Вадим Сычевский
Absolute freedom and happiness – our true essence
2. Identification of self with the object
We perform endless activities. First, this is the work of consciousness. As a result, we encounter all kinds of objects every second, both in the external world and in our internal world. Our six senses are responsible for contact with objects. The physical five senses come into contact with external objects. The information received through them is perceived by the actual consciousness. The same actual consciousness perceives images, desires/no desires, and thoughts that come from the subconscious mind.
Next, our consciousness necessarily «clings» to the object. This can be called identification as we try to find ourselves in any object. «Finding ourselves» means that we immediately want to understand whether the object is beneficial to us or not, whether it is pleasant or not, and so on. Let's remember again that the True «Self» is freedom and happiness, that's why we are looking for something pleasant, and advantageous, bringing happiness, and so on, in all objects. That is why there is «clinging» or identification with any object.
Enlightenment is the opposite of dualistic thinking
There is one important clarification to be made here.
Enlightenment is not a deliberate refusal of perception, not a state of complete «nullification» when you forget everything and do not understand where you are and what is happening. The state of such «nullification» is Nonexistence, which I described in the previous chapter. That is why it is very unfortunate when this pitch darkness is equated to the state of Nirvana. All the more so because Enlightenment and Emancipation, i.e. the state of Nirvana, is not a renunciation of the true joy, freedom, and happiness inherent in us from the beginning. It is in the blessed moment of Enlightenment that these absolute states are awakened in us – this is the purpose of true spiritual practice.
We can say that the cessation of the work of consciousness at the moment of Enlightenment is the beginning of true perception. Having realized Enlightenment, we really stop; stop the appearance of illusory joy or suffering, which is caused solely by our ordinary perception and discernment of objects.
However, this cessation is not due to our will or anything like that, but to the seeing that the «clinging» and discernment of objects is meaningless because they are empty and not we. «Emptiness cannot harm emptiness; the qualityless cannot harm the qualityless», says the «Bardo Thödol». In other words, Enlightenment is not discernment based on some specific information known only to the enlightened, nor is it some special way of thinking or perceiving that is unknown to the ordinary person. The enlightened state is the absence of movement of consciousness and the absence of discernment.
In the unenlightened state, we endlessly discern empty objects based on empty information, because of which we experience the endless suffering of impermanence. However, in the moment of stopping consciousness, we do see this. Our state at that moment is precisely seeing, an awakened state, not logical reasoning or a conscious act of our will. This state is cognizable only experientially. When we experience this state, we return to the state of happiness, freedom, and joy in their true, original sense, because only in this state do we realize our true selves. In other words, this state is higher than all illusory joy or suffering because their appearance is stopped, but this state of self-awareness itself is the highest joy, freedom, and happiness because they are inherent in us from the beginning.
«There is only one reality. And you are it, although you are not aware of it. But when you awaken to that reality, you are no longer something, but you are everything and always. And that is everything» (Kalu Rinpoche).
So, when we come into contact with any object, we have two ways: seeing and not seeing.
In the first case, we are one with the object because our consciousness is stopped, so we are free from the influence of the object, that's why Kalu Rinpoche says «You are no longer something, you are everything and always».
In the second, we identify with the object, we seek ourselves in the object, and we «cling» to the object. In this case, following the usual process of dual thinking, we move to the distinction of the object.
3. Distinguishing objects
Therefore, we have come into contact with some external or internal object. Then our consciousness «grasped» this object. At the next stage, our past experience and previously accumulated information begin to work. They are activated by consciousness. We distinguish the object. Consequently, we have desires and no desires directed to this object. That is our past experience and information color all initially empty objects perceived by us in colors of joy or suffering.
This principle is wonderfully shown in the fairy tale «The Wizard of Emerald City». The main characters arrive in Emerald City to meet the wizard Goodwin. At the entrance to the Emerald City, the guardian tells them to wear special glasses: «Without glasses, you will be blinded by the splendor of the Emerald City. Even all the people of the city wear glasses day and night. These are the orders of the Wise Goodwin. The glasses are locked with a padlock so that no one can take them off». In the end, the Emerald City turned out to be an ordinary city built of simple stones, but the glasses created the illusion that the city was built of emeralds.
Without going into the details of the plot of the fairy tale, it is necessary to note the essential thing. The ordinary stones from which the Emerald City was built are ordinary stones; they are not «good» or «evil», «happiness» or «suffering». The glasses that the heroes put on are just glasses with green panes; they are also not «good» or «evil», «happiness» or «suffering». In other words, both stones and glasses are empty and have no positive or negative properties. However, by observing an ordinary stone city through ordinary green glasses, the characters got the «Emerald City». Similarly, we too, by discerning empty objects and phenomena in the external and internal world through the prism of accumulated data (karma), we get our illusory reality which we call life; we get our «Emerald City». Therefore, everything we experience is an illusion of our karma.
In our daily lives, we cannot see and understand the workings of our superconscious and subconscious mind. However, we are impacted every second, we encounter the result of their work, because the superconscious and subconscious are our «green glasses». To be quite precise, the frames for the glasses are our Five Aggregates, the glasses' panes are our multi-layered consciousness, and the paint on the initially transparent panes is our karma or accumulated data. The problem is that while leading an ordinary life we cannot remove these glasses, i.e. we cannot stop the work of the Five Aggregates and double consciousness. This happens because in our daily lives, we identify ourselves with both the Five Aggregates and dual thinking, and as a result, we are completely dependent on them.
