1. Background
Ancient Greek philosophy distinguished between opinion and truth from the very beginning, and traditionally placed language at the center of epistemology. Although intuition sometimes operated around this center, it was usually suspected as opinion. In Heidegger’s view, philosophy cannot be separated from the existence of language, if consciousness cannot be transformed into language, it will not form judgment and knowledge, which is worthless, so “language is the home of existence”, consciousness is intuitive and self-evident, instinct spontaneously seeks the so-called inevitability of reason, but it is not controlled by thinking, on the contrary, thinking operates under the rules of consciousness. Kant believes that “intuition is blind without concept, and concept is empty without intuition.” Intuition naturally accompanies the content of feeling and has the characteristics of preexistence, while the existence of the phenomenal world is a process of self-manifestation. Based on this, Kant distinguishes between the thing of idea and the thing in itself.
Unlike the Western tradition, intuition often becomes the explanation of some “natural endowment theory” in Eastern philosophy, such as “People’s Records” which says that “if we can know the spirit, we will exhaust the nature of things.” Wang Chong’s “Lun Heng” also says that “the sage does not learn to know himself”. The ancients called the function of intuition “Shenjian”, which comes directly from our sensibility and has transcendent insight. Zengzi said that “the essence of Yang is called spirit, and the essence of Yin is called spirit. The spirit is the root of all things.”1 “Zhi Yue Lu” says that “Prajna is the wisdom of Tang Yan. In all places, in all times, the mind is not foolish, and the constant practice of wisdom is Prajna. Prajna is invisible”.2 Maha Zhiguan, on the other hand, makes a more concise distinction between awareness and meaning: “Those who are aware are illuminated”. The mind is the number of the mind. As for awareness, consciousness and consciousness, it holds that:
“The Awakened One knows that the mind is neither intentional nor unintentional;” There is neither knowledge nor ignorance in the heart; The mind is neither intentional nor unintentional; There is neither knowledge nor ignorance in the mind; Knowledge is neither intentional nor unintentional; There is no intention in knowledge, nor is there no intention. The mind, the will, and the consciousness are not one, so there are three names.3
Buddhist practice is devoted to the training of inner intuition, such as reflecting on the legitimacy of the joy of the world, which is the use of the pure mind to the representation, so as to observe the traces of Taoism, to keep the body and mind at ease, and then to influence the consciousness itself, such as the “full discipline, achievement of dignity, color gain” as stated in the “Chang Agama Sutra”. Regain new and deep induction (in Max Weber’s view, the word induction itself is the expression of the function of witchcraft) (Weber, 2005) . This point is also precisely described in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason: “The pure mode of what is generally called perceptual intuition (in which all the miscellaneous things in intuition are perceived in a certain relationship) must exist in the mind a priori” (Kant, 2011) . As for the function of innate intuition, he said:
2. Intuitive
“In a priori judgment, when we want to go beyond the concept, only in a priori intuition can we reach what cannot be found in the concept, but can be found in the intuition corresponding to the concept” (Kant, 2011) .
As for what is understanding, he said in his Introduction to Future Metaphysics that “the knowledge obtained through understanding is intellectual, and these knowledge also involves our sensory world;” Those objects that can be represented only through the understanding and cannot be related to our perceptual intuition are perceptive. Understanding is nothing but a reflection on people’s cognitive ability, including the timeliness and authenticity of intuitive concepts.
Obviously, the intuition discussed by Kant is an external intuitive impression and representation of the phenomenal world. As for the inner intuition of consciousness, it involves “apperception”, which is different from the Buddhist theory of consciousness, and this paper does not study it.
