True in False

Continuing Master Sheng Yen's discussion of "True" and "False" mind in Tea Words Volume Two, we read the following:

It is important to understand that false mind is really what we call ordinary human consciousness. Consciousness itself has two aspects: discriminating consciousness and fundamental consciousness. Discriminating consciousness includes cognition, apprehension, and discrimination (commonly what we take to be memory, judgment, and reasoning). However, there is an aspect of consciousness which does not make discriminations; for the sake of discussion we will call this fundamental consciousness (p.7-8)

I have always been fascinated by the idea that the "true" mind is hidden in the "false" mind, and I have tried to grasp an example of this happening. The closest I can come to understanding this is to talk about the water and waves. If a person gets really caught up in the shapes of waves, they will think that truly they are the waves. Think of the example: I start to get more and more involved in a particular course I am taking, only to find myself identifying "me" with the ups and downs of the course. When I am submitting good posts and assignments, I am "up"; when I am not inspired to submit assignments, I am "down". These "ups" and "downs" become a drama that I play out, with me playing all the characters. All the while, what happens is that I build a kind of collection of actions around this course. Then, when the course finishes, what happens? I typically go "now what?" and then either get sick or become down, because I have become hooked on the ups and downs. The course has infiltrated and conditioned me to the point where I can't imagine myself as functioning without it.

The true mind, then: what is it? First of all, Master Sheng Yen notes "there is an aspect of consciousness which does not make discriminations". This seems to mean, from my limited understanding, that this true mind is even there when there is false mind. After all, you can't separate the waves from the water. This means that even in the midst of my ups and downs, I am never separate from this mind. I only believe I am separate, because I have attached myself to narrow patterns of being. If I apply the analogy to taking a course: course materials are always limited to one special topic, but if I am deeply involved in that course, I have to clear my mind of all other topics or ways of thinking that don't accord with that topic. Soon, I start to see the world through the methodological lens of the course itself. If the course is about critical pedagogy, I will start to look at everything through that lens; if Marxist, everything becomes "Marxist", etc. But what I forget is that all of these ways of seeing are only one of many potential forms. I can adopt any one of these forms, but what I can't change is the underlying mind that engages those forms. If I am overly attached to the form itself, I will suffer when that form disappears. But if I remind myself that the true mind is already in the false, discriminating mind, then I can interact with all the forms of false consciousness without attachment.

Sheng Yen (2013). Tea Words Volume Two. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications.