes in a dome-screen movie—all virtually projected, merely combinations of signals, with nothing actually there.