Seeing Through The Illusion: Part Four

So over the last few sessions we've been talking about the eight consciousness.

So just a reminder the first five consciousness are our sense consciousness,

Our eye,

The ears,

Nose,

Tongue and touch.

The sixth consciousness is our mental consciousness,

Our mind.

Then the eighth consciousness is that sense of,

Sorry the seventh consciousness is sense of self.

And the eighth consciousness is where all of our experiences are held.

So I want to just finish this off now by talking about non-self and the five aggregates because then that pulls this teaching all together.

So first of all that seventh consciousness gives us this sense of self,

A sense of who we are,

It's our ego.

But if we look carefully we can see that there is no solid self.

Now this is important because if we feel that this is me,

This is who I am,

Then we build a strong identity about ourselves.

And once we have this strong identity then we have to then try to defend that identity.

It's if somebody says to you,

Oh you're horrible,

You're not a nice person,

Then of course that seventh consciousness,

The ego kicks in and we try to defend ourselves because we feel that we're a solid entity.

But if you look carefully,

There is nothing solid about us,

There is nothing that we can actually hold on to.

If you think that your body is who you are,

Well that body is changing.

It's not just changing over the years,

It's changing moment by moment.

Our cells are dying,

New cells are growing,

Our skin is coming off,

The hair,

The nails,

All of the body changes over time.

So it rejuvenates itself.

So that means that we can't say that the body is who I am because it's constantly changing.

So you might think that,

And this is where most people think that the thoughts that I think,

Therefore I am,

Well that's not the case because,

You know,

When we think,

Then we think so many different things,

Maybe over 60,

000 thoughts a day.

So if we have that many thoughts,

Thinking moment to moment to moment,

Then again that can't be us because which thought then is you because you've got this thought,

Now this thought.

So the thoughts are moving like the body's changing,

Our thoughts are flowing and changing,

So the thoughts cannot be us.

So our feelings and our emotions,

Again,

Are constantly changing.

We're constantly feeling different things and we'll look at this more when we get to the five aggregates,

But our emotions are there to tell a story and as the story changes,

The emotions change.

So again,

We can't say that the emotions are us.

If you said our mind,

Then again,

Our minds change.

What you may be believing one day,

You're not believing another day because evidence has changed or you've spoken to somebody else.

So if you look at that,

There is no part of us that is solid.

There is nothing that we can hold on to and say,

Ah,

This is who I am.

So some people mistake that eighth consciousness as who we are because,

You know,

All our experiences go into this eighth consciousness.

So some people think,

Ah,

So that is who we are.

We are this alaya consciousness,

The eighth consciousness.

But again,

We're not because our experiences are changing.

So all new things,

Whatever we're taking in through our six senses,

Are all going into this eighth consciousness.

So it means that it's constantly changing.

Our behavior change,

Then the way that the eighth consciousness works changes.

So that is not who we are.

So you can't,

And this is where you need to do meditation to really look at how that our minds change,

Our thoughts,

Our emotions,

Our body changes,

Everything about us changes,

Because if you can grasp that,

Then you can understand there is no solid permanent self.

So to make it clear here,

I'm not saying you don't exist because you're there,

You do exist,

But you don't exist in the way that you think you do.

The way that that seventh consciousness makes you think that you exist.

So you are there,

There is no doubt,

You are thinking,

You are feeling,

You are doing things,

Yes,

That's true,

But none of them are solid and permanent.

And the benefit of understanding this is because then we don't get attached to this identity of ourselves,

Because once we start to build,

And we all do this,

We start to build an identity.

I'm a lawyer,

I'm a teacher,

I live in Panjkula,

I'm an Indian,

I went to this school,

I have these qualifications,

All of these identities are just false identities,

They're just things that we build around us.

And the worry of that is that when we build this identity,

We sort of build a barrier,

Because this is who I am.

And the people who fit inside your barrier,

Then you have compassion for you care about the people who are completely opposite to the way you think the way you feel the way you,

You know,

You see,

You perceive yourself,

When they're outside that you don't care so much for them.

So when we understand there is no solid self,

It helps us to drop this self centered,

Selfish behavior.

And it helps us to see that us and everybody else are interconnected,

And are flowing like a river.

There is no point where we can say yes,

Got it.

That is me.

That is who I am.

We will never find a point like that.

Because as soon as you find that point,

It's changed.

And now it's gone.

And something else comes in its place.

So it is so important for us to try to fight this seventh consciousness,

Because it holds us back.

It stops us from being compassionate,

Empathic,

And generous,

Because we have this little voice in our head saying,

Me,

Me,

Me.

So if we can meditate and understand that there actually is no solid permanent me,

I am changing,

I am moving.

And this is a good thing.

Because,

You know,

If we didn't have this changing and this moving,

It means that we could never grow.

We could never be anything.

