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The Universality of the Mind

THE WORLD IS AN ILLUSION

In the darkness of the heart, in our innermost self, shines a radiant light, the very same as the eternal flame that illuminates the entire universe. This, our true being, is the absolute reality underlying all we experience. As the pure original source of all being, it is unborn and indestructible. It neither comes nor goes; it is ever-present, still and pure, and outside of space and time.

Our original divine nature is, however, covered up at all times by a multitude of passions and imaginings. The uninterrrupted flow of concepts continuously fabricated by our intellects and deep-rooted habits of thinking casts a dark shadow over our true self. Fascinated by this spectacle taking place on the surface of our consciousness, we are incapable of freeing ourselves from it and thus find ourselves in a state of confusion and clouding of the mind. We are held captive by our own projections and believe them to be a reality that exists separately from us.

Blinded by this misperception, we are no longer able to perceive the spiritual magnificence of our divine being and thus wander lost in samsara, the cycle of life and death. Trapped in the dream of an imaginary, multitudinous world, we have lost ourselves and no longer know who we are. Since our dream-wandering is only a vision, we are unable to confirm the actuality of any occurrence. We indeed believe that we live in a three-dimensional, multitudinous world of space and time; yet in reality only the mind moves. Mind is the foundation of everything; samsara takes place in the mind only. The entire universe in its endless diversity and all forms of life are none other than mind.

In Ashvaghosha's Shraddhotpada-shastra (Awakening of Faith), a Buddhist work of the 2nd century, it says:

All things in the world are unreal and illusory; they are only projections of the mind. Apart from the mind there are no objects (of sensory perception). What does this mean? This means that—since all phenomena are projected by the mind and its deluded thoughts—all distinctions are in fact acts of distinguishing one's own mind. But the (ordinary, individual intellect) mind cannot see the (universal, cosmic) mind. Therefore, one should know that all objects and experiences of this world are sustained only by men's ignorant and deluded minds. Just like the images reflected from a mirror, all things are devoid of a true entity; they are false, illusory, and of "mind-only," because only when mind arises do all things arise; when the mind stops its functioning, all things also cease to exist.¹

Everything that we perceive in the world, including the apparent solidity of matter, is subsequently no more than the illusory imagining of the mind. The mind is the creator of all things. And since our body is also a part of this world, we must consequently conclude that it, as well, is no more than an idea. Our body is simply the visible manifestation of a prior consciousness, formed by the particular inclinations of a former life. Its apparent materiality and solidity is an illusion based on the incredibly quick movement of its atomic components, which should naturally be viewed as purely mental as well. The illusion of the stability of material is similar to the illusion of an impenetrable disc created by the movement of a rapidly turning propeller.

The dynamic nature of the universe extends itself from the atom to the vast dimensions of the galaxies. Everything is in continuous motion, which ultimately takes place in the mind only. Its nature is to manifest itself in myriad arising and subsiding forms. These are in a constant state of fluctuation, endlessly taking on different forms. The objects of our perception may appear passive and lifeless to the naked eye; yet if I were, for example, to examine under a microscope the pencil that I hold in my hand, its dynamic nature would be revealed. In truth, I cannot even say that it is a solid object; it is much more a series of fluctuating occurrences—occurrences that take place in the mind. Mind is the foundation of everything; all things exist in it, and nothing at all exists outside of mind.

In the Lankavatara Sutra, one of the most important texts of Mahayana Buddhism, it is thus stated:

What appears to be external does not exist in reality; it is indeed mind that is seen in in multiplicity; the body, property and the world—all these, I say, are nothing but mind.

That which can take something and that which is taken—all these, I say, are nothing but mind. . . . Apart from mind, nothing whatsoever exists!²

What we generally define as the reality of our external world actually has no more substance than an image in a dream.

Asanga's compendium of Mahayana doctrine (Mahayana-samparigraha-shastra) explains:

With what metaphors can we illustrate the principle of the teaching of mind-only? With the dream and the dreamer. This is to say that all dream-visions do not truly exist; they are but manifestations of the mind. Although various forms, sounds, smells, touches, houses, woods, mountains . . . are projected therein, they are not truly existent. With this metaphor one can understand that in all times and places, all things are but the mind. . ..

