Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Through the image of a stage magician whose mantra makes pebbles appear as horses and elephants, Ven Jampa Gendun unpacks the Autonomy Middle Way School’s central claim: that phenomena are posited by appearing to a non-defective awareness, neither purely mind-made nor independently self-existing. In this 45-minute commentary, he traces how objects carry a self-defining marker — like seed-packet labels in a garden — yet require the mind’s organizing power to fully exist. He connects this to how karmic formations shape perception, how the twelve links of dependent origination are rooted in ignorance about reality’s nature, and why the belief in true existence obstructs omniscience. The session closes with a vivid analogy showing how reasoned counter-belief dismantles a mistaken one — here, the assumption that a frowning, red-faced person must be angry at you. Suited to practitioners already working through Madhyamaka philosophy.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 3 PA 1990 10 26.mp3
UUID: 8cd742e6-d6fa-419e-9a79-09d0b97d33f3
Teacher: Ven Jampa Gendun
Collection: Three Principal Aspects of the Path 1988-1990 (Ven Jampa Gendun)
Date: 1990-10-26
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.5 minutes
Words: ~6,118
I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the highest assembly. In the virtuous merit that I collect by practicing giving and the other perfections May I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, the highest assembly. On the virtuous merit that I collect by practicing giving and the other perfections, may I attain the state of the Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the highest assembly.
And the virtuous that I collect by practicing giving and the other perfections may I attain the state of the Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings. So We’re going through the progressive stages and seeing deeper into the nature of reality. So, we’ve discussed the hearer stage and the mind only stage. Last week we began the discussion of the Autonomy Middle Way Stage. The Middle Way School has two divisions: Autonomy Middle Way and the Consequentialist Middle Way.
It is essential to bear in mind that the Svatāntrika, that is the autonomy middle way, and the Prāsaṇgika, that is the Consequentialist Middle Way. Schools are above all religious systems and that their assertions on the nature of phenomena therefore have religious implications in terms of practice of the path to enlightenment, the state beyond all suffering. Here, Friederich Streng’s definition of religion as a means of ultimate transformation is appropriate. The definition of religion as a means of ultimate transformation. All the refutations and proofs put forth by the Madhyamikas have as their final purpose the identification of the exact nature of the misconceptions which is the cause of all suffering and the subsequent destruction of that misconception.
The Svatantrikas, that is the Autonomy School, hold that the conception of true existence is the root of the cycles of rebirth. But that one may gain liberation from rebirth by realizing the coarse selflessness of persons without having understood the emptiness of true existence. So, though it might it’s not simply abstract philosophy which has no relevance to what’s happening on the street. That is to say that the purpose of this of the various presentations of the valid schools, various philosophic debates no matter how abstract they may appear, how obtuse, whatever they are, their ultimate goal is the transformation of our mind.
Enlightenment. And ultimately this is brought about by the force of ridding ourselves of misconceptions with respect to the nature of reality. And this is what all of this complicated dialectics and argumentation is all about trying to transform, get rid of our crooked ways of thinking and replace them with correct ways of viewing the world to transform our mind and to find happiness and peace. So, we’ve already looked at the presentations of the hearer, the hearer stage and the mind only stage of a course type of selflessness in the sense of in which we looked at the presentation of selflessness in terms of a single unchanging independent self. And then we look at a little more subtle by getting some conception about what type of self that is.
We can then go on and move on to a more subtle refined object of negation or a type of self which in fact does not exist but we hold that it does. We have a misconception with respect to it and a substantially existent self-sufficient self. It’s a little more subtle, little more difficult to recognize, to identify. So there’s this gradual progressive stages in coming to a recognition of a more and more subtle object misconception that we have. We have eleven, as I mentioned we have like an archaeological dig layer after layer like peeling away the layers of an onion until we come to the most subtle.
At least as we’ve presented in the final thought of the Buddha as to the ultimate nature of reality. So we have layers of misconceptions and we have to peel them away one by one. According to the Autonomy Middle Way School with the level that we’re discussing now. The repeated realization of the lack of a self sufficient substantially existent self is sufficient to gain liberation from cyclic existence and to cease our neurotic compulsive pattern by this understanding. This realization it has that power that force to overcome ignorance which misconceives this particular type of self.
Removing that misconception from the mind there is no longer the cause for these reoccurring neurotic compulsive patterns or cyclic existence in general. But at that level we have not achieved the optimum mode of being. There are still deeper levels of misconception which we still have to work with. We have not achieved Buddhahood, the fullest potential possible. In order to do that we have to realize and again this is at the Autonomy Middle Way stage we have to realize the non true existence of all phenomena.
