1 00:00:00,385 --> 00:00:02,573 What exactly are Parasancitta-jñāna and Āsravakṣaya-jñāna? 2 00:00:03,064 --> 00:00:05,193 Cognitive neuroscience provides the answer. 3 00:00:05,585 --> 00:00:07,214 Have you ever met someone like this? 4 00:00:07,905 --> 00:00:09,023 Before you even open your mouth, 5 00:00:09,025 --> 00:00:11,073 they seem to know exactly what you're thinking. 6 00:00:11,425 --> 00:00:12,794 You smile and say you're fine, 7 00:00:12,824 --> 00:00:14,874 but they see right through your brave face. 8 00:00:15,265 --> 00:00:17,463 The layer of dignity you've carefully packaged 9 00:00:17,464 --> 00:00:19,553 seems transparent in front of them. 10 00:00:19,945 --> 00:00:22,193 You can't quite explain how they do it, 11 00:00:22,225 --> 00:00:25,114 but you simply feel "seen." 12 00:00:25,545 --> 00:00:28,024 Buddhism has a name for this ability: 13 00:00:28,024 --> 00:00:29,434 "Parasancitta-jñāna," or the power of knowing others' minds. 14 00:00:29,945 --> 00:00:31,474 When most people hear this term, 15 00:00:31,504 --> 00:00:33,344 their first instinct is to think of divine powers, 16 00:00:33,344 --> 00:00:34,213 superpowers, 17 00:00:34,424 --> 00:00:35,673 or supernatural abilities. 18 00:00:36,024 --> 00:00:37,713 The image that pops into their heads 19 00:00:37,744 --> 00:00:39,753 is an old monk with his eyes closed, 20 00:00:39,825 --> 00:00:42,554 directly reading the text and images in your mind, 21 00:00:42,585 --> 00:00:44,113 like a Bluetooth pairing. 22 00:00:44,465 --> 00:00:45,793 But think about it carefully. 23 00:00:45,905 --> 00:00:49,194 If mind-reading were literally this kind of telepathy, 24 00:00:49,225 --> 00:00:50,973 how would it be physically achieved? 25 00:00:51,905 --> 00:00:53,134 What medium does thought use? 26 00:00:53,664 --> 00:00:55,654 What signal is transmitted between brains? 27 00:00:56,185 --> 00:00:56,933 What is the frequency? 28 00:00:57,384 --> 00:00:58,134 What is the bandwidth? 29 00:00:59,265 --> 00:01:00,183 You'll realize 30 00:01:00,185 --> 00:01:02,914 it's exactly like when we dismantled the concept of "dedication." 31 00:01:03,145 --> 00:01:05,513 As long as you follow this intuition, 32 00:01:05,584 --> 00:01:07,353 every step leads to a dead end. 33 00:01:07,825 --> 00:01:08,174 So, 34 00:01:08,385 --> 00:01:10,474 either mind-reading is utter superstition, 35 00:01:10,504 --> 00:01:13,153 or it's not what you think it is at all. 36 00:01:13,504 --> 00:01:17,144 There's another more obscure but critical concept in Buddhism 37 00:01:17,144 --> 00:01:18,274 called Āsravakṣaya-jñāna—the power of ending all outflows. 38 00:01:18,584 --> 00:01:20,674 Buddhism says that among the six supernatural powers— 39 00:01:20,745 --> 00:01:24,433 clairvoyance, clairaudience, mind-reading, past-life recall, and levitation— 40 00:01:24,504 --> 00:01:26,554 the first five can be mastered by non-Buddhists too. 41 00:01:26,625 --> 00:01:29,194 But the power of ending outflows belongs only to disciples of the Buddha. 42 00:01:29,344 --> 00:01:32,009 Furthermore, Buddhism makes an incredibly profound statement: 43 00:01:32,019 --> 00:01:34,953 This power is the root of all six powers. 44 00:01:35,224 --> 00:01:35,694 Without it, 45 00:01:36,025 --> 00:01:37,914 the other five are not ultimate. 46 00:01:38,185 --> 00:01:38,694 Why? 47 00:01:39,144 --> 00:01:42,034 Why is something that seems to have nothing to do with mind-reading 48 00:01:42,105 --> 00:01:44,334 placed at the highest level of Buddhist practice? 49 00:01:44,944 --> 00:01:46,073 In today's video, 50 00:01:46,185 --> 00:01:50,079 I will use social cognitive neuroscience and our established framework 51 00:01:50,079 --> 00:01:52,034 of predictive coding to answer these two questions. 