When one reaches enlightenment, or when true wisdom is awakened, he will then come to this realization. This is just the same as when one does not realize the nature of a dream while he is dreaming. By the same token, when one has not yet awakened from the dream of samsara, a full realization of the truth of mind-only will not come to him.³

The only world we can speak of at all is the world of our experience. And if we think we can establish the actual existence of the external world through sensual perception, we are mistaken. The only thing we can actually prove is the functional ability of our senses. Everything we label as matter is simply a dimension of the mind we define by resistance, form, visibility, and the like. In reality it is impossible for us to come in contact with the objects of our perception. We can only describe touch sensations, feel resistance, see forms, etc., all of which have nothing at all to do with matter itself, but result rather from a number of sense perceptions we have identified with the concept of matter.

What this ultimately means is that since we perceive the world only by means of our senses and consciousness, we are forced to acknowledge that we can only speak of our subjectively experienced world as a concept. In other words: "The world is no more than our own conception."

THE ILLUSION OF MULTIPLICITY

Everything we perceive in the manifold world is an idea, a conception of our mind, which yet is not created by our individual mind. The individual mind is better understood as a participant, that is, the ideas of material objects are given to it. Since there are really no different kinds of minds, we must concede that the many individual minds are a fictitious and therefore illusory part of an indivisible mind. For if the mind present in each individual were a unique mind, it would be impossible for two people to perceive the same world in the same way. Each individual mind would have its own different perception of the world, distinct from that of all other individual minds. But since all multitudinous perceptions are illusions caused by our spiritual blindness, we must conclude that there can only be a sole being, a single self that is the sole reality of the one mind, instead of unique, separate, independent, individual selves. Let us illustrate this point.

Imagine that we are iridescent soap bubbles floating in infinite space. The inner and outer domain of each soap bubble is the boundless, endless expanse of space. Even if a hundred, thousand, or a hundred thousand soap bubbles were to occupy this endless expanse, we would still be unable to confirm the existence of a multitude of individual spaces. Each differentiation of space would only be an apparent one. In reality there is only the one endless expanse of the universe. Yet each soap bubble within this expanse, out of ignorance resulting from the clouding of the mind, believes itself to possess its own unique inner space and sees itself as one of many separate, individual soap bubbles. But if suddenly all the bubbles were to burst, nothing would remain but the one boundless reality of the universe.

This metaphor illustrates that the perception arising from our senses and intellect of a multitudinous world is an illusion and therefore a misperception. The world as seen by the average person is thus a perception of the indivisible being limited by ego-consciousness and misinterpreted as multiplicity. Ego-consciousness acts like a magician, permitting us to experience a world that actually does not exist. Blinded by the illusion of a supposed multitudinous world, we are unable to recognize our true self as the divine reality underlying all we experience.

As we detach ourselves from all external phenomena and turn increasingly toward the inner light of the mind, we will come to know our true self as the self that is common to all beings. In the words of the wise seer Vamadeva in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of India's holy scriptures, we will then be able to declare:

I am the self of all of mankind, as well as of the sun. Therefore, now also, whoever realizes Brahman knows that he himself is the self in all creatures. Even the gods cannot harm such a man, since he becomes their innermost self. Now if a man worship Brahman, thinking Brahman is one and he another, he has not the true knowledge.⁴

The omnipresence of divine being pervades the entire universe.

All fluctuation and change is God's progressive self-unfolding and self-transformation; it is realization of the inexpressible divine ground. The entire endless diversity of the external phenomenal world is ultimately the manifestation of this one all-embracing mind and thus the universe is its revelation. As Indian philosophy puts it, the universe is "exhaled" from mind over the unimaginably long time span of a mahamanvantara, only to be inhaled again over an equally long period of rest. The Hindu tradition refers to this as Brahman's resting and dreaming.

If Brahman rests in a dreamless sleep, there is no universe. There are no manifold phenomena; there is no thought, and no individual consciousness. Only the single pure consciousness of the one mind remains. If Brahman begins to dream, the whole universe with its phenomena arises in the dream. In the Bhagavad-Gita, considered the gospel of Hinduism, Lord Krishna describes the rhythmic cycle of creation with the following words:

At the end of the night of time all things return to my nature, and when the new day of time begins, I bring them again to the light. Thus through my nature I bring forth all creation, and this rolls about in the circles of time. But I am not bound by my act of creation. I am, and I watch the drama of the works.

I watch, and in its works of creation, nature brings forth all that moves and does not move: And thus the revolutions of the world go round and round.⁵

This creative genius is the eternal, self-existing, original essence of divine being. It is a singular, great, enlightening entirety; omnipresent, perfect, silent, and pure. It is like an all-encompassing mirror from which the mountains and rivers of the earth, sky, sun, moon, and stars are projected like reflected images.