The non true existence of all phenomena that no phenomena whatsoever truly exists. This table does not truly exist. I do not truly exist. This house does not truly exist. Nothing at all truly exists.
And what we mean by that? This is more subtle, more difficult to identify and refute. So, you know we’ve seen at the lower at the hearer stage and mind only stage, that things are not always as they appear. For example, a self appears due to the influence of ignorance, a distorted awareness. Due to the influence of this distorted awareness the self may appear for example as unchanging, independently existing.
But upon analysis we find that no such type of self can be found that this only appeared due to the force of ignorance, this misconception. In fact, it doesn’t exist. So we began to get the notion of a discrepancy between appearances and ways of existence, modes of being, the way things appear and the way things they are. We no longer take appearances for granted. When for example in terms of the of an unchanging independent self upon analysis when it repeatedly cannot be found we find the absence of such a type of self then when we realize this and repeat this realization again and again such that we begin to overcome the misconception which continually grasp at such an appearance to be true.
So one understands that appearances can be false, that they can be like illusions. Like this appearance of an independent, unchanging self is born out of it, as it were, a hallucination. Hallucination of ignorance. It doesn’t actually exist and we no longer grasp that as if it were true. It may still appear to us but we no longer cling to it.
We no longer put our trust in it as if it in fact it existed that way it appeared And all that are and all the various types of reactor patterns which are set in motion in dependence upon conceiving that object as true, as real, are disappeared, vanish, they no longer have any support. From the point of view of the autonomy stage this idea of illusion we talked in terms was illustrated in terms of the magician. The analogy of a magician’s illusion that through the force of a mantra. It’s not important whether this actually happens or not. The important is to come to an end.
This is an analogy trying to to understand what it’s getting at. Whether mantras have that force or not is another mantra altogether perhaps. Through the force of mantras some sort of magical power. A stick and a pebble are made to appear like a horse in an elephant. So the audience which has been affected by this mantra grasp at that appearance to be true.
They believe very deeply that there really is a real horse and real elephant at that place where the horse and elephant appear and they have all the various appropriate reactions as if there were in fact a horse and elephant at that place upon the stage for example. So there’s grasp, there’s the appearance and there’s grasping that’s true. There truly exists horse and an elephant up on the stage. The magician, he sees a horse and an elephant but he knows that it’s not really a horse and an elephant. He knows that it’s simply these appearances arise due to the influence of the mantra.
And so though they appear to them he does not believe they’re true. He knows they’re false. They’re just simply an illusion. So though they appear to them he does not grasp at them as true. They do not truly exist but they still appear that way.
Then there was the latecomer in the audience the person who was not affected by the mantra at all. And for him there’s not even the appearance let alone grasping at them is true. So you know what appears one way and exists another is false and cannot truly be established or truly existent. What appears one way and exists another even in the world we call false and such is not truly established. To be truly existent means that an object’s mode of appearance is established as its mode of being or that is simply more to say that the object must exist the way it appears.
The object must exist the way it appears. If it appears one way and we check up with analysis and we find it really doesn’t exist that way. And we say that’s a false appearance. That object is false. It doesn’t truly exist that way.
It doesn’t truly exist. So in order to truly exist it must exist the way it appears. If this table, if this cloth on the table appears orange and I use some sort of analysis, I were to question well maybe I’m having hallucinations and I use a colorimeter and I get the spectrum of that. It’s orange alright. It it exists the way it appears.
It’s true. It’s not false appearance. So, but here we’re talking on a very deep level as to the ultimate mode of being, the ultimate nature, the way things exist. And as I mentioned, you know, we can discuss any object on many different levels whether that’s made up of wood, it’s carpentry, it’s molecular level but here from a biological point of view, a botanical point of view, subatomic particles, physics or point of view, whatever. But here we’re talking about final mode of analysis.
The way it’s ontology. The way of its being. The way of its existence. This is what we’re trying to come to an understanding of. So the autonomy middle way stage asserts that all phenomena in the universe whatsoever are empty of true existence.
All phenomena in the universe are empty of true existence. And how did they define true existence? And I went over this briefly last week this is what is called a measure of true existence. You know an object was established by way of its own mode of subsistence or more particularly established by way of its own special mode of unique mode of subsistence which does not depend upon appearing to a non defective awareness. It has its own way of being.
