1 00:00:00,260 --> 00:00:01,379 Two thousand five hundred years ago, 2 00:00:01,379 --> 00:00:04,299 the Buddha drew a diagram of the human sensory system. A couple 3 00:00:04,459 --> 00:00:07,318 of days ago, I shared a neuroscience lecture 4 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,480 about the human sensory and perceptual system. 5 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:11,619 After that video was released, 6 00:00:11,619 --> 00:00:13,360 one comment really caught my eye: "Is 7 00:00:13,859 --> 00:00:14,109 8 00:00:14,109 --> 00:00:16,539 n't this a modern neuroscience 9 00:00:16,539 --> 00:00:19,120 reinterpretation of the Buddhist concepts of the six senses, six consciousnesses, and six sense objects? All 10 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:20,561 phenomena arise from the mind. 11 00:00:20,719 --> 00:00:21,359 12 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:24,600 " Coincidentally, the "idea that resonated strongly" I mentioned at the end of my last video refers to 13 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:25,080 this. In 14 00:00:25,460 --> 00:00:26,160 this episode, 15 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,519 I want to combine the neuroscience facts from last time with the cognitive framework of Buddhism. 16 00:00:30,519 --> 00:00:34,060 You'll discover something truly astonishing: two thousand five hundred years ago, 17 00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:35,079 without microscopes, 18 00:00:35,079 --> 00:00:36,058 electrodes, 19 00:00:36,060 --> 00:00:37,460 or fMRI, the 20 00:00:37,460 --> 00:00:39,759 Buddha actually drew a 21 00:00:39,759 --> 00:00:42,320 diagram of the human sensory system that highly matches modern neuroscience. 22 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:44,299 And in some aspects, 23 00:00:44,299 --> 00:00:46,100 he went further than modern science. Hello 24 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:46,460 25 00:00:46,460 --> 00:00:46,880 everyone, 26 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:47,381 I'm Wang Lijie. Let's 27 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,140 quickly review the core conclusions of last time. 28 00:00:50,780 --> 00:00:52,440 Neuroscience tells us three things: 29 00:00:52,899 --> 00:00:53,520 First, 30 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,119 your senses are translators, 31 00:00:55,119 --> 00:00:55,760 not windows. 32 00:00:56,159 --> 00:00:58,479 You never directly interact with the external world; 33 00:00:58,479 --> 00:01:02,080 you interact with your nervous system's translated version of electrical signals from physical stimuli. 34 00:01:02,439 --> 00:01:03,039 Second, 35 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:04,740 this translation is severely impaired. The 36 00:01:05,140 --> 00:01:08,861 information you receive is only a tiny fraction of the information available in the universe. 37 00:01:09,180 --> 00:01:09,760 Thirdly, 38 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:11,379 even this tiny fraction 39 00:01:11,379 --> 00:01:14,680 requires further processing, filtering, and mental addition by your brain to 40 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,781 present you with a version it deems "sufficient." 41 00:01:17,359 --> 00:01:19,079 Therefore, the "reality" you experience 42 00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:20,000 is a processed product, 43 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:20,621 not the original. 44 00:01:21,500 --> 00:01:21,540 Okay, 45 00:01:21,540 --> 00:01:23,221 now let's see what Buddhism says. 46 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:26,159 Buddhism has a very sophisticated cognitive model 47 00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:29,161 called the "Eighteen Realms" – the six sense organs, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses. 48 00:01:29,819 --> 00:01:31,180 This isn't metaphysics; 49 00:01:31,180 --> 00:01:34,061 it's a structural description of the human information processing system. The 50 00:01:34,819 --> 00:01:35,319 six 51 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,541 sense organs are the six sensory organs: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The first 52 00:01:40,079 --> 00:01:42,439 five correspond to the five physiological senses, and the 53 00:01:42,439 --> 00:01:45,040 last one, "mind," corresponds to thinking ability, which 54 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,541 can be roughly understood as the brain's higher-order cognitive functions. The six sense objects 55 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:48,680 56 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,861 are the six objects perceived: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. 