The training of inner intuition enlarges our mind, makes our mind more inclusive, and enlarges the ability of consciousness to store information. At the same time, it radiates the good energy of the soul, and then affects the surrounding existence. For example, Confucius’s understanding of time is that “the passing of time is like the passing of time”, which implies that time and space are inseparable, and that all the processes of time must be carried out in space. Based on this, the ancient philosophers reflect on the disappearance of life consciousness, whether consciousness cannot escape the shackles of time and space? In the Altar Sutra, Huineng says, “It is not the phoenix that moves, it is not the sail that moves, but the heart of the benevolent.” The Heart Sutra says that “the five skandhas are all empty”, so the value of intuitive training is far beyond the significance of behavioral norms, so there are countless correlations between intuition and consciousness. When the intuition is inward, the subjective consciousness is not in the external time and space, it becomes the “mind view” in the face of memories, inexplicable pictures and even empty darkness.
Through the inner intuition (mind view), we often find the phenomenon that consciousness cannot be autonomous, consciousness is sometimes “not clear”, sometimes “not the door”, often in an awkward and chaotic situation. Among them, desire is the most serious, and the operation of spiritual purification has traces of backtracking, often in the form of repentance, reflection and correction. Until the end, “the mind is the dojo”. And enter the level of subtle perception, begin to pay attention to the rise of the appearance for no reason, and reach the state of “everything is ready for me”. This way of understanding oneself is different from the operation of language, thinking and concepts. Reading the Confucian classics, we also find evidence that the subjective consciousness lags behind the mind, such as Xunzi’s Uncovering Chapter:
“Therefore, it is said in the Taoist Classic, ‘The danger of the human heart is the weakness of the heart of the Tao.’” Only a wise man can know how much danger there is. Therefore, the human heart is like a dish of water, which is wrong and does not move, then the turbidity is at the bottom, and the Pure Brightness is at the top, which is enough to see the eyebrow and examine the reason. When the breeze passes by, the turbid air moves downward, and the Pure Brightness is chaotic on the top, it is not possible to get the positive of the big shape. The same is true of the heart.
3. Inner Intuition
Inner intuition reminds us that in addition to eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, there is also the function of inner perception (mind), which takes consciousness itself as the object of study and exists in the mind a priori. It is a deep-seated cognitive ability that can only be touched through the purification of consciousness. Achieve the functions of moistening the six roots and sharpening the six roots. It is a good way to promote the display of self-consciousness, and to seek and pursue the origin of consciousness. From the Buddhist point of view, Vipassana is an honest observation of one’s own mind and actions, a self-examination of one’s own will, and whether one has sufficient dignity without omission? Mind is different from the first five senses, it is not a simple language system, but a consciousness system, in the words of Buddhism, “self-nature is sufficient”, the relationship between intuition and receptivity is subject to the five senses, when a seed falls on the ground, we can detect it by hearing, but when a seed falls, it is difficult for us to detect it, and so on, we cannot see it all. Especially at the micro level, even if we try to cultivate the sensitivity of receptivity, we cannot achieve the whole view. At this time, consciousness based on receptivity is unreliable, and the senses fail to coincide with events. It can be said that the work of conscious mind is to cultivate the relationship between micro-perception and phenomena. Mind intuition is a kind of ability, which transcends observation and is very cautious in judgment. Just as we tend to use “extension” to describe material properties, the mind has insight. It penetrates the internal and external boundaries of the subject and the object, and can transcend the sensibility of the subject to visualize the world, and even regard it as the illumination of perceptual intuition, which is not mysticism, but really exists. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, Shi Zhu Miao Yan Pin No.1, it is said that “all the lands in the past are shown in one pore”, “those who know the Dharma nature without hindrance are shown in all directions”, “all the dust in the Avatamsaka world can see the Dharma realm in one dust”. It implies the interaction and multi-dimension of space, and at this time, it delves into the display of images and reflects on the regular form of existence.