If it has its own way of being and it does not necessarily rely on being posited, on being designated by an awareness, then it’s truly existent. And this is the way objects appear to us. Objects appear to us as if they did not rely upon our consciousness, as if there were a world out there beyond our senses. That’s the way objects appear to us. But this object but if we’re going to try to find that this is a mistaken appearance that in fact they don’t exist that way.
That they require that part part of their existence is coming from the side of the object and that they have a self defining nature. They have some mark about them. For example, I was trying to think of it easy. What do we mean by self defining nature? There’s some mark about the object because we’re going to say that part of the object, for it to come into existence, it must be posited by a con by conceiving consciousness, by a an awareness, a designating consciousness.
These two things coming together. Something from side of the object, something coming from the side of the subject come together and bring into a distance an object. And it is as if, you know, what do we mean by the self defining nature of an object? Like in the garden, have been seeds planted and there’s a potential there. And there are these sticks coming up out of the ground with the labels, the packets showing the pictures of what’s planted there.
So there’s a potential there for an object to come into existence, for a plant to come into existence. And there’s a marker telling us what is going to come into existence. So that’s kind of what’s coming from the side of the object. There’s a marker, identifying marker which it possesses naturally by its very nature. But it’s still not enough.
There’s a potential to come into existence but it must be organized, It must be labeled as such from the side of the subject. It must be as if constructed, brought into organized as it’s labeled. There’s an instruction which is coming along with how to build this thing. You’ve ordered something through the mail, you’ve got a kit and it comes with a set of instructions and it must be consistent. So it’s all there, the instructions and all the parts but you have to put it together and what the mind is going to organize it.
So there’s something coming from the side of the object, subject object, there’s something coming from the side of the subject but it doesn’t appear that way. It appears all objects appear as if they existed beyond our senses, beyond our necessary to and the necessity to point an awareness to organize objects. Well we’re going to analyze this and perhaps for me they become more apparent. It’s going to become more apparent as we go also in this in upper school of Consequentialist Middle Way stage. So I said it must it is posited by appearing to a non defective awareness.
Positive by appearing to a non defective awareness. By appearing to a non defective awareness. By that power it comes into existence. What do we mean by non defective awareness? And if we that’s what this magician the magician’s illusion can help us to understand what we mean by that.
Someone who has understood emptiness, the lack of ultimate existence, understands that phenomena do not exclusively do not exist exclusively from their own side. Everything is not coming from the side of the object. That an object’s mode of being depends upon being posited by the non defective awareness to which it appears. A person who has understood emptiness is like the magician who sees the appearance of the horse but knows that the horse is not real, that it is appearing through the power of the mind that has been affected by mantra. The appearance of the horse is not merely a mental projection.
So it’s not all coming from the side of the mind. It’s not like a projector projector throwing out an image on a screen. There’s something out there coming from that side but there’s also something coming from the side of subject. The appearance of the horse is not merely a mental projection. It is a mode of subsistence of the pebble affected by mantra and stone.
However, the illusory horse does not exist until the magician or the audience have looked at the pebble. So, it’s necessary that we look at the markers, that the markers appear to a consciousness and there’s an organizing process that takes place. There’s no horse until that pebble appears under the influence of mantra there’s no horse appearing. The audience must look at the pebble for the horse to appear. Thus although there is an objective mode of subsistence it does not exist until it is perceived by the mistaken sense consciousness that is affected by the mantra.
In the same way the Svatāntrika, that is to say the autonomy, middle way stage, the Svatāntrika asserts that all phenomena are merely posited through the power of appearing to a non defective mind But they do not assert that they are merely posited by the mind. So, are posited by the mind but not only posited by the mind, not just posited by the mind. There’s something coming from the side. This is an important point because this is when we move up to the higher states this is going to be a point of contention that is not it’s positive by the mind but not merely posited, only posited by the mind. That there is something coming from the side of the object to the side that the object does objectively exist.
Is something from the side of the object part which is in combination with the subjective aspect which brings into existence the phenomena. There is an objective mode of subsistence of phenomena that exists from the object’s own side and that is established by way of the object’s own character. So an object has its own character, has its self defining properties. It has its own instruction kit that comes along with it. The packet labels which tell us what is there and how are we to organize it.
Has a what we would call its basis technically its basis has a naturally existent basis of imputation. That its basis of imputation that which we’re going to conceive of doesn’t construct around that basis of imputation exists by its very nature with that object. Just like the packets of the plant, we know what’s there, what’s its potential. It has a marker. That marker came with it.
