Александр Карачаров – PSYCHOLOGY OF BUDDHISM: A practical guide to self-knowledge (страница 10)

"Rely on your own experience, not the words of others. Rely on your own reason, not on other people's opinions. Rely on your own wisdom, not blind faith."

While inference is valuable as a tool, it must be supplemented by personal experience and intuitive understanding.

Subsequent Cognition: The Buddhist teachings, like a river of time, speak of the impermanence of all things. Our memories and recognition of objects are based on past impressions, which are themselves changeable. The Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification) describes the process of the arising and disappearance of mental images, emphasizing the transience of our experience and therefore of our subsequent cognition.

"Everything composite is impermanent, everything composite suffers, all dharmas are devoid of self."

Our recognition, like a shadow, is based on memory, which can be imperfect and subject to change.

Correct Assumption: Although there is no explicit mention of "correct guessing" as a separate category in Buddhist texts, the principle of right thinking (samma sankappa) in the Noble Eightfold Path implies the ability to make wise and well-founded assumptions based on compassion and wisdom.

"Right thinking is aimed at renunciation, the absence of ill will and the absence of cruelty."

A correct assumption, like a compass, in a Buddhist context, would be based on ethical principles and the desire for the welfare of all beings.

Direct Perception Without Definition: This state is often described in the context of vipassana meditation (insight meditation), like a safe haven. In the initial stages of practice, we learn to observe our sensations and thoughts without evaluating or categorizing them.

"Just observe, just notice, just be here."

Many Buddhist teachers, like guides, emphasize the importance of this non-conceptual perception in developing a deep understanding of reality.

Doubt: In Buddhism, doubt, like a thorny bush, is seen as one of the five obstacles to enlightenment. However, this does not mean that doubt is always harmful. Healthy doubt, like the wind, can motivate us to investigate and seek the truth. In the Kalama Sutta , the Buddha, like a wise counselor, admonishes us not to blindly believe in authorities, traditions, or rumors, but to test everything by experience.

"Do not believe the reports, do not believe the traditions, do not believe the rumors, do not believe the scriptures, do not believe the assumptions, do not believe the probabilities, do not believe the thought that 'this is our opinion,' do not believe the authority of teachers or elders. But when you yourself know that these things are not good, these things are evil, these things are condemned by the wise, these things, if practiced and observed, lead to harm and suffering, then give them up."

Doubt, like a tool, should be used for research, not as a cause for stagnation.

False cognition: The doctrine of emptiness (sunyata), like the sun, is central to Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. It says that all phenomena are devoid of their own, independent essence. Our ordinary perception of the world as consisting of solid, self-existent objects is a form of false cognition based on illusion. The Heart Sutra states:

"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form; Emptiness is not different from form, form is not different from emptiness. The same applies to sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness."

"Understanding emptiness is like a key that helps us free ourselves from false beliefs about reality and see the world as it really is, interconnected and constantly changing."

These passages from the Buddhist teachings deepen our understanding of the seven types of perception like precious threads and show how these categories relate to key Buddhist principles such as mindfulness, wisdom, impermanence, right thinking, and emptiness. Exploring these aspects of our mind, like diving into a deep well, is an important step on the path to self-knowledge and liberation from suffering.

Chapter 2. Beyond Illusions: Meeting the Immediate