It is in this sense that the “freedom” in the context of Oriental wisdom is different from the “freedom” of choice and arbitrariness. The receptivity of the mind examines the authenticity of my existence, and then discovers the illusion of existence. Does freedom need to get rid of receptivity? If not, then freedom is a kind of self-hypnosis of the mind. It distinguishes human freedom from natural freedom, even if it can get rid of receptivity. The subject still exists in the virtual intuition, the mind knows what it is trapped by and seeks a breakthrough, and the understanding of human freedom to the freedom of nature is still limited. The path of intuitive knowledge to truth is to draw lessons from the enlightenment of life sensibility of natural existence outside human beings, which in turn suggests that human beings can break through their own cognitive dimension and get out of the predicament. The understanding of others needs to get rid of the foreknowledge of this person, that is, Zhuangzi’s “Zi is not a fish, how can he know the joy of fish”. We are not high above the masses. We need to examine the sensibility of animals and plants to time and space. Therefore, “realm” and “comprehension” are not subjective products after the use of the subject’s will, but unconscious decomposition of the body and mind. With the help of the concept of mind, we can distinguish what is the spontaneity of thinking and what is the spontaneity of apparent consciousness. Kant has always opposed the ability of human beings to have rational intuition, which is a very cautious approach, while Buddhism has tirelessly explored the structure of the mind, making intuition have an extraordinary depth and giving thinking a creative use. It communicates perception and knowledge. For example, the illusion of the phenomenal world in time appears in the form of cause and effect. But what is more essential is the harmony of karma. Time is the self-setting of the mind. Time cannot find its existence in itself. Everything is not in time. In this way, the mind is not in time, so can consciousness be described as extensive? For example, Monk Zhao’s Prajna Ignorance Theory compares the use of consciousness to “illumination”, Wang Yangming also holds the principle of “this mind is bright”, which is different from the ability of rational pursuit of rules, and he believes that phenomena are not chaotic, but are genuine, and that attributes can be distinguished in the complex representation. All things maintain themselves in a normal posture, and there is a superficial change between the present and the eternal. In front of the view of mind, “there is nothing outside the mind”, any judgment and preference are impatient, and the intuitive method is only a kind of accompaniment, which is the accompaniment of the highest existence. All things are the state of accompanying each other. Intuition points not only to knowledge, but also to the highest good. Intuition sees the overflow of life and the overflow of the universe from the light of nature. Conceptual things are unreal and lack of timeliness.
Buddhism’s doctrine of “inventing the original mind”, that is, the light of spirit, criticizes that the wrong understanding is attributed to the use of the senses, which is precisely the result of the subject’s eagerness to judge and proves the existence of life consciousness different from experience. The spontaneity of consciousness just shows the richness and independence of the spiritual self. In the world of experience, the mind is blinded, and only when it is accompanied by clarity and frankness can intuition gain access. Intellectual intuition and consciousness are gradually in harmony, because it is not always alert, often vague, disapproving and indistinguishable from consciousness, and neglectful.
The illusory nature of space is discovered through material representation, the existence of material state in space is not fixed, and its essence is also proved to be unstable from microscopic experimental science. As a concept, space exists in our mind a priori, and cannot be recognized through concepts, while intuition is limited by the five senses of human beings. “All appearances are false”. Everything you see is an illusion. With the help of inner intuition, we examine the conditions of the existence of space and the essence of emptiness. Where does the void come from. There is no infinite end, and Buddhism also believes that the idea that the big sound is silent and the elephant is invisible does not exist, but lacks a strong and reliable description. Intuitive impression must obtain subjective initiative, rather than simply copying, the void becomes the site of copying, and the process of intuitive transformation of patterns is the process of grasping rules.