It’s naturally existent. It’s self defining. We can’t say there’s carrots there when there’s actually peas. There’s something coming from this side of the object which we can’t arbitrarily designate anything we want to. There’s a marker there which tells us what is there but it hasn’t come into full existence.
It’s going to depend upon my organizing as such. It comes with an instruction kit. However, just as the illusory horse does not exist until it is perceived by the mistaken sense consciousness, the objective mode of subsistence of the object does not exist without appearing to a non defective awareness. Thus for the Svatāntrika that is the autonomy stage two factors are essential. The first is the objective mode of subsistence of object which exists from the object’s own side but does not exist independently.
If it did it would be an extreme of permanence. This mode of subsistence is posited by appearing to a non defective consciousness which is either conceptual or non conceptual. Phenomena gain their entity through the power of the awareness to which they appear. However, such a consciousness such consciousnesses do not subjectively impute those phenomena without any objective basis. They rather are more passively positive which appears to them.
So things appear. These sticks with the little packets on top appear and then we organize what we’ve been told to organize. The mind is instructed as if in a passive fashion. It does not choose what is out there. It simply organizes what through through if there’s something as an arrow said, you know, this is a do this and The arrow pointing at the way it is to be done.
So the question can be asked how does this realization serve as a means for you know we talked about what is religion? The means of ultimate transformation. How does this realization, this understanding serve as a means for ultimate transformation? How is a religious means? So as consciousness is always conscious as consciousness is always consciousness of something.
So Asaṇga was the initiator, the organizer. He brought into — he systematized the mind only stage. But he also wrote on treatises and commentaries on the middle way stage. So Asaṇga describes in detail how this consciousness of something is molded by habits, the conceptions and emotions. The karmic formations that consciousness arises in dependence upon.
The perceptual scheme is elaborated by Dharmakīrti. It is a systematic description of the linkage between the six sense fields. So this is, I guess, lot of different. The sense fields, the objects of the the six senses, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mental objects, sense field, and consciousness through the medium of mind and body. It describes the process of perceiving something.
The way that we’re organizing what is out there. As I’ve used this expression, our beliefs inform our perception, our beliefs in the sense of our karma, of our these patterned emotions, all of our associations, our beliefs, all of our views, our cultural conditioning, all our karma. And these determine what we perceive. The way we’re going to organize this objective, modes of subsistence that these objects have. Even more so in the higher school, but even here we can begin to we have some leeway even though they have a self defining nature of these objects.
That is, Dharmakīrti demonstrates how perception is a linkage between the consciousness molded by karma formations. Know, we have karma implanted on the mind stream through actions. That is to say these types of patterning which causes to react in preconceived manners, which causes to organize our reality along preconceived lines, reactive patterns, these karmic imprints on our mind. There’s a link between these karmic imprints and the perceptual field, what we see out there. in dependence upon both of these linkages linkages, contact arises.
An object is actually cognized. And dependence upon something out there and something in my karma, the way I’m organizing that something out there, an object comes into existence, contact. There is something actually known, cognized. Here we understand cognize to mean that in the perceptual process object is created in a consciousness which functions in dependence upon karmic formation. That we aren’t born a clean slate And things simply don’t exist out there independent of our mind.
That we have patterns of, you know, as I just mentioned, views, beliefs, conditions which are going to influence how we organize these seeds as it were out there. How we’re going to bring them into existence. The karmic formations themselves arise dependent upon ignorance. All karmic formations arise out of distorted awareness, ignorance, which is defined as an incorrect knowledge about the status of phenomena. Now there are two levels of ignorance.
I generally talk about the level of ignorance with respect to karma, but here we’re always discussing ignorance in terms as to the nature of phenomena. We misunderstand the nature of phenomena. In misunderstanding it, we create action, which are imprinted on on the mind stream. And this causes the way we organize our reality. It is an incorrect knowledge which is which at its root is responsible for discerning of of the objects.
The way we discriminate objects, the way we perceive. Hear this word, discerning. It also can be translated as perceiving. It is this incorrect knowledge which is the root, which is at root is responsible for the the way we perceive. The discerning of the objects in the perceptual field in the first place.
What we perceive has arisen out of ignorance ultimately since it arises by the force of karma. On the other hand, intelligence or wisdom examines the or values of the objects perceived and cultivates wisdom about the objects and the process of cognition itself can serve as an antidote to ignorance. When ignorance is converted to correct knowledge, fallacious imputations cease and the whole twelve links is cut at the root so suffering ceases. Perhaps many of you have studied twelve links of dependent origination whereby you know it’s a systemized presentation of this process whereby we beginning with the initial misconception as to the nature of reality, we are continually forced to experience undesirable states, unsatisfactory state. Out of out of ignorance, we we we react inappropriately.