57 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:54,939 "Form" doesn't mean color; it refers 58 00:01:54,939 --> 00:01:56,519 to all visible forms. " 59 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:57,920 Dharma" doesn't mean law; it refers to 60 00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:59,980 all objects that can be cognized by thought: 61 00:02:00,359 --> 00:02:02,320 concepts, memories, imagination, and reasoning. The 62 00:02:02,819 --> 00:02:03,200 six consciousnesses 63 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,879 are the six sensory activities: eye consciousness, ear consciousness, 64 00:02:06,180 --> 00:02:08,039 nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness. 65 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:09,099 Note... The 66 00:02:09,099 --> 00:02:10,780 "consciousness" here isn't a thing, but 67 00:02:10,780 --> 00:02:11,520 an event—the 68 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,961 cognitive activity that "emerges" when the senses and the sense objects meet. 69 00:02:15,819 --> 00:02:18,439 What was discussed in the last neuroscience class? It was about the 70 00:02:18,599 --> 00:02:21,060 various sensory receptors in the human body: the 71 00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:23,780 Piezo channels for touch, the hair cells for hearing, the 72 00:02:23,979 --> 00:02:27,189 rods and cones for vision, and the chemoreceptors for smell and taste. 73 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,419 These receptors convert physical stimuli into electrical signals. 74 00:02:30,419 --> 00:02:33,159 Then the brain processes these electrical signals to 75 00:02:33,159 --> 00:02:34,221 produce your subjective experience. If 76 00:02:34,819 --> 00:02:38,560 you put these two descriptions together: the sensory receptors are the "senses," the 77 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:40,139 physical stimuli are the "sense objects," and the 78 00:02:40,139 --> 00:02:42,600 subjective experience produced by the brain is "consciousness." 79 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:44,811 This isn't a far-fetched analogy; these 80 00:02:45,219 --> 00:02:47,120 are two descriptive languages ​​of the same system. 81 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,599 One uses Pali and Sanskrit, 82 00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:51,140 the other uses English and mathematics. 83 00:02:51,539 --> 00:02:53,661 They describe the exact same process, 84 00:02:54,099 --> 00:02:56,780 but Buddhism goes a step further than neuroscience, 85 00:02:56,780 --> 00:02:58,341 and it's a crucial one. 86 00:02:59,020 --> 00:02:59,979 In the neuroscience class, the 87 00:02:59,979 --> 00:03:02,240 professor used the term " 88 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,221 transduction"—converting physical energy into electrical signals. 89 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,479 He also used two analogies: wind turbines convert wind energy into electrical energy, and 90 00:03:09,479 --> 00:03:11,760 solar panels convert light energy into electrical energy. 91 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,281 Your sensory receptors do exactly that. 92 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,319 This description is accurate, 93 00:03:16,319 --> 00:03:17,760 but it stops at the mechanistic level. 94 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,139 Buddhism recognizes the same truth 95 00:03:20,139 --> 00:03:21,549 and then asks a deeper question: 96 00:03:21,549 --> 00:03:23,741 If all your experiences are "consciousness"—cognitive 97 00:03:24,199 --> 00:03:27,280 events arising from the encounter between the senses and their objects— 98 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,900 then where exactly is the "external objective world" you perceive you are experiencing? 99 00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:32,000 100 00:03:32,020 --> 00:03:34,961 The answer is: you never step outside the realm of "consciousness." 101 00:03:35,379 --> 00:03:37,080 You think you see a flower, 102 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:41,199 but what actually happens is: photons strike cone cells on the retina, 103 00:03:41,199 --> 00:03:43,000 triggering ion channels to open, 104 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 electrical signals are transmitted to the visual cortex, and 105 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,780 the brain performs a series of calculations—edge detection, 106 00:03:47,939 --> 00:03:49,560 color filling, depth estimation, 107 00:03:49,879 --> 00:03:50,500 pattern matching— 108 00:03:50,860 --> 00:03:53,040 ultimately "presenting" you with an experience called "flower." 