by Jack Kerouac
“It is the same with your perception of feeling, it is the false perception of the body.”
“How so, my Lord?”
“Ananda, it is the body, not the intrinsic perception of Mind that is subject to false mistakes. A man with sick body feels pain, but it is not his undisturbable Essential Mind that developed the pain, it is his brain-mind discriminating according to the body that is sick. In the same way, healthy bodies feel touch, which is imaginary, in empty space. So you will know, it is because body is naturally invested with false perception of touch that everything that you feel with your body is a false ripple. This has been so with body since beginningless time; the very fact that you have a body is part of your Karma, your inheritance from ignorant deeds done elsewhere.
“But Ananda do not be disturbed. Since it is just a matter of time that you’ll shed this body, then you have already shed this body.
“When you rub your hands together, and feel sensations of smoothness and warmth, or roughness and coldness, where does this perception of feeling have its source? Ananda, it is a completely false and fantastic feeling pure and simple. And why? Because if this feeling of touch belonged to the hands themselves naturally they would manifest that sensation of touch all the time and would not have to wait for a rubbing-together. Or if, then, the feeling of touch belonged not to the body but to that which is not the body, empty space, it would be felt all over the body all the time and not just in the rubbing hands.
“Be sure, it is empty space, and by touching, perception was roused from dreamless sleep in the deeps of Essential Mind, and the feeling of touch was made manifest. Ananda, the feeling of touch is an indication of the sick condition of morbid mist which we call ‘healthy body’ and which has been instrumental in making sentient beings pitiful dupes of false feelings since beginningless time.
“It is the same with your perception of hearing; it is the false perception of the ears.”
“How so, my Lord?”
“Ananda, it is the ears, not the intrinsic perception of Mind, that is subject to false mistakes. A man with sick ears hears a roaring in his head, but it is not his undisturbable Essential Mind that developed the roaring, it is his brain-mind discriminating according to the ears that are sick. In the same way, healthy ears hear sound, which is imaginary, in empty space. So you will know, it is because ears are naturally invested with false perception of sound that everything that you hear with your ears is a false ripple. This has been so with ears since beginningless time; the very fact that you have ears is part of your Karma, your inheritance from ignorant deeds done elsewhere.
“But Ananda do not be disturbed. Since it is just a matter of time that you will shed these ears, then you have already shed these ears.
“When you hear me strike my gong, the so-called vibrations beat against your ear-drum and you perceive the sound of the gong, but where does this so-called sound have its source? Ananda, it is a completely false and fantastic sound pure and simple. And why? Because if this sound had its source in your ears naturally it would not be in the gong, and your ears would be aware of sound all the time and would not have to wait for a banging of gongs. Or if then, the sound belonged to the gong and depended on the gong and had its source in the gong, and it was the motion of the sound-waves from the gong, that was developing the sound, how then would your ears know it any more than the stick that strikes the gong? If the sound came from neither the ears nor the gong it would be like the imaginary blossoms in the sky, a fantasy in empty space, ripples that sentient beings discriminate and name as sound. The wise cease to regard appearances and names as realities. When appearances and names are put away and all discrimination ceases, that which remains is the true and essential nature of things and, as nothing can be predicated as to the nature of essence, it is called the ‘Suchness’ of Reality. This universal, undifferentiated, inscrutable ‘Suchness’ is the only Reality but it is variously characterized as Truth, Mind-essence, Transcendental Intelligence, Noble Wisdom and so forth. This law of the imagelessness and soundlessness of the Essence-nature of Ultimate Reality is the Law which has been proclaimed by all the Buddhas. As soon as the whimsical banging and clapping and noisy motions of the world cease, then the imagination of sound ceases, but the essence of the Hearing-nature remains as potential and pure as empty space. Be sure, it is empty space, and by my striking the gong, perception was roused from dreamless sleep in the deeps of Essential Mind and the hearing of sound was made manifest.
