MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS
BOW AND ARROW
Though we speak of mind and consciousness here in these short texts of Mahamudra you must remember that these are just words, descriptions of that which is beyond consciousness and that Mind and Consciousness, precisely like bow and arrow, are not to be separated even when, like the arrow in flight, consciousness is in flight directing itself at some target.
What is Mind? Where is Mind? The second question is easy to answer: it is nowhere. The first question is more complex, for we are forced by intellect to describe something which we all agree is in no place, so it cannot be touched or discovered directly by the conscious mind. Yet paradoxically consciousness knows of its existence. “My mind is there somewhere”. But note clearly that this mind not only appears to really exist ephemorously, but is owned by Identity in the Mind-stained condition.
Mind then is the instrument for knowing. Just as it is the bow with a tense string that is potentially able to transmit its force to the flight of the arrow, so mind is able to give force to consciousness. Mind then is the instrument for knowing. What does the instrument need to know? The answer is, only what the natural system needs to know for the survival of the LIFE FORCE.
We see here then a natural cycle. Just as the series Archer-to-Target provides for the hunter sustenance as a result of its kill, so that the hunter can continue his existence, so the series True Nature-to-Target brings about a continuation of the Life Force. You can see that if the Identity, untrained as an Archer, simply uses the bow and arrow without skill, only for amusement, then the Life Force is not served.
In such cases, the habits of Identity with its bow and arrow serve only to create habit strengths which act against the natural flow of life and eventually destroy the series and the instrument. The foolish hunter can always make a new bow, but a new Mind and Consciousness are not so easily acquired.
You will note that a bow is composed of two parts:
1) The shaft.
The shaft of the bow is made up of many parts laminated together with precision. Likewise the shaft of the human mind is composed of parts laminated together. These parts are:
The external faces of receptors (five senses) in contact with the unknown. This face captures a mirror image of the external world, as best as it can, depending on its characteristics.
The physical sensors for each modality (eye, ear, tongue, flesh, nose)
The internal face of the receptors, which we can call the pure sensation or the BECOMING of CONSCIOUSNESS
The process of Sensation
The process of Discrimination
The process of Perception
2) The string.
The string appears to be quite simple in a bow. It is composed of a number of threads, these days of Dacron, woven together to give strength. In the case of the human mind we can use that same analogy, for the string in the human mind is the process of human volition. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is the attitudes, intentions and readied actions of Volition, it is the multi-faceted PROCESS.
Do you see that in our human bow (the mind) there are four processes :
Sensation
Discrimination
Perception
Volition
These should appear familiar to you. They are four of the five skandhas.
Where is the fifth? Ah, yes, you may have deduced correctly that it is:
5. Consciousness.
Consciousness is not Knowing. Consciousness is the Arrow that knows the target.
Consciousness is, when operating correctly, full mindfilness of the task at hand.
THE QUIVER AND THE ARROWS
The quiver for our human minds arrows is clearly our magnificent central nervous system. What arrows does the quiver contain? It is a magic quiver. Just as soon as you take out an arrow to fire, another appears magically in the quiver. But the arrow in the quiver of an archer is not just any stick of wood. It has been cut and formed to perfection. So too our store of human arrows has been formed to perfection by thousands of years of human evolution.
The archer’s arrow consists of several parts: the notch for the bow string, the shaft, three flights (of feather), the point, the 2 barbs.
It is indeed a happy coincidence for our exposition that the human arrow of consciousness also has eight parts.
Consciousness of Vision
Consciousness of Hearing
Consciousness of Smell
Consciousness of Tact
Consciousness of Taste
Consciousness of Mind (note this is not the consciousness of the content of mind, which would be thinking)
Consciousness of Stained Identity.
Alaya Consciousness.
The first six, without doubt, will come as no surprise. The seventh is a “shocker”, but true. That miserable element of Identity is in our human quiver.
What then is that Alaya Consciousness? It is a Consciousness of the force of life. It is the generator o the vital force of our lives.
We can consider that the notch is the Consciousness of the Life Force and that the Consciousness of Mind is the point of our arrow. The shaft of each arrow, in the present set of arrows consistently by magic replaced in the human quiver, is the Consciousness of Stained Identity. It goes without saying that this shaft is distorted and therefore none of our arrows will ever reach the target. The cycle of our existence will always be marred. The quality of the notch matched with the shaft is then valueless. The Life Force has been made fruitless.
We say that the Stained Identity is laid upon Alaya and destroys its natural form. Clearly what must be accomplished is to somehow replace the destructive component of our magic system that makes our Arrows of Consciousness.
Thus we can see that we in Mahamudra, as essential preparation, must:
1. Replace the warped arrow shafts with shafts of WISDOM.
2. Change the nature of the Potential Archer so that he can become an integral part of the process.
3. Generate the clear potential of the LIFE FORCE.
Then, and only then, will the state of Mahamudra reign complete as a cycle.
The replacement of the Arrow shafts is developed by full and complete attention to the teachings without the destructive force of Identity, cognitive mind-states present.
The change in the Potential Archer is acquired by disciplined and determined meditation.
The generation of the clear Potential of the Life Force is accomplished by the application of the teachings and meditation to one's daily life.
It is the third that is the most difficult of the three, for Identity impediments in this present era are with great distracting power. What must be developed is not ideas of domination by rigid laws, but from restraining oneself from inappropriate actions. Just as a runaway horse cannot be stopped by severe pulling on the reins, so the inappropriate actions cannot be stopped by mental force or by determined resolution. The word which Buddha used in his discourse is REFRAIN…. He did not say DO NOT KILL. This would have been an error and equal to a Christian commandment. Buddha declared REFRAIN FROM TAKING LIFE. The difference may appear quite subtle, but it is most important.
Now, before we advance further, what I would like you to do is really read everything over and over until you really understand them (reading twenty minutes, resting then for five minutes) and can associate your path with them in a way that is more than simply mental resolution. It is not easy to set aside the conscious thinking mind and internalize the lessons. Do your best with diligence.