A Commentary Literature on ‘Faith in Mind’

Chapter 26 Live with the Environment Equanimously

By Wong Weng Hon

With no aversion to the sense realm
You become one with true enlightenment

The sense realm consists of the mind, body and the external phenomenal world. The sense realm of the mind, body and external phenomenal world are represented comprehensively by the five aggregates of form, feelings, perceptions, volitions  and consciousness or the eighteen elements of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body mind, sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought, eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and  mind-consciousness.

When one is exposed to the negative environmental stimuli sensed through the six faculties, the power of equanimity will eliminate the emotion of aversion towards them. Without aversion, the ignorant superimposition of the self-centric ego upon the human personality by  an ordinary worldling will be annihilated . Equanimity is exercised to get rid of the illusive self–centric ego . The power of equanimity is arisen from the perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā)  by which Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā)  of the five aggregates or the eighteen elements is intuitively perceived. Enlightenment (bodhi) experience is the intuitive discernment of Emptiness which is the dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-duality (Advaya). In the experience of Emptiness or Enlightenment, one merges with the oneness of the entire environment without any notion of I or mine or any notion of individualism. Under such a condition, the false sense of self-centric ego is completely annihilated in the unity of existence. Devoid of self-centric ego, the Enlightened One lives in the knowledge of the oneness of Man and environment. Such soteriological experience of the perfection of wisdom is known as the experience of Chan or Zen.

To be continued ….