The moment we turn our sight away from the external and meditatively look within, we realize that this one mind is our true divine self and that separate individual minds do not actually exist. The individual mind, evoked by limited, dualistic thinking, is no more than a microcosmic aspect of the cosmic mind. It is just as if we were to gaze at the sky through a straw and take our limited field of vision for the entire sky. In an old Indian parable, the predicament of individuals trapped within their narrow views is compared to that of a frog living in a well:

There once was a frog who had lived his whole life in an old well by the edge of the sea. One day a fish jumped out of the sea and fell into the well. As soon as the frog recovered from his initial shock, he asked the newcomer, "Where do you come from?"

The fish answered, "I come from the sea."

"From the sea?" repeated the frog, quite amazed. "Tell me, how big is the sea?"

"Very big," replied the fish.

The frog stretched out his foot and asked, "Is the sea this big?"

"It's much bigger!" said the fish.

The frog then took a powerful leap from one side of the well to the other. "Is it this big?"

"My friend," said the fish, "the sea is so big that your well is no comparison!"

"Now you've given yourself away, you liar!" exclaimed the frog. "Nothing can possibly be any bigger than my well!"

As long as we cover up our true self—the unlimited, transcendent mind—with all sorts of concepts and ideas, we find ourselves in a regrettable state of contracted consciousness. The result is that we are still only able to grasp a tiny portion, a small aspect, of the total reality. The unending, universals and metaphysical expanse of the mind is thus reduced to a small range of individual consciousness. A state of contracted consciousness prevents our awareness of the universality of the mind, thus leaving us to eke out a pitiful existence in the dark shadow of maya (the illusion of an external phenomenal world).

THE MIND: THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING

We could compare ourselves to the old beggar who lives in a run-down shack and eventually dies of hunger, never suspecting that a valuable treasure lay buried beneath his feet. Zen master Hakuin (18th century) pointedly depicts our situation in his Chant in Praise of Zen:

People are in essence Buddha. Just as water is ice and there is no ice without water, there is no human being without Buddha. What a shame that people seek far and wide, not knowing what lies at hand! They are like those who stand in the midst of water, but still cry out in thirst. Born the sons of rich and noble men, yet poor and miserable, they hopelessly wander on. The darkness of misunderstanding grows deeper around them. When can they ever escape life and death?⁶

We are in our deepest essence Buddha. That is to say, we are none other than the one mind, the eternal unchanging Buddha-essence, the transcendent source of the entire cosmos. We are sons and daughters of the most high. We are the light of light that shines through the darkness as our true self and at the moment of our awakening from the dream of an imaginary, multitudinous world ascends through the emptiness like the sun and illuminates the whole universe with its brilliance. But most of us are not able to perceive the state of our original enlightened being because we only accept as mind that which thinks, feels, and perceives. Some even think that the mind is simply an effect of brain activity inside the bony shell of their skulls or, more specifically, the result of the biochemical processes of brain cells. In truth, the relationship is just the opposite. The mind is not the effect, but rather the cause of all being and therefore also of brain activity.

This cosmic mind is the universal ground underlying all we experience. It is the cosmic focus of consciousness in its totality. It is the unchanging divine essence and the creator of all things. For if the entire universe exists "of him, through him, and to him" (Romans 11:36), its essential nature must be silent, pure, and empty. Regardless of how much movement occurs within it, it remains forever unmoved. Nothing is able to tarnish nor lessen its everlasting brilliance.

That is why the Chinese Zen master Huang-po (9th century) said:

This pure mind, the source of everything, shines forever and on all with the brilliance of its own perfection. Our original Buddha-nature is, in highest truth, devoid of any atom of objectivity.

It is void, omnipresent, silent, pure; it is glorious and mysterious peaceful joy—and that is all. Enter deeply into it by awakening to it yourself.⁷

As long as we are still blinded by our ignorance, we are unable to realize the spiritual magnificence of our true being. We are caught in maya, the realm of illusory phenomena. In our identification with the fictitious external phenomenal world, we are no longer able to see through the deception and recall our original condition. The deception is the real cause for the ignorance in which individuals think of themselves as separate beings, as corporeal, independent persons. This ignorance leads to attachment, which strengthens ego-consciousness, thus chaining us to the cycle of birth and death. In truth, self-sufficient individuals exist no more than the external world in which they believe themselves to live.