109 00:03:53,620 --> 00:03:54,500 This entire process, 110 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:55,620 from beginning to end, 111 00:03:55,620 --> 00:03:57,441 occurs within your nervous system. 112 00:03:58,080 --> 00:03:58,939 That "flower," 113 00:03:58,939 --> 00:04:00,340 as your object of experience, 114 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:01,961 is a product of your conscious activity. 115 00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:05,980 Buddhism condenses this insight into four words: "All phenomena are consciousness-only." 116 00:04:06,860 --> 00:04:08,639 Everything you can experience 117 00:04:08,639 --> 00:04:09,561 is an activity of consciousness. It doesn't 118 00:04:10,139 --> 00:04:11,530 mean there's nothing outside, 119 00:04:11,780 --> 00:04:14,280 but rather that you can never bypass your cognitive 120 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,200 system to directly access that "external thing." What 121 00:04:16,899 --> 00:04:17,978 you can access is 122 00:04:17,980 --> 00:04:19,120 always only your consciousness. 123 00:04:19,699 --> 00:04:21,720 This is the same thing I've repeatedly mentioned in several previous videos regarding 124 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,860 Hoffmann's interface theory. 125 00:04:24,399 --> 00:04:28,240 Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman used rigorous evolutionary game theory to prove that 126 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,720 natural selection does not lead organisms to evolve a perceptual system that "sees the truth," but only to 127 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,260 evolve interfaces that are "advantageous for survival." 128 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:36,639 Space, time, and matter—what 129 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,259 you perceive as the basic components of the objective world—are, 130 00:04:39,819 --> 00:04:42,660 according to Hoffman, user interfaces of consciousness. 131 00:04:42,660 --> 00:04:44,080 Like icons on a computer desktop, 132 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,759 you see a blue folder icon, 133 00:04:46,759 --> 00:04:48,379 but there's no blue folder on your hard drive; 134 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,661 it's just an interface element that allows you to operate conveniently. 135 00:04:51,740 --> 00:04:53,560 You see a red apple, 136 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,100 but both "red" and "apple" are interface elements generated by your consciousness, 137 00:04:57,100 --> 00:04:59,600 allowing you to effectively survive and act in this world. The 138 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:04,060 neuroscience lesson in the last episode 139 00:05:04,060 --> 00:05:06,280 provided a wealth of concrete evidence for this view from the perspective of biological experiments. 140 00:05:06,959 --> 00:05:09,199 Rattlesnakes and pythons see infrared thermal images, bees see ultraviolet patterns, and migratory 141 00:05:09,500 --> 00:05:11,740 142 00:05:11,740 --> 00:05:15,300 birds sense magnetic field lines—every organism has its own "interface." 143 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:17,300 No one sees the "real world"; 144 00:05:17,300 --> 00:05:19,969 everyone sees a "suitable version" that they have evolved. 145 00:05:20,740 --> 00:05:20,779 Okay, 146 00:05:20,779 --> 00:05:24,459 next, I want to map out several specific neuroscience findings from the last episode 147 00:05:24,459 --> 00:05:26,600 to a Buddhist framework, one by one. 148 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:28,620 You'll find the matching degree is surprisingly high. 149 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,210 The first: the distinction between sensation and perception. 150 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,779 Last time, I spent a lot of time discussing the 151 00:05:33,779 --> 00:05:34,819 difference between Sensation and Perception. 152 00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:37,459 Sensation is the raw data collection, while 153 00:05:37,459 --> 00:05:39,460 perception is the subjective experience processed by the brain. 154 00:05:39,959 --> 00:05:42,399 Your ears are constantly collecting the sound of the air conditioner, 155 00:05:42,399 --> 00:05:43,680 but you don't "hear" it 156 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,420 because your brain determines it's unimportant and 157 00:05:45,420 --> 00:05:46,300 filters it out. 158 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,160 This has a very precise correspondence in Buddhism, 159 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,140 namely the "Three Natures" model of Yogacara. 