The Great Calm Observation, Volume 2 Part 3, Page 1

 

2. In Terms of Following One's Own Thinking Mind & That Which is Good, we make two parts:

  1. First we distinguish the four phases of thought
  2. Then we discuss the four aspects of thought in terms of that which is good

A. First we clarify the four phases of thought.

Consciousness and thoughts are without shape and impossible to see but they can be distinguished in terms of four aspects, which are:

  1. That not yet thought
  2. The desire to be thought
  3. The thought proper
  4. That already thought
  1. That not yet thought is called ‘the mind that has not yet arisen’.
  2. The desire to be thought is called ‘the mind that desires to arise’.
  3. The thought is called ‘remaining in direct connection with the object’.
  4. That already thought is called ‘leaving the connection with the object’.

When one is able to thoroughly understand these four aspects, one is able to enter into the one continuous aspect that is beyond aspects1.

Question:
That not yet thought has not yet arisen. That already thought has already gone away. These two are not in the mind. Not being in the mind, it follows that they are not aspects of it. How is it possible to observe them?

Answer:
Although that not yet thought has not yet arisen, it is not in the end non-existent. It is like a person who has not yet done something before but will later end up doing it. It is not possible to speak of this person not existing just because of something that has not yet been done. If one determines that the person does not exist, who is it that will end up doing it? Because there are people that have not yet done things, there will be the doing of things. The mind is also like this. Because there is that not yet thought, there is the desire to be thought. If that not yet thought did not exist, how could there be the desire to be thought? Therefore, although that not yet thought does not yet exist, it is not in the end a nonexistent thought2.

Although that already thought is extinguished, it is also possible to observe. It is like a person that has already done something. It is not possible to speak of the person no longer existing just because something is no longer being done. If one determines that the person does not exist, who was it before that was doing it? When a thought has already been extinguished from the mind, it is also like this. One can not speak of it being forever extinguished. If it were forever extinguished, it would be based on a view of the finality of all things and the nonexistence of cause and effect. Therefore, although that already thought is extinguished, it is also possible to observe3.

Question:
The past is already gone, the future has not yet come, and the present does not remain. If there are no distinctions of the mind apart from the past, present, and the future, how does one observe the mind?

Answer:
Your question is wrongly premised. If the past was forever extinguished, in the end it would be impossible to recognize. The future that has not yet arisen and the present that does not remain would also be impossible to recognize. How is it then that those that are noble recognize the minds of the past, present, and future? Even demonic spirits recognize the past, present, and future of themselves and others. Why should practitioners of Buddhism raise up views about the finality of extinction that are like the hair of turtles and the horns of rabbits4?

One must understand that although the thoughts of the past, the present, and the future do not have a fixed reality, they are also possible to recognize.

So there is verse in The Great Discourse that says:
“In the teaching of the Buddhas
Although there is emptiness there is not finality
There is continuity but there is not permanence
And the retributions of sin and blessedness do not disappear.”

When one raises up views about the finality of extinction, it is like a blind person that is facing towards a certain color but cannot see it. Without the proper eye of observation, nothing will be attained from the Buddha’s teaching of emptiness.

With one already recognizing the four aspects of the mind, as all of the good and evil thoughts arise in the mind one illuminates them introspectively, observing them with the wisdom of non-attachment.

 

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Footnotes:

1. The one continuous aspect that is beyond aspects: The mind is a dynamic reality that is a continuous flow of these four aspects of thought. One tends to freeze and fixate on individual thoughts, which makes it difficult to comprehend the true nature of the mind.

2. This answer addresses the unlimited potentiality of the mind and the person. The unlimited potential of thoughts may not exist at any given moment, but they are also not without existence. Emptiness is not a static concept of nothingness, but may be better seen as being unlimited potentiality as opposed to actuality. This potentiality of the mind was later defined by the Yogacarya School as the Root or Source of Consciousness (Mulavijnana). Here are stored all the undeveloped seeds of spiritual potentiality, good, evil and undefined.

3. This answer addresses the cause and effect of karma and retribution. Thoughts do not just disappear into non-existence but are stored in what the Yogacarya School defined as the Storehouse of Consciousness (Alaya Vijnana) which is the subconscious realm of memory. Here the seeds of spiritual potentiality mature and develop into the roots of character and one's spiritual condition of life.

4. Like the hair of turtles and the horns of rabbits: Not real

 

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