52 00:01:52,784 --> 00:01:54,834 When I derived the answer, 53 00:01:54,944 --> 00:01:57,175 I discovered an incredibly elegant logic. 54 00:01:57,185 --> 00:02:00,513 The relationship between these two powers 55 00:02:00,584 --> 00:02:02,593 isn't just a metaphysical Buddhist narrative; 56 00:02:02,665 --> 00:02:06,474 it corresponds to a clear chain of neural mechanisms. 57 00:02:06,745 --> 00:02:11,170 And this chain reveals something so counterintuitive it'll give you goosebumps: 58 00:02:11,180 --> 00:02:13,834 If you truly want to see others, 59 00:02:14,025 --> 00:02:15,503 the only thing you need to do 60 00:02:15,504 --> 00:02:17,433 is not to look outward more intensely, 61 00:02:17,585 --> 00:02:19,674 but to clean yourself out. 62 00:02:20,025 --> 00:02:20,373 Hello, 63 00:02:20,625 --> 00:02:21,133 everyone. 64 00:02:21,344 --> 00:02:22,394 I'm Wang Lijie. 65 00:02:22,745 --> 00:02:24,193 To understand the power of knowing minds, 66 00:02:24,224 --> 00:02:26,230 we first need to clarify a more fundamental fact: 67 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,633 Your brain is already reading minds, 68 00:02:28,664 --> 00:02:30,753 and it's doing so every single moment. 69 00:02:31,064 --> 00:02:31,933 You're chatting with a friend, 70 00:02:32,264 --> 00:02:33,663 and they say, "Whatever, 71 00:02:33,664 --> 00:02:34,213 you decide." 72 00:02:34,504 --> 00:02:36,663 You immediately know they don't mean "whatever"; 73 00:02:36,664 --> 00:02:37,873 they're actually unhappy. 74 00:02:38,224 --> 00:02:39,304 You're on the subway, 75 00:02:39,305 --> 00:02:41,593 and a stranger across from you keeps checking their phone, 76 00:02:41,664 --> 00:02:42,054 locking it, 77 00:02:42,344 --> 00:02:43,234 then unlocking it again. 78 00:02:43,264 --> 00:02:46,114 You know they're waiting for a message that hasn't arrived. 79 00:02:46,544 --> 00:02:47,454 You watch a movie, 80 00:02:47,745 --> 00:02:49,223 and a micro-expression from an actor... 81 00:02:49,224 --> 00:02:50,873 you just know he's lying. 82 00:02:51,384 --> 00:02:52,373 How do you know? 83 00:02:52,824 --> 00:02:54,153 They didn't tell you, 84 00:02:54,425 --> 00:02:56,674 and you didn't read the words in their minds, 85 00:02:57,064 --> 00:02:58,473 but you just know. 86 00:02:59,104 --> 00:02:59,693 This ability, 87 00:03:00,025 --> 00:03:02,114 cognitive science calls it mentalization, 88 00:03:02,185 --> 00:03:03,554 also known as Theory of Mind. 89 00:03:03,745 --> 00:03:04,743 What it means is, 90 00:03:04,745 --> 00:03:07,033 your brain is naturally equipped with a mechanism 91 00:03:07,104 --> 00:03:09,554 specifically for inferring the mental states of others: 92 00:03:09,625 --> 00:03:10,743 what they're thinking, 93 00:03:10,745 --> 00:03:11,413 what they're feeling, 94 00:03:11,504 --> 00:03:12,633 and what they intend to do. 95 00:03:12,784 --> 00:03:15,663 This mechanism isn't a learned philosophical theory; 96 00:03:15,664 --> 00:03:17,993 it's hardware that comes pre-installed in the brain. 97 00:03:18,224 --> 00:03:19,354 Over the past twenty years, 98 00:03:19,384 --> 00:03:22,063 social cognitive neuroscience has used brain imaging 99 00:03:22,064 --> 00:03:25,433 to identify the core components of this hardware one by one. 100 00:03:25,985 --> 00:03:27,014 The first core component: 101 00:03:27,344 --> 00:03:28,633 Mirror Neurons. 102 00:03:29,185 --> 00:03:30,623 In the 1990s, 103 00:03:30,625 --> 00:03:34,213 Giacomo Rizzolatti's team at the University of Parma 104 00:03:34,264 --> 00:03:35,830 discovered a type of miraculous neuron in macaque experiments. 