4. Pure Intuition
Pure intuition repels thinking and desire. Trained intuition can easily distinguish between emotional desire and conscious desire. Intuition affects the subject’s experience. For example, some big words such as “universe” and “galaxy”, but our experience of them is different. When we think of the universe, it is infinite and dark, while when we think of the galaxy, it is bright and rotating. For example, some small words. “Atoms” and “molecules” will think that atoms are basically stable, and molecules are a kind of structure composed of atoms, but in fact, the model of atoms is almost similar to the composition of the solar system, although we do not use microscopic representation to get the visual experience of big and small, but intuition so magically provides us with a variety of pictures. However, all scientific knowledge is uncertain. Emotionally, we yearn for intimacy with all things. The ancients talked about the use of Qi and had the purpose of maximizing popularity. So Mencius said that “all things are prepared for me” and Lu Jiuyuan said that “the universe is my heart”, as if the world could be unified in the absolute self, but how to unify? With the continuous progress of modern science, man can be said to be a mirror of the universe. With the help of logic and experiments, the expression of “intuitionism” of ancient philosophers has been proved by stages, but man deeply understands that logic cannot be regarded as existence itself, although man has the ability to understand the world. But it is impossible to know the whole universe before you fully know yourself, which is why Socrates said that “people should know themselves”. The practice of Western philosophy is to study how to accurately transform intuitive experience into logical symbolic operation. Oriental philosophy, on the other hand, focuses on deepening and enriching this experience. It is the former source of logic.
Buddhism talks about “one flower, one world”; Logically, we also feel that there is a big in the small, so we say “Mustard Seed Tibetan Sumi”. Chinese is a language closer to imagination than thinking. Therefore, we develop beautiful poems and enrich phenomena through the spirit behind the words, so that our words do not only try to express clearly around us through self-evident consciousness, but also often get similar impressions through copying, and form virtual impressions under the comprehensive effect of the senses, so as to prove that the birth and death of existence. However, not every individual is born to be fluent in the production of knowledge. What Socrates wants to tell the world all his life is that “man, you are the producer of knowledge yourself.” However, our own talent for perceptual intuition is hazy and blind, or even blind, which ultimately leads to our lack of systematic knowledge of it. Consciousness-only learning is unique, which tries to open up the channel between spiritual phenomena and self-evident consciousness, not to obtain continuous knowledge, on the contrary, it is the work of restoration that dispels the will and purpose. Different from the color of the concept of correspondence theory, although the intuition of Buddhism absorbs the objective virtual, it does not point to the objective. “Flower enlightenment without life” repeatedly shows that Buddhism enters from the mind, not thinking.
How to understand this sentence? For example, music, we often talk about the understanding of music, it is not a word, do not know symbols, but it does exist, the Buddha Dharma is the same. How to understand the sound, the Buddha said in the Shurangama Sutra, “The sound is round and round, observing and hearing, returning to and leaving all the dust, can make all living beings, forbidden to tie shackles, cannot touch.” The Buddha has all wisdom, all kinds of wisdom, and the tact of “color is emptiness”. We know that the range of human hearing is between 20 HZ and 20 KHZ, and other sounds that are not in this range still exist. It is only our sense of smell that has not been fully developed. The Diamond Sutra says, “The Tathagata has the eye of Heaven and the eye of Dharma.” The faculties of the mind have yet to be developed. Those parts that cannot be heard can be seen by the mind, and their existence can be recognized. Chuang Tzu talks about “sounds of nature”, and the mind can hear them. Bodhidharma often said, “See what you cannot see and hear what you cannot hear.” It is the work of restoration. The world itself is in motion, and everywhere is a picture of change.
Intuitively, the starting point is to seek truth from above and “not to set up words”. At that time, Kumarajiva asked the Buddha, “What is the emptiness of the Dharma cloud?” The Buddha Bhadra replied, “All the colors are tiny, but the colors have no self-nature. Therefore, only the colors are always empty.” (Liang, 2010) On the issue of “emptiness” and “color”, it intuitively shows the limitation of cognition. What the mind observes is the fate of all causes, and emptiness is non-phase. However, according to Chueh-hui’s analysis of the extreme margin of all colors, it is assumed that the meaning of separation is very small, and that there is a square division of color gathering, and that there is a square division of color gathering (Li, 2005) . There is a place for all colors, why is it empty? It is similar to the “position” in Aristotle’s category, but we must further ask where the place comes from? Buddhism talks about “Yun, Chu, and Jie”, which are inseparable from each other. It is called “gathering”, so “emptiness” is the “boundary language”. “Shi Lun” says: “If you look at the tiny color, there are eighteen emptiness.” This book says: “If you look at one end of the stack, there are eighteen empty.” If you hold on to the present, you will not be able to extricate yourself. Shenxiu has a spotless pursuit and seeks truth from the cause, unlike the “first cause” of Western philosophy, but there is no truth, no hindrance, and the mind is not heavy and cannot exert itself. Huineng also talks about “where to dye the dust”, from which consciousness can Pure Brightness and free itself.
