Chapter 242: Awakening
“Hey, Old Ghost, what’s the relationship between awareness and thought?” Old Dog asked again.
“Awareness, the Heart Sutra has already described it very, very aptly: Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form, form is emptiness, emptiness is form; sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are likewise. Sariputra, all phenomena are emptiness, unborn and undying, neither impure nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental formations, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no forms, sounds, smells, tastes, or objects of touch; no realm of the senses, not even a realm of consciousness. No ignorance and no cessation of ignorance, not even the cessation of ignorance, not even old age and death, nor the cessation of old age and death. No suffering, origin, cessation, or path; no wisdom and also no attainment. Because of non-attainment, emptiness is not different from form. Emptiness is form. Form is not different from emptiness. Form is emptiness. It is precisely these words that describe awareness.
Awareness is that which is described by all these words. Originally, it and our thoughts were inseparable. And because of the propulsion of awareness, humans generated the self, this thought, and thus came Yin and Yang, or rather, right and wrong, and the viewpoint of dualistic opposition.
Returning to awareness, then one must absolutely understand awareness. Because it cannot be seen or touched, but it has the attribute of manifesting without obstacles and achieving Nirvana beyond obstacles, one can perceive its existence through this.
Vision, hearing, taste, touch, etc., are all because of this awareness that we can generate so-called cognition about this world.
Simply put, all your five senses and six consciousnesses are manifestations of awareness. But when these are absent, that awareness is still there, unmoved, not disappeared. Because it is unborn and undying, it is only when we generate thoughts or cognitions, or come into contact with something, that we perceive it. But when there is nothing, we cannot perceive it. That is why it is called manifesting without obstacles and Nirvana beyond obstacles.
This thing, even if I explain it to you, you may not fully understand what it is. But as long as you cultivate diligently and cultivate correctly, one day you will understand it yourself.”
“This… this is too difficult, Old Ghost?”
“It’s not difficult. Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll give you a slap first.”
“Slap~!”
Saying that, I reached out and slapped Old Dog. Old Dog looked at me blankly, covering his face.
“Does it hurt, Old Dog?”
“Yes, it definitely hurts.”
“The fact that you can feel pain is because awareness exists. This is called touch. After touch, a signal is sent to your brain, and then you know you are in pain. This is sensation.
Some people with hemiplegia and quadriplegia, if you hit them, they don’t react. This is because the awareness in their bodies has been disconnected from their brains. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“This, this, this, I seem to understand a little, but I also seem not to understand?”
Jin Buque and Xue Pan, standing nearby, were equally confused and looked at me blankly. The three of them still didn’t quite understand what Big Brother was saying.
Big Brother lit a cigarette and said helplessly, “Oh dear, how can I describe it to you? For example, with paralyzed people, their bodies lose their sense of awareness, meaning the body no longer knows there is awareness. Without the propulsion of this awareness, there is no sensation or pain, and no control.
In this material world, within the human body, this awareness is always uniquely connected to the nervous system. It is through the propulsion of the nervous system that humans can be aware. But when this connection is broken, it’s like a short circuit in a machine, leading to a loss of control.
To recover, one must establish electrical signals in the brain to clear the blockages. There are two ways to clear these blockages: First, absolutely believe in yourself that you can get better, without any other thoughts. Second, let go of all those messy thoughts in your mind. After letting go of everything and no longer dwelling on it, when your spirit rises, without distracting thoughts, the Primordial Spirit will automatically repair the damaged areas, leading to a miraculous effect. That’s not a miracle; it’s your awareness clearing the blockages again, allowing you to regain control of your body, and then you can stand up again~! The reason you can stand up and recover is by cultivating this awareness, training it, nurturing this personality; this personality is this awareness~! This awareness can also be called the subconscious~! You can call it whatever you like.
For example, an old man is paralyzed from the waist down, but when he sees his grandson about to be hit by a car, he gets so excited that his instinct reacts, and without time to think, he suddenly stands up and runs to hug his grandson.
This is an unconscious, subconscious reaction that doesn’t go through thinking. At this moment, it’s instinct, or rather, awareness acting. It instantly restores him~!
Another example, a woman abroad saw her child pinned under a car. She didn’t think of anything, only wanted to save her child. So under the dominance of this thought, her adrenaline and other hormones were enhanced, and with her mortal body, she lifted the car~! This is also the effect of awareness~!
Great Cultivators have empty minds, without thoughts; everything is instinct. This is what happens when awareness is cultivated to the extreme, requiring no thought, relying entirely on instinct~! Every word and action is instinct~! Transforming acquired knowledge into instinct, operating in an innate state~! This is an Immortal~!
When you don’t need to think about every word, every action, or doing anything, then your mind, or rather, your thoughts, are no longer the ‘you’ you used to believe. Therefore, when you pass away, whether your thoughts disappear or your mind dissipates has nothing to do with you; you are in a state of awareness~!
After a person dies, their thoughts dissipate, and they forget who they are, right? So you don’t need thoughts! You only need awareness! You are one with awareness! Awareness will not disappear! It is unborn and undying! Therefore, naturally, hehehe~! Then you will achieve an indestructible divine body~!
Because you are awareness, you can also rely on the attributes and characteristics of awareness to generate thoughts, cognition, or various perceptions for yourself.
Then, in the state of the intermediate body (Bardo), you will know that you are yourself. You can still perceive all things, see, hear, and so on and so forth.
Thought and awareness are one, returning to the Origin! Did you all understand?”
“No.”
“Damn it, Big Brother, I don’t understand…”
“I…”
That’s it. I explained it all for nothing again, damn it! This is truly beyond cognition; talking is useless…
Big Brother said helplessly again, “Sigh… you guys, all this is too far-fetched for you. Just know about it, don’t get too caught up. Simply put, it’s about cultivating yourself into a state of being unborn and undying.
And this state of being unborn and undying is not thought as ordinary people understand it, nor is it cognition, nor is it something tangible.
It is what Buddhists call emptiness, what Daoists call non-being, what science calls the subconscious, and what I call awareness~!
It’s enough that you know this. Don’t cultivate blindly. Start from the very foundation. First, be a good human. After being a good human, then cultivate Buddhism to attain enlightenment, then cultivate to be one with all sentient beings, and then find me again, and I will teach you.
You must absolutely not cultivate blindly. At most, you can cultivate to break through distracting thoughts and manifest thought as a sword. Be able to maintain purity, without annoyance, hatred, vexation, worry, etc., and stabilize yourself in this state first. Once you are no longer troubled, then progress slowly. Otherwise, you will get headaches, your Qi will run wild in your body, and in severe cases, you will cause damage to your body.
You think you are just thinking, but when you cannot figure things out, it will cause blockages in your body. Whether someone guides you through this process or not is a completely different matter. Remember this~!”
