Many different types of eyes, many different ways to look at the world, internal and external. We should use them all, at least those of us who want to. The physical eye is useful, but cannot see inside things, cannot penetrate a thin piece of paper. The divine eye, on the other hand, can see `the internal aspect' of things, can see beyond the surface. The prajna (wisdom) eye perceives the illusory nature of boundaries separating beings, perceives the illusory nature of a being, a life and a soul. The dharma eye perceives that there is a reality out there anyway, despite the fact that we must always misconceive it. The buddha eye sees everything, merging the perspectives of the prajna and dharma eyes. This distinguishes Mahayana Buddhism from some other sects, because the Mahayana (including Zen and Tibetan) Buddhism emphasizes contact with the world, compassion for other beings. Sitting alone, contemplating the illusory nature of all things, one would not yet have the buddha eye.
Here is a poem by Fu Hsi:
The divine eye sees without obstruction
the physical eye sees but is obstructed
the dharma eye sees only expedient truth
the prajna eye sees the emptiness of causes
the buddha eye is like a thousand suns
on different bodies it shines the same
within the luminous dharma realm
there is no place it sheds no light
Regarding the second part of the passage, and where the Buddha says he knows the myriad streams of thought of countless other beings, this seems a bit of an odd claim. But I don't believe he is claiming mental telepathy. The following quote is helpful to me:
The Tathagata's awareness of all the thoughts of so many countless beings is like the ocean's awareness of all the waves in the ocean. -Sheng Yi
The Tathagata experiences the same mental processes experienced by countless other beings, and realizes that he is one with them. When each of us experiences a spiritual state, when we realize our Buddha nature, when we make contact with the Holy Spirit, we are in some sense part of one vast spiritual body.
Moreover, we all have (at least) one thing in common: our own consciousness. Just like external reality, we cannot ever pin it down. The internal structure of our own mind is as illusory as the outside world. Both are constantly changing.
1 comment:
"It is impossible to retain past thought, to seize future thought and even to hold present thought."
I like this particular rendering. To me it is both an exhortation to live in the present and an explication of a constant error we make.
How often can I claim to be doing only one thing, without thoughts of the past or future, thoughts of gain, of joy or peril, of jealousy and fear. The mythical past and fantasy future both compete quite successfully for my attention, leaving the present (typing, reading, sitting) out of it.
I think our present culture, which encourages multiple simultaneous streams of input and the fearsom "multitasking" is espacially bad in this respect. (Even as I type this, distractions arise: Maybe I should take a quick look at my inbox. I could take a look at allmusic.com. I could check on the progress of my scrabble game.)
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