But in the world, although they are not aware of it, they strive to break through the dilemma of understanding and clarify the confusion of life consciousness. You can rest assured. There is a distinction in the realm of intuition, which depends on the harmony of body and mind and religious practice. In philosophy, intuition asks the question of “whether existence is nihility or not”, and finally goes to “body and function”, living in a state, not thinking, not thinking, and seeing frankly, such as “laughing with flowers”, Buddhism is Frank and nothing else. For example, Maha Zhiguan says:
“If you see that the Tathagata’s parents were born, and their bodies are in harmony with each other, and they know that the place where they are born is bright and shining, what the head of the head cannot do;” The king of the victory wheel likes to entangle with each other. There is hope in the world. There is no Buddha in heaven and the world. The world of ten directions is also incomparable. May I get the Buddha, the Holy Dharma King of Qi. I deliver sentient beings, countless. It is to see the Buddha’s love, to seek the transformation of the upper and lower levels, and to develop Bodhicitta.4
We are inspired that the nature of aesthetics is beyond doubt, intuition can enter the heart, “Buddha’s face is like the moon”, Buddhist scriptures record that there are people who shed tears because they see the Tathagata’s lover and admire him. Consciousness spontaneously gets the traction of beauty, and when emotional worship arises, receptivity dominates intentionality. For example, our impression of food has the same mechanism. In this way, the heart is surrounded by these impressions all the time. These impressions are gathered into perceptual intuition. With the reflection of wisdom, people gradually understand that the perceptual intuition needs to be constantly revised, otherwise it will stay in an old inner world. How can consciousness be spontaneously renewed? Buddhism takes the route of subtraction, that is, “brushing frequently from time to time”. The consciousness that has been perceived needs to be filtered and cleared, and slowly moves towards the realm of freedom. In this way, intuition slowly says goodbye to opinions and pursues truth.
“Maha Zhiguan” says that “the bitterness in the world is concentrated, and the stagnation at the bottom is the most important; Out of bounds is light”. Buddhist practice emphasizes intuitive sensibility, which is based on the lightness and purity of the subject’s body and mind. It is believed that in the realm of desire, the flesh and blood are heavy, the body and mind are bitter, and the five aggregates are falling. The key to practice is to be reborn and seek to leave the two realms of desire and color. All this is due to ignorance, so it requires the empty view of Prajna to get rid of the heavy appearance. The concept of enlightenment is to stay away from all the heavy things. Evil leads to degeneration, so the cultivation of goodness can make the body and mind light and peaceful. “Living in Prajna with the Dharma of non-phase” is also a way to stay away from the heavy Dharma.
5. Conclusion
Buddhism believes that the relationship between the mind and phenomena is the origin of consciousness, not as Protagoras said in ancient Greece, “Man is the yardstick of all things, the yardstick of existence, and the yardstick that does not exist.” Buddhism regards people as “instruments”, and only when the vessels are intact and pure can they be used.
NOTES
1Da Dai Li Ji · Zeng ZiTianyuan, Chapter 58.
2ZhiYue Lu, Volume 4, Six Groups of Master Huineng.
3MahaZhiguan, Volume 2.
4 (Sui, 595) Tiantai Wise Master: MahaZhiguan, Volume 1, Taisho Collection, Volume 46, No. 1911.