I have been working my way (slowly) through Thich Naht Hahn's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. I got through quite a bit trekking, which was lovely, but have still not finished it.
One passage struck me in particular:
"At the base of our views are our perceptions (samjna)...The Buddha advised us not to be fooled by what we perceive. He told Subhuti, "Where there is perception, there is deception." The Buddha also taught on many occassions that most of our perceptions are erroneous and that most of our suffering comes from wrong perceptions. We have to ask ourselves again and again, "Am I sure?" Until we see clearly, our wrong perceptions will prevent us from having Right View.
To perceive means to perceive something. We believe that the object of our perception is outside of the subject, but that is not correct. When we perceive the moon, the moon is us. When we smile to our friend, our friend is also us, because she is the object of our perception...Perception means the coming into existence of the perceiver and the perceived...It is impossible to have a subject without an object. It is impossible to remove one and retain the other.
The source of our perception, our way of seeing, lies in our store consciousness. If ten people look at a cloud, there will be ten different perceptions of it. Whether it is perceived as a dog, a hammer, or a coat depends on our mind - our sadness, our memories, our anger. Our perceptions carry with them all the errors of subjectivity. Then we praise, blame, condemn, or complain depending on our perceptions...Whether we are happy or we suffer depends largely on our perceptions. It is important to look deeply at our perceptions and know their source.
We have an idea of happiness. We believe that only certain conditions will make us happy. But it is often our very idea of happiness that prevents us from being happy. We have to look deeply into our perceptions in order to become free of them. Then, what has been a perception becomes an insight...This is neither perception nor non-perception. It is a clear vision, seeing things are they are."
One passage struck me in particular:
"At the base of our views are our perceptions (samjna)...The Buddha advised us not to be fooled by what we perceive. He told Subhuti, "Where there is perception, there is deception." The Buddha also taught on many occassions that most of our perceptions are erroneous and that most of our suffering comes from wrong perceptions. We have to ask ourselves again and again, "Am I sure?" Until we see clearly, our wrong perceptions will prevent us from having Right View.
To perceive means to perceive something. We believe that the object of our perception is outside of the subject, but that is not correct. When we perceive the moon, the moon is us. When we smile to our friend, our friend is also us, because she is the object of our perception...Perception means the coming into existence of the perceiver and the perceived...It is impossible to have a subject without an object. It is impossible to remove one and retain the other.
The source of our perception, our way of seeing, lies in our store consciousness. If ten people look at a cloud, there will be ten different perceptions of it. Whether it is perceived as a dog, a hammer, or a coat depends on our mind - our sadness, our memories, our anger. Our perceptions carry with them all the errors of subjectivity. Then we praise, blame, condemn, or complain depending on our perceptions...Whether we are happy or we suffer depends largely on our perceptions. It is important to look deeply at our perceptions and know their source.
We have an idea of happiness. We believe that only certain conditions will make us happy. But it is often our very idea of happiness that prevents us from being happy. We have to look deeply into our perceptions in order to become free of them. Then, what has been a perception becomes an insight...This is neither perception nor non-perception. It is a clear vision, seeing things are they are."
