Delusion 迷い

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Why people do not know Truth, and why people try to discover Truth through contemplation

　

Truth is what is actually real itself (not a fixed thing, but what is actually real right now). People do not know this Truth because of the cognitive function that creates the sense of subject and object.

 

When I say “cognitive function,” I mean the function that enables humans to recognize something as existing over time and think of it as a thing. It also makes people believe that things that are not here now, exist now. 

　

I have asked mothers about when they noticed their babies cognitive functions starting, and they generally said a few months after birth. Before this function develops, babies don’t have cognitive understanding of themselves existing or mothers existing.

 

When cognitive functions begin to work, people begin to think of things  as objects separate from themselves and other things.

To explain further, try noticing something, such as your smartphone. Due to cognition, when you can think something exists, like your smartphone. The thing or event that you think exists becomes an object of awareness, and you think that you, the one who is aware of the smartphone, exists as the subject. This is what creates the sense of separation that enables us to think there is self and other. But the existence of a separate other is only a thought. Even now, what is real in actual fact is without subject or object. It is the fact itself of “ah” when you say “ah.”

 

If “ah” is “ah” without separation, without the subject of self, and without other, then what is real itself (“ah”) is Truth. This means there is no need to search for it or become it.

 

Also, the assumption of an object enables people to think about the assumed object in infinite ways. For this reason, when Truth is an object of contemplation, it can be thought of in many ways, and people become even  more confused about it.

 

This is not to say that thinking of things in many ways is not good. For everyday life, when choosing a smartphone, for example, it is necessary to be able to think of a smartphone as an object and think of it in various ways. This is how you choose the one that is best for you. So I am not saying that you should not use cognition or that you should try to stop cognition from functioning. I am just explaining the reason for delusion and why people do not know what Truth is.

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Reasons people try to know Truth through contemplation

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Reason 1:  　 The first reason is the assumption that there is subject (self) and object (other). This assumption begins when cognitive functions begin, so people don't know any other way than to think of something as an object and try to understand it. But in trying to understand through thinking, all attention goes to the content of the concepts.  So when questions arise, people look for even more information and continue to try to find convincing answers (concepts) that alleviate their doubts.

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In addition, people have so much experience obtaining answers though thinking and feeling that they continue to use such mental processes to try to understand Truth (satori). But Truth is different.

 

As I have explained, Truth = what is actually real now. meow  What is actually real now is not created by thinking. It isn’t like philosophy, which is created by human ways of thinking. This is why it is impossible to become convinced of what Truth is by contemplating it. Trying to know truth through contemplation would be similar to trying to know the taste of salt by contemplating what salt might taste like.

 

If you try to resolve your questions about Truth through contemplation, you’ll think about Truth, thus making it into an object (and concept). This will make it infinitely impossible to know what Truth actually is, because it cannot be known through thinking. Thinking about it puts you and Truth on parallel paths, with Truth over there and yourself over here.

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Reason 2: 　 The second reason people continue to contemplate Truth is because people do not remember when their cognition started functioning, and therefore do not know how things were prior to that. For this reason, people come to believe that what they think after cognition is true or real; that the illusion of subject and object is real.   

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Reason 3: 　 The third reason is, if what is actually real has never been pointed out to you, you’ve probably never turned your attention to what is actually real itself. For this reason as well, people think things through to no end. Up to a certain point, I also pursued Truth though mental processes, and when I began realizing that there was no way I was going to find a convincing answer through these processes, I found the book, Mou Mayou Koto ha Nai (“No More Delusion”) and began reading it. It was the first time I had what is actually real itself pointed out to me. It was, therefore, the first time I turned my attention to what is actually real and came to know the way it is. It was then that I knew what Zen was and started zazen.

 

Let me say this just in case. When people hear that cognition is the cause of delusion, they often misunderstand and think they need to stop cognition. Trying to stop cognition is not necessary.

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Next Section: Satori (Enlightenment)