105 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,873 When a monkey reaches for food itself, 106 00:03:38,905 --> 00:03:40,294 these neurons fire. 107 00:03:40,784 --> 00:03:43,674 When the monkey sees someone else reach for food, 108 00:03:43,745 --> 00:03:46,354 these same neurons also fire. 109 00:03:46,524 --> 00:03:47,305 In other words, 110 00:03:47,305 --> 00:03:49,913 when your brain sees someone perform an action, 111 00:03:49,985 --> 00:03:52,753 it automatically simulates that action internally. 112 00:03:53,504 --> 00:03:55,193 When you see someone get pricked by a needle, 113 00:03:55,224 --> 00:03:57,674 your hand might reflexively flinch. 114 00:03:58,064 --> 00:03:59,454 When you see someone yawn, 115 00:03:59,944 --> 00:04:00,753 you feel like yawning too. 116 00:04:01,145 --> 00:04:02,433 It's not that you're overly sensitive; 117 00:04:02,585 --> 00:04:04,794 it's your mirror system operating automatically. 118 00:04:05,264 --> 00:04:08,500 The second core component is an old friend 119 00:04:08,500 --> 00:04:09,383 we met in the previous episode on Echoing: 120 00:04:09,384 --> 00:04:10,633 the Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ). 121 00:04:11,104 --> 00:04:14,153 Extensive research by Rebecca Saxe at MIT has confirmed 122 00:04:14,264 --> 00:04:18,634 that the TPJ is the core hub for inferring others' beliefs and intentions. 123 00:04:18,944 --> 00:04:21,913 When you think, "He probably thinks I don't know," 124 00:04:22,064 --> 00:04:23,834 this is the area that's activated. 125 00:04:24,225 --> 00:04:25,264 What it does 126 00:04:25,264 --> 00:04:29,153 is help you build a model of what is going on in someone else's head. 127 00:04:29,944 --> 00:04:33,074 The third core component is the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC). 128 00:04:33,264 --> 00:04:35,754 As also mentioned in the Echoing episode, 129 00:04:35,865 --> 00:04:38,233 it's responsible for self-reflection and social cognition, 130 00:04:38,464 --> 00:04:42,194 especially when you're comparing and distinguishing yourself from others. 131 00:04:42,985 --> 00:04:46,113 These three components, along with their connections, 132 00:04:46,185 --> 00:04:48,874 form the social cognitive network in your brain. 133 00:04:49,064 --> 00:04:52,994 This network runs in the background every minute you're awake. 134 00:04:53,064 --> 00:04:54,704 You don't need to manually start it; 135 00:04:54,704 --> 00:04:58,053 it automatically scans the facial expressions, 136 00:04:58,305 --> 00:05:01,343 body language, tone of voice, and behavioral patterns of everyone around you, 137 00:05:01,345 --> 00:05:03,590 and then generates a real-time judgment: 138 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,033 "What is this person's likely mental state right now?" 139 00:05:07,345 --> 00:05:09,074 Now, here comes the key question. 140 00:05:09,225 --> 00:05:12,673 If everyone's brain has this mind-reading hardware, 141 00:05:12,704 --> 00:05:16,264 why are some people sensitive to others' emotions like radar, 142 00:05:16,264 --> 00:05:18,053 while others are as oblivious as a block of wood? 143 00:05:18,665 --> 00:05:20,954 This is where I add the second piece of the puzzle. 144 00:05:21,504 --> 00:05:23,533 Remember the core logic of Predictive Coding? 145 00:05:23,985 --> 00:05:26,994 Your brain is an active prediction generator. 146 00:05:27,185 --> 00:05:28,954 Its perception of the external world 147 00:05:28,985 --> 00:05:33,353 is essentially a top-down version constructed from prior beliefs, 148 00:05:33,504 --> 00:05:35,994 which is then calibrated using sensory data. 149 00:05:36,264 --> 00:05:37,543 The world you see 150 00:05:37,545 --> 00:05:40,194 is primarily the version your brain has made up; 151 00:05:40,345 --> 00:05:42,793 sensory data only serves to correct it. 152 00:05:43,105 --> 00:05:43,983 This logic 153 00:05:43,985 --> 00:05:46,514 applies equally to your perception of others. 