We create actions. These are printed imprinted on the consciousness. This out of these imprints on the consciousness, we are forced to assume a a body and mind which are programmed to produce dissatisfactory experiences. And out of this comes all the various contact, etcetera, feelings, craving, grasping, becoming old age birth and death. This whole psychic process has as its origination, initial starting point ignorance, this misconception as to the nature of reality.
When this is cut, then this whole process ceases. Samsāra becomes nirvana as objects are perceived for what they actually are. Samsāra becomes nirvana. You know, the one of the one of the one of the slogans of Madhyamaka is that saṃsāra and nirvana are equal. That there’s no other place to go to than what we have here.
That this is this is nirvana. This is that saṃsāra and nirvana are not separate entities. It is simply our once we remove our misperception this reality and we experience it as nirvana. When we misperceive its reality, we experience it as as saṃsāra. It is this ignorance which which is Nāgārjuna’s particular concern in the Seventy Stanzas.
His attention is to provide his intention is to provide its antidote through the means of his logical discourses which first establish correct belief and later develop wisdom. So in the basis of correct belief we can go on to develop correct wisdom inferential understanding, all of that direct perception, valid cognition. Based upon these, one can develop valid cognitions about the nature of phenomena which result in a transformation of the karmic formation and so the entire perceptual process which depends upon them is also transformed. As the creation of objects in the perceptual process is transformed, what has previously appeared as saṃsāra now appears as nirvana. Now that you know, as it’s not as if there’s a static world out there.
And as as we as the our realization of the nature of of the perceptual process takes place the way in which the world appears. That is to say our world is going to change. This is why, you know, the other last Thursday night, remember which I was talking about the the and the Buddha must create his or own pure land. That he he’s going to achieve he or she is going to achieve Buddhahood. And they need a place to actually to actualize that Buddhahood.
And they can actually create a place, a pure land. And as it says in in some of the in many of the sutras, that the the that this place where you’re at now is a pure land. It’s only that we aren’t able to perceive it as such. We don’t our karmic propensities inhibit as seen as such. But as our as our wisdom increases, as we transform these these our beliefs, our worldview, our world will change.
And what was once Samsāra becomes nirvana. For an object to exist, it must be posited by appearing to a non defective awareness. That is by non defective awareness, an awareness which is not affected under the influence of ignorance conceiving of existence. The the belief the belief or the conception that a phenomenon as truly existing by way of their their own entity is the chief obstruction to omniscience. You know, when you first hear when I first heard about omniscience, it sound like a rather farcical.
Mean, the idea of the simultaneous direct realization phenomena in the universe. In one at every moment. That’s what we mean by omniscience. As clear you are able to realize clearly every single phenomena throughout the universe simultaneously just as clearly as you see the lines on your hand. And it sounds rather fantastic.
But, you know, maybe it’s maybe they are saying something that we perhaps many times they’re getting at some points which we cannot quite understand. We don’t have a mechanism as yet to kind of begin to grasp that there is something. They’re not they are talking about a real possibility because they’re they’re saying that the way our mind is operating has certain obstructions. We have certain obstructions to knowing all phenomena. You know, I I have I I I can’t know what’s in my hand.
No one else can know. I have there’s an obstruction to knowing knowing what’s in my hand. Let me take that much for that doesn’t that’s not very profound. I simply open my hand and you can know. That it’s an obstruction from knowing what’s in my hand.
It’s hidden. And therefore, there’s an obstruction from us knowing all phenomena simultaneously in the universe. There’s an obstruction. There’s a hindrance to that. And it’s in the very nature of our thought process.
But a type of thought process which is based upon the misconception as to the nature of phenomena. As long as we conceive of phenomena to truly exist, this conception acts as an obstruction to actually simultaneously directly cognizing every phenomenon in the universe. It acts as an obstacle. And maybe we can begin to understand that in some way. The the achievement of the omniscience of a Buddha, which is which is able to perceive directly all objects of knowledge simultaneously.
The thus the benefit bestowed up on sentient beings by Buddhas derives from their ability as teachers, you know, of the of the the qualities of a Buddha. Those of you know, if we categorize them simply into physical, verbal, and mental, That which is most of a most of a prime importance to sentient beings, ordinary people like ourselves, is the verbal quality of a Buddha. That is to say their teachings. The Buddha’s, you know, the Buddha does not remove sufferings with their hand. They do not wash they do not wash away sins with water nor do they transfer their realizations to the minds of others.