“As to sounds, which are ripples, you may insist that ripples are real, but because they are ripples they will soon become no-ripples, and therefore they are already not ripples in Ultimate Reality.
“Ananda, the hearing of sound is an indication of the sick conditon of morbid mist which we call ‘good ears’ and which has been instrumental in making sentient beings pitiful dupes of false sounds since beginningless time.
“It is the same with your perception of smelling, it is the false perception of the nose.”
“How so, my Lord?”
“Ananda, it is the nose, not the intrinsic perception of Mind that is subject to false mistakes. A man with a sick nose smells some unpleasant metallic odor, but it is not his undisturbable Essential Mind that developed the odor, it is his brain-mind discriminating according to the nose that is sick. In the same way, a healthy nose smells odor, which is imaginary, in empty space. So you will know, it is because the nose is naturally invested with false perception of odor that everything that you smell with your nose is a false ripple. This has been so with the nose since beginningless time; the very fact that you have a nose is part of your Karma, your inheritance from ignorant deeds done elsewhere.
“But Ananda do not be disturbed. Since it’s just a matter of time that you will shed this nose, then you’ve already shed this nose.
“Blossoms of flowers are soft explosions of their short-lived selves. When these flowers are placed before you, the extremely passible particles of the blossom pass through space and come against the impassible receiver of your nose and you become aware of a perception of fragrance, but where does this phenomena of fragrance have its source? Ananda, it is a completely false and fantastic odor pure and simple. And why? Because if this odor had its source in the nose, why does the nose have to wait till the flowers are brought before it, for it to become aware of the fragrance of flowers? If this odor had its source in the nose, the nose would be smelling that odor all the time and the phenomena of the odor would not be subject to accidents and conditions like placing the flowers before you. So the odor must have its source in the flowers, but why is it that the phenomena of this odor has to have a nose and the conditions of a nose to pick it up and discriminate it as odor? Or why doesn’t the odor manifest itself to the eyes, or the ears? For if the flowers and odor had self-nature, all space would be one fragrance. So if, then, the odor of the flowers had its source not in your nose but in the empty space between your nose and the flowers, you would have to say that the odor is coming from somewhere and going somewhere else, since it appears and disappears, and hiding in empty space, and you could no longer call it empty space. Be sure it is empty space, and by smelling the flowers, universal perception was roused from dreamless sleep in the deeps of Essential Mind, and the smelling of odor appeared according to the individual condition of nose.
“Ananda, this smelling of odor is an indication of the sick condition of morbid mist which we call ‘good nose’ and which has been instrumental in making sentient beings pitiful dupes of false odors since beginningless time, causing them to turn around and do things in a reversed order.
“And the same with your perception of tasting, it is the false perception of the tongue.”
“How so, my Lord?”
“Ananda, what does the curry sauce taste to the wooden bowl? Ananda, it is the tongue, not the intrinsic perception of Mind that is subject to false mistakes. A man with a sick tongue tastes some unpleasant cottony taste, but it is not his undisturbable Essential M
ind that developed the taste, it is his brain-mind discriminating according to the tongue that is sick. In the same way, a healthy tongue tastes flavor, which is imaginary, in empty space. So you will know, it is because the tongue is naturally invested with false perception of flavor that everything that you taste with your tongue is a false ripple. This has been so with the tongue since beginningless time; the very fact that you have a tongue is part of your Karma, your inheritance from ignorant deeds done elsewhere.
“But Ananda do not be disturbed. Since it is just a matter of time that you’ll shed this tongue, then you have already shed this tongue.
