..續本文上一頁 level, it is sufficient to make us suspicious. Why does this subtle and refined state of the citta display such a variety of conditions

　　 It is not always constant and true.

　　Relentlessly pursue this line of inquiry. Be fearless. Don”t be afraid that the destruction of that luminosity will be the destruction of your own true essence. Just focus on that central point to see clearly that the radiance has the same characteristics—of anicca, dukkha and anatta—as all the other phenomena that you have already examined. The only difference is that the radiance is far more subtle and refined.

　　 At this stage of the investigation, nothing should be taken for granted; nothing in the realm of conventional reality should be trusted. Bring your focus deep into the citta and let wisdom take up the challenge. All things that are counterfeit originate in the citta. This radiance is the most conspicuous among them. It is the ultimate counterfeit. Since you cherish and safeguard it more than anything else, you will hardly want to interfere with it. Within the entire physical body, nothing stands out so prominently as this brilliance. It provokes such a mesmerizing sense of inner amazement—and, consequently, such a protective feeling of attachment—that you want nothing to disturb it. There it is. Look at it: it is none other than the supreme ruler of the universe—avijja. But you don”t recognize it. Never having seen it before, you will naturally be deceived by the radiance you encounter at this stage. Later, when mindfulness and wisdom are fully prepared, you will know the truth without any need of prompting. This is avijja. The true avijja is right here. It is nothing but a mesmerizing point of brilliance. Don”t imagine avijja to be a demon or a beast; for in truth, it is really the most alluring and endearing paragon of beauty in the whole world.

　　 True avijja is very different from what you expect it to be. Therefore, when you encounter avijja you fail to recognize it; and your practice gets caught there. If you have no teacher to advise you and point out a way to investigate, then you will be at an impasse for a long time before you realize its true nature and can go beyond it. When you do have a teacher to advise you on how to proceed, then you can quickly understand the basic principle and strike decisively at that center of radiance without putting any trust in it. You must conduct your investigation here as you have done with other natural phenomena.

　　 Having relinquished all attachment to the five khandhas, the citta is exceedingly refined at this stage. Although it has let go of everything else, it has yet to let go of itself. Its own intrinsic knowing nature remains permeated by avijja”s fundamental ignorance about its own true essence, and therefore, remains attached to itself. It is here that avijja converges into a single point of focus. All of its external outlets having been cut off, it converges into the citta without a way to flow out. Avijja”s outlets are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, leading to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations. Once mindfulness and wisdom are skilled enough to cut off these outflows for good, avijja is left without an outlet for its expression. Its external agents have been neutralized; all that remains is a subtle incessant vibration resonating within the citta. Being deprived of an outlet for its activities, it depends solely on the citta as its base of activity. As long as wisdom is unable to thoroughly transcend it, avijja will appear as subtle feelings of sukha, subtle feelings of dukkha, and a radiance that truly overwhelms and amazes. So the citta keeps focusing the investigation on those factors.

　　 Every conventional reality—no matter how refined it is or how…

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