Images as Projections

 I find it fascinating how the mind works: how, quite often, the world that a person sees is often the result of previous habits and experiences. Writing about the Surangama Sutra, Master Sheng Yen remarks:

the mind does not simply perceive, but rather adds its own emotions and perceptions. If a sense organ, say the eye, only perceived what is in front of it and gave rise to nothing but seeing, there would be no vexation. It is only when we add to this initial direct perception feelings of love, hate, desire, or greed, among others---that vexations arise. The sutra advises us to only give rise to that natural, direct response (p.25)

I am at such a low stage of practice that I am unable to really do this. For example, if I see a news story, I seem to automatically form an impression or emotion which drives either curiosity, or boredom, or sometimes dislike. Seeing things for what they are seems to be a practice of continually returning to the original source of all these impressions. Before the emotion arises, before the memory, before the thoughts, what exactly is this that I am seeing?

It goes even further than this. Even when I am trying to see the object as it really is, I am still perceiving a separate "object" instead of seeing that even this "objectifying" is a creation of the mind. To give an example, if I crave something, is it not because I think that something outside of me can be a source of enduring happiness? I pursue the object, thinking that "it" is somehow separate from the mental processes that are used to form that object. But is there a separate object? How often do we chase after thoughts, when in reality we are only projecting our notions of separate others?

What I find helpful to realize in the midst of this is that there is really no appeal to "someone else" when dealing with craving and aversion. A lot of times, the pattern is to think that something outside of me is causing me to feel attached. In fact, it's the activity of mind that is creating this sense of separation, of attachment, of the need to "appeal" to the other "object" (to negotiate) so that I can see or have more of it or have less of the other. But if I continue to think that I am being controlled by objects outside of mind, a feeling of helplessness ensues: I become 'at the mercy' of forces that are presumably outside the influence of the mind. This can cause people to give up trying to manage their lives.

An alternative is to reflect that everything arises from mind activities. While I might react to one thought, it is a thought that has already passed and, therefore, there is no need to "appeal" to that thought to somehow make the situation improve. In this way, I stop indulging the habit of thinking there are objects that are outside of the mind.

ShengYen Until We Reach Buddhahood: Lectures on the Shurangama Sutra Volume Two Elmhurst NY: Dharma Drum Publications