..续本文上一页ne with the principles of its nature as outer space.
The outer space of the mind released from all forms of gravitational pull, i.e., conventional reality: What is it like
Even though we”ve never known it before, when we come to know it, we won”t have any doubts. Even though we”ve never seen it before, when we come to see it, we won”t have any doubts. Even though we”ve never experienced it before, when we come to experience it, we won”t have any doubts. We won”t have to search for witnesses to confirm it, the way we do with conventions in general. It”s sanditthiko -- immediately apparent -- and only this fits perfectly with our heart and that outer space mind.
This is what we referred to at the beginning when we talked about the outer space of the world and the outer space of the mind. The outer space of the mind -- the mind of nibbana -- is like that. Just where is it annihilated
Who experiences the outer space of the mind
If it were annihilation, who could experience it
As for where it will or won”t be reborn, we already know that there”s no way for it to be reborn. We know this clearly. We”ve removed every defilement or conventional reality that would lead to rebirth. Conventional reality is the same thing as defilement. All things -- no matter how subtle -- that have been dangers to the heart for such a long time have been completely destroyed. All that remains is the pure outer space of the mind: the mind that is pure. You can call it outer space, you can call it anything at all, because the world has its conventions, so we have to make differentiations to use in line with the conventions of the world so as not to conflict.
When we reach the level of the outer space mind, how does it feel for the mind to have been coerced, oppressed, and subject to the pull of all things base and vile, full of stress and great sufferings for aeons and aeons
We don”t have to reflect on how many lifetimes it”s been. We can take the principle of the present as our evidence. Now the mind is released. We”ve seen how much suffering there has been and now we”ve abandoned it once and for all. We”ve absolutely destroyed its seeds, beginning with ”avijja-paccaya sankhara” -- ”With unawareness as condition there occur mental formations.” All that remains is ”avijjayatveva asesa-viraga-nirodha” sankhara-nirodho” -- ”Simply with the disbanding of unawareness, with no remaining passion, thought-formations disband.” That”s the outer space of the mind.
The mind released from all gravitational forces: Even though it”s still alive and directing the khandhas, there”s nothing to bar its thoughts, its vision, its knowledge. There”s nothing to obstruct it, nothing to make it worried or relieved, nothing to make it brave, nothing to make it afraid. It is simply its own nature by itself, always independent in that way.
For this reason, knowledge of all truths has to be completely open to this unobstructed and unoppressed mind. It can know and see. If we speak of matters related to the body and khandhas, we can speak in every way without faltering, because there”s nothing to hinder us. Only the defilements are what kept us from seeing what we saw and from describing the things we should have been able to describe, because we didn”t know, we didn”t see. What we knew was bits and pieces. We didn”t know the full truth of these various things. When this was the case, how could we know clearly
How could we speak clearly
All we knew was bits and pieces, so when we spoke, it had to be bits and pieces as well.
But once we”ve shed these things, everything is wide open. The mind is free, vast, and empty, without limits, without bounds. There”s nothing to enclose or obscure it. When we know, we really know the truth. When we see, we really see the truth. When…
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