Buddha’s teachings consist of three great collections, which work as remedies against all kinds of disturbances (Skr.: Vinaya, Sutra, and Abhidharma). They are put into practice via three kinds of exercises: the training of discipline, meditation, and wisdom. You can also divide the teachings into five large fields of knowledge, as was usual at the great Buddhist Universities in India and Tibet:
- Vinaya: the rules of behaviour and advice for living in the community of practitioners.
- Prajnaparamita: Buddha's wisdom teachings, the stages of the path of understanding, experience and realization.
- Abhidharma: the description of the appearance of all phenomena, as e.g. the components of our personality (five aggregates, Skt.: Skandhas).
- Madhyamaka: the Great Middle Way; the ultimate view, as it was explained by the Indian master Nagarjuna, the founder of this school, as well as later masters, and finally
- Pramana: the teachings on recognition and the theory of perception. Understanding the processes of perception is the key to all other fields of knowledge.
The term “Pramana” literally means “natural, fresh awareness". In Tibetan, it is called "Tsema", which means "true cognition". It relates to a state of mind, which is free from all errors regarding that which is perceived. Buddhist epistemology examines the relation between the perceived object and the perceiving subject. Who experiences and what is experienced are always interdependent. As long as you do not examine this fact more closely, you will always ascribe an independent existence both to the subject and the object.
Other religions and ideologies also have explanations on the illusions regarding object and consciousness. But the full explanations how to completely remove all erroneous kinds of perception are only given in Buddhism. Buddha teaches, that the illusion of an independent existence consists of two aspects: of the illusion of a self and the illusion regarding the outer world. Removing the illusion of self means liberation from all suffering. Removing the illusion regarding the outer world means attaining full enlightenment, the omniscient state of a Buddha.
First, the objects of perception are defined: An object is everything, which is recognized by the mind. This definition includes, that there can be no outer world existing independently from the experiencing mind, for nobody would know about it.
Furthermore, objects are divided into real and unreal objects of perception. Real objects of perception are always concrete phenomena, which fulfill a function. Perceiving these concrete phenomena right at the moment means to be free from illusion. Unreal objects of perception are non-existent phenomena, which nevertheless, appear very clearly, i.e. all kinds of abstract ideas or images that fulfill no concrete function. Something that does not exist by mistake is thought of as existing. An example for this are the in Buddhism often cited “horns of a hare”.
The subject of perception, the recognizing mind, is a continuous stream of moments, endowed with the power of cognition.
Here you distinguish between consciousness and awareness.
Consciousness is the state of mind being directed towards an object. This includes the separation of subject and object. To be conscious of something is a limited function, because everything else, apart from the object is excluded.
Awareness is the one who experiences in the course of the process of perception. The inner facet of mind has the ability to know, understand, and be aware, without necessarily having to be conscious of “some thing”. You know that something was experienced by being able to remember the experience afterwards.
Perception is divided into two aspects: non-conceptual and conceptual cognition:
Non-conceptual cognition can be correct or incorrect. Correct non-conceptual cognition always has a concrete object of perception with which you may directly interact. Contrary to this, the incorrect non-conceptual cognition experiences a faulty perception of the object and no direct interaction is possible.
Correct non-conceptual cognition can be achieved by a common or by a spiritually realized person. This direct, clear perception has two aspects:
Direct means that the object is experienced concretely and without concepts, so the one who experiences it can form a direct relation to it. Something that was not recognized before is newly recognized.
Clear means, that cognition appears without illusions or faults, i.e. that there e.g. is no mistake made by a sensory organ.
If these two aspects come together – fresh and unmistaken cognition – then this is the correct, authentic cognition of a Buddha. But on the way there, you also already perceive free from duality and possess special abilities based on this quality. Awareness expands more and more until it becomes the omniscience of a Buddha.
Conceptual cognition also is distinguished according to the circumstance whether a mental state experiences its object correctly or incorrectly. The first one is correct inferential cognition, the second incorrect inferential cognition. With the first one you will be successful in applying logic because you understand the corresponding relations and achieve interaction with the concrete object. In the second case logic itself is incorrect and there will be no such interaction with the concrete object.
|
