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Consciousness
One of the more fragrant flowers given us by the Buddha is the understanding that Mind is one of the senses. It receives and interprets the world, similar to the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and contact of the body. Light reaches the eye and results in the perception of sight; consciousness of sight arises when we perceive a visible object. Sound causes the inner ear to vibrate and results in the perception of sound; from that perception arises consciousness of sound.
The beauty of this flower of understanding is in how skillfully it describes the interbeing of what appears physical and what seems to be of the spirit. In his book The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching , Thích Nhất Hạnh reflects on the subtleties of this relationship. Speaking of the nutriments that we take into ourselves, he cites an early Buddhist master:
In the year 255, Vietnamese Meditation Master Tang Hôi taught that our consciousness is like the ocean with the six rivers of our senses flowing into it. Our mind and our body come from consciousness. They are formed by ourselves and our environment…. Because of the food that our consciousness consumes, we are the person we are and our environment is what it is. In fact, the edible foods that we take into our body and the foods of sense-impression and intention all end up in our consciousness. Our ignorance, hatred and sadness all flow back to the sea of consciousness. So we should know the kinds of food we feed our consciousness every day.
The flow of our consciousness cannot be separated from its sources. Skillfully investigating how awareness arises and what contributes to our being, we are better able nourish and care for life. By gently unlearning our habit of haste, through regular practice of mindful attention, we create opportunity to choose what we take in and how we consume it.
We are exposed to invasions of all kinds — images, sounds, smells, touch, ideas — and many of these feed the craving, violence, fear and despair in us. The Buddha advised us to post a sentinel, namely mindfulness, at each of our sense doors to protect ourselves. Use your Buddha eyes to look at each nutriment you are about to ingest. If you see that it is toxic, refuse to look at it, listen to it, taste it, or touch it. Ingest only what you are certain is safe.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings can help very much. We must come together as individuals, families, cities and nations to discuss strategies of self-protection and survival. To get out of the dangerous situation we are in, the practice of mindfulness has to be collective.