So when we understand that there is no solid self,

It doesn't stop us from having ambitions and stop us from,

You know,

Being the best version of ourselves.

In fact,

It helps us to be that best version,

Because we stop being selfish.

We stop being self centered.

So the way to look at this and the way to try to understand this is through meditation.

There is no other way.

Remember,

I said before that the seventh and the eighth consciousness are subconscious.

It means we cannot get directly to them,

We can't directly see them.

So that means that we have to look in meditation and understand that,

Yeah,

The thoughts are not me,

The emotions are not me,

The mind is not me,

The body is not me.

So there is no solid me,

There is a you,

You're there,

We're not negating that there's a you,

But you're not that solid entity that that seventh consciousness is trying to make you feel that you are.

And that is causing you suffering,

And causing you to be selfish,

Self centered.

And if we understand that,

And we can let that go,

And of course,

It's not easy,

It's easier to talk about than it is actually to do it.

But the more that you meditate on it,

And the more that you think,

Okay,

That thought is not me.

So,

You know,

Why am I getting all hung up about it?

And if that person says something,

You know,

Unkind to me,

It's okay,

It's only their perspective.

It doesn't mean that's who I actually am.

So it means that don't allow that ego,

Then to start fighting back,

Because we feel that we've been slighted,

Or somebody has,

You know,

Said something horrible to us.

So understanding the eight consciousnesses,

And then understanding the seventh one is the one that makes us have this solid sense of self.

And then understanding there is no such thing as a solid sense of self.

We are flowing,

We are moving,

We are constantly changing,

We're in that constant flux of change.

The more you meditate on that,

The more you understand that the more you start to let go of this attachment to this self,

And the more that then you don't need to fight for this,

Because it's forever changing.

So then the other part of this that I want to just finish off with is the five aggregates.

Now here,

Remember,

There is no solid self.

So we are not saying that this is how we experience the world,

Or how I experience the world.

What we're saying is,

This is how the world is experienced.

There's a big difference here.

So if I say this is I,

This is how I experience the world,

Then of course,

Then we're talking again about I.

So I and we and me and that are all good and mine are all good things in conversation.

But in reality,

They don't exist.

They're just there for language.

So we're not talking here.

And try to keep this in the front of your mind.

We're not talking here about how I experience the world.

We're talking about how the world is experienced.

So these five aggregates are the building blocks for the entire experience of our life.

So they are form,

Awareness,

Conception,

Feeling,

And conditioning.

So form can be something that is solid,

An object that we can see.

Form can be a sound that we can hear.

It can be a smell.

It can be a taste.

And it can be a touch.

So anything that we can engage with through the five senses is form.

So I'll put it all together at the end here.

So we have form.

So then we have awareness.

So say there's this object.

So then we have an awareness.

So our eye picks up this form.

So remember,

The eye has no memory in that eye.

It is just the eye picks up.

Oh,

There is something here.

It doesn't know what it is.

The eye does not say what it is.

So the eye picks it up.

Your ear will pick up a sound,

Your tongue,

The taste,

And so on.

So this is awareness.

We are aware that there is some form there.

We don't know what it is.

Then we have conception.

So then it's here that we conceive what it is.

So we conceive that it's an object.

So it's a cup,

Or it's an apple,

Or a sound.

It's a dog barking,

Or a tractor going by,

Or a motorbike.

So then we have conception.

We conceive what that is.

And we conceive that through past experiences.

So we've been told this is a cup,

Or this is a mobile phone.

Now,

This is where it can go horribly wrong for us,

Because our brains are built for patterns.

They like to pick a pattern.

So that's why they think,

Oh yeah,

This shape is a cup,

Or this shape is an apple,

Or this sound is a dog barking.

But sometimes,

If we don't know what something is,

Then either the brain will just say to us,

I have no idea.

But we still have conception.

But the conception is,

I don't know what it is.

Or the conception could be wrong.

Like the story of,

You go into a dark room,

And you see something coiled up on the floor,

And you immediately become scared,

Because it's a snake.

But then when you turn the light on,

Just see,

Oh,

It's just a rope.

This is conception.

So conception can be wrong.

So from that conception,

Then there's a feeling.

So with every experience there is,

There is three different types of feelings.

So we can have a pleasant feeling.

So if we see something we like,

We can have a neutral feeling where we don't care one way or the other.

It's just what it is.

So maybe if you see a mug,

You may just think,

Yeah,

It's a mug,

I'm not excited about it.

Or there's the unpleasant.

So we can have a pleasant and neutral or unpleasant feeling.

Now in every experience that there is,

There is one of these feelings.

There is no experience without one of these three types of pleasant and neutral or unpleasant feeling.

And then the final aggregate is the conditioning.

So the conditioning is how we act,

Or how we either respond or react to the experience.

So the magic of our lives,

And also the misery of our lives,

All lie in these five aggregates.

