The Black Box World (8)

Why is it that everything we come into contact with is the inner representation, 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 before and after. If the eye consciousness were seeing external material sense-objects, we would first see the 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 is the inner material sense-object within the black box of the supreme faculty at the back of the brain, then it is different: as long as it is a material sense-object in the black box, the eye consciousness, so long as it directs its attention, can see it simultaneously, regardless of far or near, high or low.

Because the material sense-objects in the black box are shadows, all residing in 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-object, it accepts and receives it, discerns it, and confirms what kind of material sense-object it is; thus we know what the material sense-object is—and we know distant and near forms simultaneously. In fact, far and near are both 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 concentrated on a single point, or directed toward very few material sense-objects, do we fail to see the others; 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 manifested within the black box of the supreme faculty, and what we see is precisely this shadow.

It is the same with hearing 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 them all simultaneously; that is hearing the shadow of the inner auditory 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 come through.

That is because the eighth consciousness simultaneously transmits the sounds from all directions, through the ear faculty, into the supreme faculty in the brain—right there in the black box—where they form the auditory images of the inner representation. Then the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness arise there in transformation; thus, when the ear consciousness hears sounds, it can hear sounds from all directions simultaneously. From this it should be understood that the material forms we see and the sounds we hear have all already passed; what we discern is always content of the past that has already been completed, and therefore it is all virtual and not real. By the time we take action and adopt countermeasures, we are yet another step later. All these processes of discernment and these responsive actions and formations are "firing after the horse has bolted"—they can only change and influence the occurrence of the next event.

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