Details of Consciousness
I came across a Mahayana monk named Ghan Cheng on youTube. He has put out a series of talks on consciousness from the perspective of Buddhist teachings. I've watched several so far, including the ones below which focus on the alaya storage consciousness. His descriptions have shined a light on experiences in my own meditations. It's been illuminating! For others who might be interested, take a look.
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Some surprising clarity coming from a Buddhist monk and using the word individual which is carefully avoided and denied by others.
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Remember that Buddha neither affirmed or denied the existence of a "self" but he definitely taught that the material form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness are "not self." I found nothing surprising or contradictory at all with the Venerables's terminology.
In Lecture 45, I was particularly impressed by his analogy of the alaya consciousness to an ocean. He noted that the "waves" or the arising of feelings and thoughts and impressions which continually swirl on the surface of the "ocean" or mind, are part of the ocean and not separate.
This may be very obvious to everyone else, but I've always had a negative attitude towards thoughts, feelings, aches and pains, etc. which disturb the meditation. Just to acknowledge that they are part of the great ocean, and part of the vast alaya repository of impressions is very helpful for me in developing a degree of tranquility, by which I can more naturally get closer to the stillness of mind required for meditation.
The stillness is already there in the alaya. One needs to dive deeper!