Because when they come together,

Then there is this experience.

So let's just think of an experience so we can put all this together.

So just think a bee,

Because a lot of people have different reactions to bees.

So your eye sees the bee.

So this is form.

So the awareness becomes mindful that there is this object.

So remember,

At this point,

When your eye sees something,

It just sees a form,

It doesn't know it's a bee yet,

It just knows that it's form,

And your awareness becomes aware of that form.

So there's a form,

Your awareness becomes mindful of that form or aware of that form.

Then your conception labels it bee,

Because that is from what we've been taught,

What we've learned from the past experience,

This is bee.

So then you have a feeling.

Now this feeling,

If you've been stung by a bee before,

Maybe you have an unpleasant feeling.

Or maybe if you like nature and you like insects,

Maybe you'll have a pleasant feeling.

Or maybe you don't care one way over the other,

Then you have a neutral feeling,

But you'll get a feeling.

So there is the form,

There's the awareness of the form,

There's something there,

Then your conception then labels it form,

A bee,

Then we have a feeling from that.

And then we have the conditioning.

So if your conditioning carries a memory of you being stung,

Then that is how you're going to respond or react.

So it can be instant that you pull away or you try to bat it away.

This is your conditioning,

This is how we act.

This is the action of the five aggregates.

So maybe that you don't,

You've never been stung and you like it,

So your conditioning is that you act,

That you look at it and you just think,

Oh yeah,

Look at it,

It's lovely.

Or you have a neutral feeling,

And you just look at it and walk away.

So these are so rapid,

So they come in every experience.

So every experience we have are in these,

Come these five aggregates,

They come rapid and they flow.

So we might think,

Oh bee,

But everything has come into form.

First of all,

There is the form,

We see the form,

Then we think bee,

Then we have this feeling,

And then we react or respond to the action,

To whatever we've seen.

So whatever experience there is,

These five aggregates come together.

Without these five aggregates,

There is no experience.

So if you're blind,

You don't see a form.

So if you don't see this,

So the bee could be there,

But you're blind,

So you don't have the eye,

So you don't see the form.

So then there is no awareness,

So then you might hear the bee,

But if say we're talking about seeing,

You don't see the bee,

So then there's no awareness,

There's no concept that it's a bee,

There's no feeling,

And there's no action,

Because we don't know it's there.

So we have to have these five things,

These five aggregates,

For there to be an experience.

Without that,

There is no experience.

So this helps us to stop our suffering,

Because we understand that even the experiences that there is,

Again,

Is flowing,

Changing,

There is nothing permanent about the experiences that we have.

So these are the eighth consciousness,

The sense of self,

Being no self,

And how the world is experienced.

You can put all that together and meditate and think about that,

Because by doing that,

We reduce a huge amount of our suffering.

You know,

If you don't do any other practice,

And you just practice on the meditating on the eight consciousnesses,

On non-self,

And on how the world is experienced,

The five aggregates,

If you just spend so much time on meditating on that,

Then you will have such a realization,

Everything will change,

You'll stop getting attached to things,

You'll understand we're all interconnected,

You'll understand there is no solid permanent self,

So I don't need to be self-centered and selfish,

It will make you more generous,

More compassionate.

So all of these things can come from understanding these few teachings,

They are so important,

Because they can stop the huge amount of our suffering.

So they shouldn't just be looked upon as theory.

You know,

If we're just looking upon these as theory,

And we're not trying to bring them into our everyday life,

Then there's no benefit,

There's no benefit in just theory,

And it will make you more intelligent,

Well,

Fantastic,

But that's not going to help to stop your suffering.

So we need to meditate on them,

We need to start implementing and understanding the concept of these,

And bringing them into our everyday life.

So first of all,

Really spend a lot of time on understanding your eighth consciousnesses.

The first six are easy for us to do,

Because they're in the conscious mind,

They're in the forefront.

The second two,

The seventh and the eighth,

Not so easy,

Because they're subconscious,

So we can't directly get to them.

That's looking at there is no solid,

Independent self.

Look at that and understand that,

Yeah,

I'm changing,

I'm flowing.

So then,

Why am I fighting somebody?

Why am I getting upset when somebody says something?

Because what are they saying it to?

They're saying it to that person,

That moment,

Now that moment is gone,

And that person has changed,

The situation has changed.

And then look at the five aggregates,

And then look at them in meditation,

Pick an experience,

And then try to break it down into these five aggregates,

Because then you can see that this is how the world is being experienced through these five things.

Again,

Not permanent,

Forever changing.

The more you spend time on this,

The more you will benefit from it.

So don't just see it as an intellectual thing,

Something you can talk to other people about,

Or just something you leave sitting in your eighth consciousness.

Try to bring it out of the eighth consciousness,

Bring it out into the world,

Make it useful for yourself,

Reduce that suffering.