160 00:05:51,699 --> 00:05:53,920 I broke it down in detail in the episode about the *Samdhinirmocana Sutra*. The 161 00:05:54,420 --> 00:05:57,759 first layer is called "Dependent Origination" - the data flow of causes and conditions coming together, which is the 162 00:05:57,759 --> 00:05:59,540 raw sensory signal. 163 00:05:59,699 --> 00:06:02,500 Photons hitting the retina, sound waves vibrating hair cells, 164 00:06:02,639 --> 00:06:05,920 pressure triggering the Piezochannel - these are dependent origination, the 165 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,240 information flow that occurs naturally under conditions. The 166 00:06:08,819 --> 00:06:10,380 second layer is called "Imagined Nature" - the 167 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,240 narrative and judgment superimposed on the raw data. 168 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,540 After the brain receives the electrical signal, it 169 00:06:15,540 --> 00:06:17,920 automatically performs pattern recognition, classification, labeling, and 170 00:06:18,079 --> 00:06:19,829 emotional assignment - "This is a flower," " 171 00:06:20,199 --> 00:06:21,199 This sound is noisy," " 172 00:06:21,259 --> 00:06:22,140 This thing is dangerous." 173 00:06:22,579 --> 00:06:26,100 These judgments are stories that your brain "makes up" on the raw data, 174 00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:28,240 and you take these stories as facts. The 175 00:06:28,779 --> 00:06:30,680 visual illusions I talked about last time... 176 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,060 Each one is a textbook example of conceptual constructs. 177 00:06:33,579 --> 00:06:36,160 Is that dress blue or white? The 178 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:38,980 brain first makes a hidden assumption you're completely unaware of: 179 00:06:39,459 --> 00:06:40,399 lighting conditions. 180 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:42,920 Then, based on this assumption, it presents you with a "fact" 181 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,600 —two identical orange dots. 182 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,319 The brain makes a size judgment based on the surrounding environment 183 00:06:48,319 --> 00:06:51,730 and presents this judgment as "the reality you see." 184 00:06:52,220 --> 00:06:54,620 You measure them with a ruler and know they're the same size, 185 00:06:54,620 --> 00:06:57,040 but your visual system still insists they're different. 186 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,560 Your conceptual constructs are so stubborn; 187 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,420 they even ignore your own rational judgment. The 188 00:07:01,980 --> 00:07:05,240 third layer is called "perfected reality"—truly understanding the operation of the first two layers, 189 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:07,379 knowing what dependent origination is, 190 00:07:07,379 --> 00:07:09,879 knowing how conceptual constructs are added, 191 00:07:09,879 --> 00:07:11,480 neither denying the existence of experience 192 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:13,080 nor taking the processed product as the original. 193 00:07:13,939 --> 00:07:15,180 This "truthful understanding" 194 00:07:15,180 --> 00:07:16,139 is Prajna, 195 00:07:16,139 --> 00:07:16,740 is wisdom. 196 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,399 In fact, the neuroscience class in the last episode itself was 197 00:07:20,399 --> 00:07:22,161 cultivating the ability of perfected reality. The 198 00:07:22,620 --> 00:07:25,680 professor showed you how your sensory system works. For the 199 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:29,240 first time, you understood, "The world I see is processed by the brain." 200 00:07:29,819 --> 00:07:30,779 This understanding itself 201 00:07:30,779 --> 00:07:32,060 is a small "awakening." 202 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,000 You begin to see the process of "seeing" itself. The 203 00:07:35,540 --> 00:07:37,580 second: the marking line system and binding. 204 00:07:38,060 --> 00:07:40,000 Last time, we discussed a very important concept called the 205 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,079 Labeled Line System. 206 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:44,259 Each sensory neuron transmits only one type of information. The 207 00:07:44,259 --> 00:07:48,340 tactile neuron at the tip of the index finger will only report "the tip of the index finger has been touched." 