Thus, in discriminating between objects, we come to two poles: «good» or «bad». Sometimes it seems that we are indifferent to an object, but this does not mean that in this case our Distinction is stopped. An indifferent attitude is a negative attitude. For example, if we do not like some person, then we will be indifferent to his fate.
Therefore, if as a result of discernment, we like an object, then there is a desire aimed at obtaining this object. If an object causes us negative emotions, then there is a desire to get rid of this object.
4. Desires directed toward an object
Ignorance, delusion, blind fascination
If an object is discerned by us as positive, delusion, or ignorance, arises. It should be clarified here that there are two kinds of ignorance – ignorance, which is the root cause of the whole process of perception and discernment, and ignorance, which arises from the discernment of objects and phenomena.
The first is Avidya, or Fundamental Ignorance, already mentioned earlier.
Before giving a precise definition of the term Avidya, it should be clarified that the Russian language shares a common grammatical basis with Sanskrit.
So, the Sanskrit word «Avidya» literally translates as «lack of knowledge», «ignorance», and «not knowing». «Not knowing» is «not to know», that is, not to know something. The root of the word «not knowing» is VED (In the Russian language), as in «to know». However, the word «Avidya» has a different root, VID, as in the word «see». It turns out that the exact meaning of the word «Avidya» is not «not knowing» but «non-seeing». Thus, the essence of ignorance in all its manifestations is a state in which we do not see something, and therefore, we can «not know» something – not to know or not to understand. But what is hidden from our sight? Avidya is the absence of self-awareness: we do not see, do not realize ourselves, and as a result of which we try to find ourselves in external to us empty objects and phenomena that are not our true essence. In other words, we mistakenly believe that our Five Aggregates are we and that all the external and internal objects we perceive and realize can bring us true happiness, freedom, and joy.
Because of dual thinking, or discernment, we have delusions about the object we perceive and discern. Thus arises the second kind of ignorance, which is denoted in Sanskrit and Pali by the term «Moha» – «delusion, ignorance, dullness, stupidity, foolishness and blind fascination». If the perceived object pleases us, we have delusion: we think we have found our real pleasure, happiness, or joy. The desire arises to simply continue to enjoy the object without seeing or wanting to see that any object – gross or subtle, external or internal, primitive or complex – is impermanent, nothing lasts forever.
There are four ways, or situations, in which we will suffer the impermanence of all objects and phenomena. Regardless of the object of our pleasure, we are bound to encounter one or more of them. A good example illustrating each of these four options is love attachment, the work of consciousness that underlies the Human World.
The first option is to change the object that brings us pleasure. A young man J falls in love with a girl N, enchanted by her beauty. As time passes, N's beauty fades, and her appearance changes greatly. J no longer sees in her the charm he was attracted to. His feelings for N fade.
Further, the consciousness of any person is impermanent. For example, N's character changes and their relationship with J first deteriorates and then ceases. Love attachment when the consciousness of either partner changes easily turns into hatred, because attachment, which is usually called love, and hatred are two sides of the same coin. In other words, if there is something that is liked or causes positive emotions, at the same time there is also something that is the opposite – something that is disliked and causes dislike. For example, the more we love the merits of our loved ones, the more we will hate their shortcomings (I will talk more about this principle below).
The second option is the disappearance of the object of pleasure. N can say to J, «I have fallen in love with someone else. Goodbye!» and walk away. Besides, any relationship, even the most beautiful one, is bound to end at the moment of death.
The third option is a change in the subject of pleasure. J becomes satiated with his beloved, and their relationship ends. The saturation may come after a year or two of living together. Of course, there can be people who love each other longer. However, some have to make incredible efforts to pretend that they still love each other. In other words, at first, J perceived the object of affection, that is, N, with admiration, and it seemed that she was becoming more and more beautiful, and everything around her seemed beautiful as well. Then the blazing fire of love gradually cooled down, and J began to notice one flaw after another in his beloved – such is the nature of the soul. Time after time, he discovered this flaw and that one, and at some point, there was no trace of love left. That is the very positive perception of the object for which J had originally felt sympathy and affection disappeared.
Why is everything impermanent? Because consciousness works. If consciousness is active, then the data that causes us to see objects and phenomena as suffering and joy are also active. At some point, we think we are happy – this is due solely to the action of certain data, or karma. However, consciousness continues to work. The data that creates illusions also moves and changes. So the next moment we no longer see joy but suffering, we see the object differently, based on other data. When the data about the object that makes us see it as joy or suffering is completely exhausted (emptied), we, accordingly, cease to receive joy or suffering from possessing or being in contact with this object at all.
The fourth option is the disappearance of the subject of pleasure. Similar to the second case, J leaves N or their relationship ends with the death of J.
In all these cases, we suffer from impermanence because of ignorance, that is, ignorance, lack of understanding, and lack of seeing the impermanence of everything: consciousness, relationships, any objects, and phenomena.