"The ancient worthies said: "Great doubt, great enlightenment; small doubt, small enlightenment; no doubt, no enlightenment" (Master Boshan, from Master Sheng Yen, Attaining the Way, p.8)
What is great doubt? I think it's hard to achieve. One has to doubt the very foundation for how they make sense of the world. A good example, I believe, is how we look to objects to validate our awareness. Zen gardens play on this idea by presenting a few very minimal rocks positioned over sand. The minimalism reminds us; there is more to life than objects, in fact, there is something that points beyond all objects. But because objects confirm our sense of self, we cling to them and grasp them.
What would it be like, then, to experience the world not from a subject-object view, but from the perspective of simple awareness? The important point here is allowing objects to arise into mind and then disappear in the same way that they arose. This leads to a state of ease that takes precedence over trying to solidify the world in terms of an absolute inner and outer. It also leads to a more porous state of being. There is really no distinct inner and outer after all.
The quest for certainty can often sabotage the doubt experience. I can easily get distracted by all the lists of things to do, rather than resting in the state of mind that is not dependent on any subject or object. But this does not mean suppress or deny the formation of objects. In fact, subject and object formation is the natural function of mind, same as when a mirror reflects images and light. The point is to be aware that the subject and object is a function of the mind, nothing more. It is not a reified self or other that actually exist independently of mind.
It's truly hard to rest in this state of mind due to habitual identification with things as things. This is why we must continually practice doubting the sense of "I" and uprooting it through questioning, "who thinks?" "Who feels?" Is this self something substantial and, if so, where is it? How does it arise? Yet, there is no need to suppress the objects of the mind to see how this functions or works.
Statistics tell us that, even with science, we currently only understand 4% of the world through verification. Science, by repeatedly confirming knowledge, alleviates the helplessness and fear of ignorance, thereby providing certainty that settles the mind.
ReplyDeleteHowever, "great doubt, great enlightenment" reveals another method of directly and rapidly attaining insight into one's true nature.
Regarding the "spirit" and enlightenment, the most hopeful aspect is whether they can help us overcome the ignorance and uncertainty of the remaining 96% of the world.