208 00:07:48,779 --> 00:07:51,180 Then, the brain assembles the signals from different labeled lines 209 00:07:51,180 --> 00:07:53,700 into a complete perceptual experience through "binding." 210 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,600 In Buddhism, this process corresponds to the operating mechanism of the "Five Aggregates" (Skandhas). The Five 211 00:07:58,220 --> 00:08:01,149 Aggregates are another analytical framework for human experience in Buddhism: 212 00:08:01,860 --> 00:08:03,560 form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. Form 213 00:08:04,259 --> 00:08:07,260 is the original physical stimulus and your physical body. Feeling 214 00:08:07,879 --> 00:08:10,079 is sensation—touching something, whether it's 215 00:08:10,079 --> 00:08:11,480 comfortable or uncomfortable. 216 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:13,020 This is the most basic emotional reaction. Perception 217 00:08:13,740 --> 00:08:16,730 is recognition and classification—the brain says, "This is a cup." Mental formations 218 00:08:17,279 --> 00:08:19,850 are will and reaction—"I want to pick it up." 219 00:08:20,459 --> 00:08:21,940 Consciousness is the awareness of the entire process. The 220 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:23,939 neuroscientific process is: 221 00:08:23,939 --> 00:08:28,661 physical stimulus → receptor transduction → labeled line transmission → brain binding → perceptual experience. The 222 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,581 Buddhist process is: form → feeling → perception → mental formations → consciousness. 223 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:33,720 You see, 224 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,559 this is not a rough directional correspondence, but a 225 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:37,180 step-by-step structural correspondence. Moreover, 226 00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:41,840 2,500 years ago, without any experimental tools, Buddhism 227 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,210 used pure introspection—observing the operation of one's own consciousness—to understand the process. The very fact that 228 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:46,480 this model was derived is 229 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,560 worth pausing to reflect upon. 230 00:08:49,700 --> 00:08:51,441 Thirdly: the unreliability of perception. 231 00:08:52,220 --> 00:08:54,259 What was the most unsettling conclusion from the last issue? It was that 232 00:08:54,379 --> 00:08:56,100 your perception is sometimes wrong, 233 00:08:56,539 --> 00:08:58,740 and you don't even realize it. The 234 00:08:58,779 --> 00:09:00,269 McGurk effect tells you that 235 00:09:00,269 --> 00:09:02,759 your vision can directly modify your hearing, 236 00:09:02,759 --> 00:09:05,280 allowing you to "hear" a sound that doesn't physically exist. The 237 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,500 size illusion tells you that 238 00:09:07,500 --> 00:09:09,360 even if you rationally know the truth, 239 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,180 your senses will continue to deceive you. 240 00:09:11,779 --> 00:09:13,800 Buddhism offers a very sharp diagnosis on this: 241 00:09:14,139 --> 00:09:14,860 it says that 242 00:09:14,860 --> 00:09:17,000 human suffering doesn't come from the external world, 243 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,500 but from your unwavering belief in your own perception. 244 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,899 You treat the brain's processing as objective reality, 245 00:09:22,899 --> 00:09:25,409 and then build upon this foundation "I like this, 246 00:09:25,409 --> 00:09:27,890 " "I hate that," "This is mine," "That's his." The 247 00:09:28,460 --> 00:09:30,620 entire emotional and attachment system 248 00:09:30,620 --> 00:09:32,919 is built on an unexamined assumption. What 249 00:09:32,919 --> 00:09:34,780 I see is real. The 250 00:09:35,149 --> 00:09:37,100 Heart Sutra says, "Form is not different from emptiness, 251 00:09:37,100 --> 00:09:37,660 emptiness is not different from form." 252 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,659 All the phenomena you experience (form) and their 253 00:09:40,659 --> 00:09:43,740 lack of independent self-nature (emptiness) are not two separate things; they 254 00:09:43,740 --> 00:09:44,880 are two sides of the same coin. The 255 00:09:45,639 --> 00:09:48,379 flower you see is a real experience, 256 00:09:48,379 --> 00:09:51,270 but it is not an independent "entity" existing outside your consciousness; 257 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:52,960 it is your visual system. 