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February 24, 2006

Seeing is Knowing

The following is from the book Buddhism: Plain & Simple by Steve Hagen, which I'm currently reading. Another interesting read indeed. Simple it is, but again, most times it's the simplist things that are the hardest to grasp.

You've done 'puzzles' like these many a times. At any rate, last night I read the following bit and for the life of me, I just couldn't sort out what the mysterious figure is from below. I have a feeling that it's a lot easier to figure out when it's being displayed here on the monitor, but from seeing it in the book, I was stumped.

Alec and I were turning the book in all different directions and still to no avail. What's worse, we read the solution and STILL could not make out the image!?! WTF! Later on I had to take my friggin' glasses off and see if it works, and, finally, it did. I'm sure it's a hell lot easier for other peeps like YOU... it always is! heh!

Anyway, it happens to all of us... That when something in life seems puzzling, and yet when we do finally figure out what it's all about, it's like an revelation of sort! It's beyond perspective and comprehension, and all the time spent were necessary.

--

A WHEEL OUT OF KILTER [Excerpt]
Truth or Reality is not something vague, mysterious, or hidden. You don't have to go to someone else to find it--not to a teacher, or a buddha, or your parents, or a priest or rabbi or shaman, or any authority whatsoever. Nor is it something you can look up in a book. Truth comes to us through seeing. To see is to Know.

Seeing needs no further verification. It's immediate and as one with Truth. But we're usually not very skilled at seeing what is actually presented to us.

For a concrete example of what I'm referring to, look at the picture below. Believe it or not, this is a near-photographic rendering of something very familiar, something you've seen [either in person or in pictures] countless times.

If you do not immediately recognize what it is, then notice your state of mind. Notice that it is, to some extent, confused.

Some people, when they first see this picture, say, "I think it might be a man lying down." But they say it with uncertainty. They're not quite sure. They believe it might be a man reclining. [That's what I thought when I first saw the picture.] But there's no sense of seeing, no conviction that you know what the picture depicts.

Keep looking at the picture. I assure you that when you actually see what it is, all your uncertainty will immediately vanish. You will know what the picture is. All beliefs and uneasiness about it will instantly cease.

If you haven't yet seen what this picture is, keep looking at it for a while. Eventually you'll get it. And when you do get it, notice the sudden shift that takes place in your mind.

Did you notice how your mind relaxed when, suddenly, you saw, and knew you saw? Your state of mind, which before was vague, mysterious, fuzzy, confused, and uncomfortable, was suddenly transformed the moment you saw. You had clarity and total conviction. And that clarity and conviction will remain with you each time you view this picture again. If somebody says to you, "It's a picture of a man lying down," you'll know they're off the mark--and no amount of argument is going to influence you.

This is analogous to the difference between seeing and simply having a belief, an idea, a concept.

The buddha-dharma points the way to a similar, but more universal and profound, sense of "Aha!" It's not about pondering some vague, faraway realm. It's about here and now. About waking up to this moment, seeing this for what it is. And, just as your state of mind changed once you saw what the picture was, when you suddenly see the situation you're in, you experience certainty. Things clear up.

This is called enlightenment, or awakening.

This awakening is available to all of us, at every moment, without exception.

--

Current Music: Ulrich Schnauss - On My Own

Posted by Robert at February 24, 2006 08:12 PM

Comments

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