“When the curry sauce comes into contact with your palate, and whether it is my palate or yours we both taste the spiciness, the highly changeable elements and their condiments are received by the taste-ducts of the tongue and the perception of flavor emerges and according to our habit energies we say it tastes ‘good’ or it tastes ‘bad,’ but where does this so-called flavor have its source? Ananda, it is a completely false and fantastic flavor pure and simple. And why? Because if this flavor had its source in the tongue, naturally it would not need the incident of the sauce to taste the flavor of the sauce, but we see that this takes place only when the sauce is put in the mouth. Or if, then, the flavor had its source in the sauce, how then would the tongue know it any more than the wooden bowl? Ananda, the flavor is a fantasy in empty space, and by tasting of the sauce, universal perception was roused from dreamless sleep in Essential Mind, and the tasting of flavor made its appearance according to the individual tongue.
“Ananda, the tasting of flavor is an indication of the sick condition of morbid mist which we call ‘good tongue’ and which has been instrumental in making sentient beings pitiful dupes of false flavors since beginningless time, causing them grief.
“And the same with your perception of thinking, it is the false perception of the brain.”
“How so, my Lord?”
“Ananda, it is the brain, not the intrinsic perception of Mind, that is subject to false mistakes. A man with a sick brain thinks that his head has become a goblin but it is not his undisturbable crystal clear Essential Mind that developed this thought, it is his brain-mind discriminating according to the brain that is sick. In the same way, healthy brains think thoughts, which are imaginary, in empty space. So you will know, it is because the brain is naturally invested with the false perception of discriminative thinking that everything that you conceive of with your brain is a false ripple. Ananda, the intuitive self-realization of Noble Wisdom that comes with Transcendental Intelligence that reveals the True and Essential Mind, which has ever been an inconceivable activity of the Buddha-nature of purity permeating everywhere and always, in other words, that which happens when a sentient being sees the Light which was previously obscured by his brain as moon by cloud, is not an individualized discriminative thought appearing in the brain of that bubble known as Ananda’s self. False and busy thinking that leads one to the gloom of Ignorance and Karma, the very perception of the brain, has been so since beginningless time; the very fact that you have a brain and that it developed since your so-called birth, is part of your Karma, your inheritance from conditioned, impure deeds of this world done elsewhere in ignorance.
“But Ananda do not be disturbed. Since it’s just a matter of time that you will shed this brain, then you have already shed this brain.
“It is because of the opposing, dual, and therefore false and conditional conceptions of appearance and disappearance that the brain makes out thoughts. Just like healthy eyes that develop fantastic blossoms in the sky which nevertheless do not belong to the eyes nor to the sky and are perfectly imaginary, the brain develops thoughts that come and go which nevertheless do not belong to the brain nor to anything and are perfectly imaginary. Where do these millions of thoughts that pass in a continual parade in the Seven Kinds of Swiftness across the dark amphitheater of your brain have their source? Ananda, each one of these billions of bubbles are of one Essence, Essence of Mind, and is a completely false and fantastic thought pure and simple. And why? Because if a passing thought had its source in the brain, and the thought belonged to your brain, why should it vanish and make way for millions of others like it, each one an additional and transitory and soon-to-be-unrippled ripple, as for instance, a thought about taking a voyage, which is followed immediately by a thought of what to have for dinner. Surely these are real dreams, but Ananda they are dreams! Or if, a thought had its source anywhere else outside the brain, then, supposing there was no brain, it would be clear that the thought could not exist independently of the brain, which means the same thing as saying that the thought is completely false and fantastic.
“Be sure, it is all a spectral tissue in empty space, and by discriminating the appearance and disappearance of thoughts in your brain, universal perception was roused from dreamless sleep in the deeps of Essential Mind, in the imageless bliss of it, responded with perfect accommodation, and the thinking of thoughts appeared according to the troublous individual conditions of brain.
“Ananda, the thinking of thoughts is an indication of the sick condition of morbid mist which we call ‘good mind,’ and which has been instrumental in making sentient beings pitiful dupes of false thoughts since beginningless time, causing them to act in the direction of deaths and rebirths and so perpetuating their circumambient enslavement to the awful wheel of sorrowful existence.