258 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,340 Lighting conditions, your focus of attention, 259 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,580 your past memories, and your emotional state— 260 00:09:57,580 --> 00:10:00,821 all these factors converge to create a temporary event. When 261 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:01,960 conditions change, the 262 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:02,740 experience changes. 263 00:10:03,299 --> 00:10:06,149 This isn't nihilism—the flower as an experience is real, 264 00:10:06,620 --> 00:10:08,700 but it doesn't have the "solid," 265 00:10:08,860 --> 00:10:10,341 independent, unchanging existence you might expect. The 266 00:10:11,059 --> 00:10:13,550 previous lesson actually demonstrated this experimentally. The 267 00:10:13,940 --> 00:10:15,179 same physical stimulus 268 00:10:15,179 --> 00:10:17,039 269 00:10:17,039 --> 00:10:19,100 can present completely different "reality" to your brain based on different assumptions. A 270 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,221 blue dress or a white dress—" 271 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:23,220 color"—the color you see is 272 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,279 entirely dependent on conditions; it 273 00:10:25,279 --> 00:10:26,941 doesn't have its own independent, fixed "self-nature." 274 00:10:27,399 --> 00:10:30,961 This is the precise meaning of "form is emptiness" in visual neuroscience. The 275 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:31,860 fourth, and 276 00:10:31,860 --> 00:10:34,960 perhaps the deepest, point: evolution gives us interfaces, 277 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:35,461 not truth. 278 00:10:36,019 --> 00:10:39,120 The professor said: it's not that this information is impossible to perceive, but that 279 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,201 we haven't evolved the corresponding sensors. 280 00:10:41,860 --> 00:10:43,019 Snakes have infrared perception, 281 00:10:43,019 --> 00:10:44,740 bees have ultraviolet vision, migratory 282 00:10:44,740 --> 00:10:45,721 birds have magnetic field sensing. 283 00:10:46,259 --> 00:10:48,879 Every organism lives in its own perceptual bubble, 284 00:10:48,879 --> 00:10:50,560 believing that what it sees is the world. 285 00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:53,520 Buddhism offers a more thorough deduction on this observation: 286 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,759 if every organism's "world" is determined by its perceptual system, 287 00:10:57,759 --> 00:10:59,539 then is there an "ultimate truth" that doesn't depend on any 288 00:10:59,539 --> 00:11:01,879 specific perceptual system? 289 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:02,740 If so... 290 00:11:02,740 --> 00:11:04,379 How can we access it? 291 00:11:04,519 --> 00:11:07,960 Buddhism answers this by saying: the direction is not to expand our sensory abilities outward, 292 00:11:08,220 --> 00:11:11,438 not to evolve better eyes or ears – but to look inward and 293 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,380 observe how consciousness itself works. 294 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:14,519 When you practice mindfulness of breathing (止观), which is what we 295 00:11:14,639 --> 00:11:18,019 discussed in the previous episode about quieting down the narrative machine and then observing as it is, you 296 00:11:18,460 --> 00:11:20,980 begin to see the process of "seeing" itself, 297 00:11:20,980 --> 00:11:24,519 to see how your brain superimposes stories onto raw data. 298 00:11:24,519 --> 00:11:26,780 You begin to awaken from the "processed product" of perception. The 299 00:11:27,340 --> 00:11:28,799 exercise the professor did in class, where 300 00:11:28,980 --> 00:11:31,659 you stopped to pay attention to the hum of the air conditioner, 301 00:11:31,779 --> 00:11:33,680 was actually a simplified version of mindfulness of breathing. 302 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,500 You suddenly realized, "This sound has always been there, 303 00:11:36,500 --> 00:11:37,971 but I hadn't noticed it at all before." In 304 00:11:38,500 --> 00:11:40,279 that moment of "sudden realization," you 305 00:11:40,279 --> 00:11:42,919 simultaneously saw two things: the existence of the sound 306 00:11:42,919 --> 00:11:44,321 and your previous ignorance of it. 307 00:11:44,980 --> 00:11:47,140 You gained a new layer of awareness of your own perceptual system. 