Let's do a brief meditation on the mind stream.
And we'll start by reviewing the three points that a sangha made about products in permanent phenomena.
So the first one is that all impermanent phenomena arise by causes.
Take a minute and reflect on the various impermanent things that you see in the environment around you and the impermanent things inside of you,
Different sensations,
Different feelings,
Different thoughts,
And reflect that they all have causes,
That none of them arise without causes.
And so you might try and identify some of the causes of these so that that becomes very clear to you.
The second point is that all those causes are impermanent.
They're changing every nanosecond,
Never remaining the same.
So go back and think about those things and other things,
Feelings,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
So forth.
And contemplate that their causes are impermanent,
That a permanent cause,
An unchanging cause,
Cannot produce anything.
And so if we have the idea of a permanent creator,
Then how can that creator act as a permanent cause for everything?
And the third quality is things arise from concordant causes.
In other words,
The causes have to be capable of producing that kind of result.
Grapefruits come from grapefruit trees and grapefruit seeds.
They don't arise from car parts.
So whatever cause something has,
It has to be not only something that's changing momentarily,
But something that has the ability to produce that effect.
In other words,
Not anything can produce anything.
So think about that for a minute.
And then consider that the body and the brain are material in nature.
The consciousness,
The mind,
Is immaterial,
Is clear and cognizant.
So these two things have completely different natures.
So while the body can influence the mind and the mind can influence the body,
The body is not a concordant cause for the mind.
Everything material cannot be the substantial cause that gives rise to consciousness.
And so as you consider that,
Really think about what the mind is.
It's impermanent,
Has a cause that's changing every moment,
But anything material cannot be its substantial cause.
It doesn't have the ability to transform into that which is clear and cognizant.
So what is the substantial cause for any particular moment of consciousness?
What is the substantial cause of any particular moment of consciousness?