“Those who have attained enlightenment, and have ceased to notice that which does not necessarily exist, that is, existence itself, which they see clearly as a bubble that for all intents and purposes has already burst, are as if awakening from sleep, and their past life seems only a dream.”
Though Ananda in his heart of hearts was made implicitly and truthfully aware of the import of this teaching that the six senses are false and fantastic, still in his thinking-mind he had not yet resolved speculative dilemmas concerning the apparent solidity and substantialness of such elements as Earth, Water, Fire and Wind and their continual transformations, which according to his Lord’s previous teaching were perfectly imaginary manifestations of Illimitable Essential Mind and nothing else.
So he inquired respectfully on the subject, and by his perfect silence and attention, showed himself ready for the teaching from the Blessed One.
The Buddha said: “Ananda, it is just as you have said, all the varieties and changes in this world with which the subjective six senses appear to assume objective contact, are manifested by means of the combining and the conforming of the Four Great Elements (earth, water, fire, air); there are three other Great Elements, namely, Space, Perception, and Consciousness, making, in all, Seven Great Elements. Let us begin with the earth-element.
“Why is the earth a bubble? Ananda, does it fit the case to question whether the center of a bubble is empty or not empty? Because the earth is made up of infinitesimal particles of dust that can be analyzed down to the atom and the atom of that, infinitely, each atom in likeness to our universe, to the universe and the universe of that, so that wise men know there are universes in their little eye lash more numerous than all the sands in whole unnumerable Ganges-sands of Ganges Rivers. Ananda, what is happening in these vast and spectral spaces, anyway?
“Look carefully! Stare through the sight of things and you will only see the Great Heart of Compassion of all the Buddhas of Old beyond belief. This is Yathabhutam, the seeing of things truly.
“Consider the nature of the earth element. In a crude and coarse form it covers the globe, but in a highly refined form it is the infinitesimal dust of space, and even everything that the eyes can see can be reduced into its primal elements, so that all that is seen as sight is earth. You should know, Ananda, that if this earth, this infinitesimal dust of space, should truly be reduced to the purity and emptiness of space, it would be out of this inconceivable purity that the phenomena of sight is manifested also.
“Ananda, the intrinsic nature of earth is the real emptiness of space, the true vac
uum; while the intrinsic nature of space is the real earth, the true essence.
“In the Tathagata’s Womb of the un-bornness of the unborn essence of all things which is the Ultimate and Supreme Reality, space and sights are of perennial freshness and purity, permeating everywhere throughout the phenomenal universes, and are being forever manifested spontaneously and perfectly in accordance with the amount of Karma-need accumulated under the conscious activity of sentient beings who are but pitiful forms of ignorance in what is like a vision and a dream a long time already finished. However, people of the world, spectral giants inside mind, being ignorant of the principle that governs their own existence, become bewildered in the entanglements of causes and conditions and naturalism, they think the earth carries signs of an inherent self-nature of its own and call it ‘natural’ and ‘Mother Nature’ with all the mental trees independent of their own bodies, they think that it exists due to causes such as creation by some self-created and self-remembering Creator Self who made them after his own image and that their existence comes under the conditions of ‘time,’ atoms, seasons, celestial interventions, personal destiny, all of which are wholly the discriminations of their mental consciousness and are merely figurative words having no meaning in reality.
“Ananda, where does this infinitesimal dust come from, this earth, and how does it sojourn here? It’s as if someone had suddenly given you a free store and said ‘How much earth do you want? How much sight do you want?’ Yet you did not truly want. Everywhere is the place where earth originates. Earth obeys and earth is everywhere. That is, earth is proof of the fact that molecular properties and combinations always assist in the appearance of earth. Earth responds to combinations that we may understand by analysis of molecular properties but these combinations are not its place of origination or its cause. What was the original condition before it was attracted and combined and became earth? Essential Mind is the essence and the source of the phenomena of earth.”