308 00:11:47,860 --> 00:11:49,880 This is what Buddhism calls the starting point of spiritual practice. It's 309 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:51,840 not about denying your senses, 310 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,600 not about denying the world, 311 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,179 but about seeing how your senses work, 312 00:11:56,179 --> 00:11:59,581 seeing how your brain processes raw data into "your world." 313 00:12:00,139 --> 00:12:00,980 Seeing this process, 314 00:12:00,980 --> 00:12:03,180 you will no longer confuse the processed product with the original. 315 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:05,700 You still live in this world, 316 00:12:05,700 --> 00:12:08,180 but you are no longer completely deceived by its visual effects. 317 00:12:08,879 --> 00:12:11,480 Remember the analogy of lucid dreaming I mentioned before? 318 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:12,419 You're dreaming, and in your 319 00:12:12,419 --> 00:12:14,179 dream you're being chased by a tiger. 320 00:12:14,179 --> 00:12:15,040 You're terrified. 321 00:12:15,580 --> 00:12:17,620 Then you suddenly realize: I'm dreaming. The 322 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:19,080 tiger is still there. The 323 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:19,841 fear dissipates. You 324 00:12:20,279 --> 00:12:21,580 haven't left the dream; 325 00:12:21,580 --> 00:12:22,890 you've just woken up from it. The 326 00:12:23,460 --> 00:12:26,039 neuroscience lesson last time essentially told you that 327 00:12:26,039 --> 00:12:29,461 your entire perceptual system is a sophisticated "dream machine." 328 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,078 It uses physical stimuli as material, 329 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:33,720 electrical signals as paint, and 330 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,340 neural networks as brushes to 331 00:12:35,340 --> 00:12:37,920 paint a "real world" that you deeply believe in. The 332 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:39,860 "awakening" in Buddhism 333 00:12:39,860 --> 00:12:41,740 isn't about escaping from this dream, 334 00:12:41,740 --> 00:12:43,179 but about opening your eyes within the dream and 335 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:45,380 seeing how this dream machine works. What 336 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,399 I find most striking is that 337 00:12:48,399 --> 00:12:50,919 modern neuroscience has spent decades, 338 00:12:51,059 --> 00:12:54,080 countless experiments, and billions of dollars worth of equipment to 339 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,201 arrive at these conclusions about the human perceptual system. 340 00:12:56,779 --> 00:12:57,980 Yet, 2,500 years ago, 341 00:12:57,980 --> 00:13:01,840 a group of people sat under the Bodhi tree, in caves, and in temples, 342 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,679 through pure introspection, 343 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:05,821 arriving at almost identical structural conclusions. 344 00:13:06,340 --> 00:13:08,179 They didn't have the concept of Piezo channels, 345 00:13:08,179 --> 00:13:11,410 but they precisely described how "touch" triggers "body consciousness." 346 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,500 They lacked the concepts of the retina and visual cortex, 347 00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:16,759 yet they precisely described how "color dust" 348 00:13:16,759 --> 00:13:18,480 arises from the "eye root" to generate "eye consciousness." 349 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,179 They even went further than modern science, 350 00:13:21,179 --> 00:13:23,559 pointing to something science has only just begun to touch upon: the 351 00:13:24,159 --> 00:13:25,438 "reality" you experience 352 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:26,820 is not passive reception 353 00:13:26,820 --> 00:13:27,760 but active construction. 354 00:13:28,539 --> 00:13:31,659 These two paths—observing the brain externally through experiments and 355 00:13:31,659 --> 00:13:33,330 observing consciousness internally through meditation— 356 00:13:33,779 --> 00:13:35,640 are converging on the same conclusion. 357 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,260 That conclusion is not "the world is false," 358 00:13:38,379 --> 00:13:40,341 but rather: the world is constructed, 359 00:13:40,799 --> 00:13:41,299 and you 360 00:13:41,299 --> 00:13:42,961 have the ability to see this construction process. 361 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:43,860 Seeing 362 00:13:43,860 --> 00:13:44,920 is the beginning of freedom. 363 00:13:45,379 --> 00:13:46,080 I am Wang Lijie. See 364 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:46,919 you next time.