But by their showing of the truth, all will be made free. And their showing of the truth is their teaching. You know, the Buddha discovered something. He had experience. And he said, can teach you the way to duplicate my experience if you if you think it worthwhile enough to make the effort.
And he taught. And therefore, this was of the major importance to to the student. Not the Buddhist mind, not the Buddhist body, but his speech, his ability as a teacher. In order to teach effectively, it is not sufficient that they have good motivation. They must know what to adopt and discard as well as the individual capacities and interests of their students.
Therefore, they must be omniscient. If you want to be a good teacher, you have to be omniscient. And this entails the abandonment of the obstruction to omniscience. Omniscience. Which is the at this level, the conception of true existence.
So, you know, we have within our mind right now an obstruction to knowing all phenomena simultaneously, some hindrance. And this this obstruction is termed the knowledge obstruction or the obstruction to omniscience. It is it is a distorted awareness. Distorting awareness of ignorance along with the seeds, the potentials of this awareness. So in this case, a belief you know, these are conception.
We can almost say that we can call them beliefs. A belief that phenomena truly exist, that they are not imputed by conception, that each phenomena has a unique mode of subsistence coming from its own side and not in terms of a name given to it. So, you know, belief in true existence prevents us from understanding the non true existence. The belief in true existence prevents us from believing from understanding non true existence or the emptiness of phenomena. So in order to know understand all phenomena, have to understand their ultimate nature.
We have an obstruction to understanding the ultimate nature. That obstruction is our belief in true existence. For example, just as a belief that that this cloth is green. If I if I strongly hold, if I it would if I have a belief that this cloth is green that will obstruct obstruct me from an understanding that this cloth is yellow. It’s going to prevent me from coming to that understanding, this mistaken belief.
So the the misunderstanding of the ultimate nature of phenomena, that is the belief in the true existence of phenomena, obstructs us from simultaneously cognizing all phenomena. I can’t I can’t know that the that this cloth is yellow because because of the power of my belief that it’s red. I cannot simultaneously cognize all phenomena in the universe because of the belief that phenomena truly exist. Now we we overcome this belief of true existence by the means of a belief in non true existence of the same object. And the the two beliefs are incompatible.
They cannot be held at the same time at the same level of cognitive awareness. I cannot believe that this object that this cloth is both both blue and yellow yellow at the same time. They they cannot they’re incompatible. One can cancel out. The other can overcome the other.
But, you know, if by the, you know, you by the outward sign, say the appearance, someone someone gets is is very red in the face. They have they have a frown. Their their their eyes are their their eyebrows are their face is furrowed. Their forehead is furrowed furrowed. And you’re looking at them.
You you you you form a belief that they’re angry. They’re angry at you. What do I do? I need to you must be angry. Why are they angry at me?
You have a belief that they’re angry at you. But but if we use reasoning, we think, well, maybe he’s not angry. It appears that he’s angry at me. But someone said, just mentioned that he’s sick. Or if he’s sick, you know, I guess he would appear that way.
That can be unusual that someone will be red in the face and they’d be frowning. And and I I haven’t done anything that they would become angry at me for. And and they don’t get angry for no reason. They’re really very kind and considerate person. And just this morning, this person told me how much they like me.
So, you know, we can through a reason analysis, we can form a belief which will so which will overcome our initial interpretation of that appearance. Our belief that this person is angry with me. And the belief that through reason analysis this person, we can come to believe that this person is not angry with me. And we could go on, you know, to we ask this person, are you angry? No.
Why would I be I’m I’m just a little bit sick. No. I would I would like I’d like to have you around. It’s very comforting to have you around. And then we can actually feel the non anger of that person.
We have a direct experience of the non anger of that person. So first, to a reason analysis, we formed a a belief which contradicted our initial interpretation of that person, of that belief, that this person was angry at me. And then we can actually go on to form or have a direct experience of that non anger that person. But on the other hand, if we were to, you know, out of this build build upon this initial mistaken belief that this person was angry at me. Thinking about all the reasons why they might be angry at you.
We strengthen. We reinforce that belief. And even if they were to say, I’m not angry at you. We might not be able to actually feel they aren’t angry at us. That would obstruct an experience of their non anger.
The strong holding a strong belief that this person is in fact angry at me. And we arrived at this through reinforcement of wrong reasoning. So the the point of that is that in overcoming mistaken beliefs is, you know, what we have. We have many, many, many.