154 00:05:46,824 --> 00:05:48,314 When someone sits across from you, 155 00:05:48,384 --> 00:05:52,153 your brain isn't passively receiving all the signals they emit 156 00:05:52,185 --> 00:05:53,793 and then analyzing them objectively. 157 00:05:53,968 --> 00:05:54,769 Not at all. 158 00:05:55,425 --> 00:05:58,894 Your brain first uses your own prior beliefs to predict 159 00:05:59,024 --> 00:06:00,233 their mental state, 160 00:06:00,464 --> 00:06:03,994 and then uses the signals you receive to calibrate that prediction. 161 00:06:04,345 --> 00:06:05,713 Your understanding of others 162 00:06:05,745 --> 00:06:08,353 is essentially a controlled hallucination. 163 00:06:08,665 --> 00:06:09,954 And the problem is, 164 00:06:09,985 --> 00:06:13,394 those prior beliefs you use to predict others' mental states 165 00:06:13,504 --> 00:06:15,593 largely come from yourself. 166 00:06:16,105 --> 00:06:19,223 Psychology has a well-researched phenomenon 167 00:06:19,225 --> 00:06:20,634 called projection bias. 168 00:06:21,024 --> 00:06:23,913 When you're hungry, you overestimate how hungry others are. 169 00:06:24,185 --> 00:06:27,673 When you're in a bad mood, you think others are unfriendly too. 170 00:06:27,985 --> 00:06:31,173 When you're full of fear, you interpret neutral expressions 171 00:06:31,264 --> 00:06:32,673 as hostile. 172 00:06:33,064 --> 00:06:34,584 You aren't seeing others; 173 00:06:34,584 --> 00:06:37,553 you are projecting your own state onto them, 174 00:06:37,584 --> 00:06:39,553 mistakenly thinking you've seen them for who they are. 175 00:06:40,225 --> 00:06:43,913 A 2008 study published in "Psychological Science" found 176 00:06:44,024 --> 00:06:46,994 that when people are in a state of high emotional arousal— 177 00:06:47,064 --> 00:06:49,994 such as anxiety, anger, or extreme excitement— 178 00:06:50,105 --> 00:06:54,113 their accuracy in identifying facial expressions drops significantly. 179 00:06:54,225 --> 00:06:56,343 It's not because their eyes are failing, 180 00:06:56,345 --> 00:06:59,314 but because their internal noise is so loud 181 00:06:59,384 --> 00:07:02,314 that it drowns out the signals coming from the other person. 182 00:07:02,464 --> 00:07:05,384 If you put this finding into the framework of predictive coding, 183 00:07:05,384 --> 00:07:07,233 the logic becomes crystal clear. 184 00:07:07,545 --> 00:07:09,314 Your own emotional reactivity, 185 00:07:09,464 --> 00:07:13,473 your fears, desires, biases, and traumatic memories— 186 00:07:13,625 --> 00:07:16,213 how do these manifest in your brain? 187 00:07:16,985 --> 00:07:20,754 They manifest as a set of prior beliefs with extremely high precision weight. 188 00:07:21,064 --> 00:07:26,173 These beliefs constantly send down powerful prediction signals: "He doesn't like me," 189 00:07:26,425 --> 00:07:30,553 "She's judging me," "This person is untrustworthy," "Everyone leaves eventually." 190 00:07:30,824 --> 00:07:33,053 What happens to these strong prediction signals? 191 00:07:33,584 --> 00:07:36,314 They suppress the actual signals coming from the other person. 192 00:07:36,464 --> 00:07:38,663 What your social cognition network receives 193 00:07:38,665 --> 00:07:42,704 is no longer the person's true expression, tone, and body language, 194 00:07:42,704 --> 00:07:46,274 but the version fabricated by your own prior beliefs. 195 00:07:46,504 --> 00:07:48,144 In signal processing terms, 196 00:07:48,144 --> 00:07:49,793 this is a signal-to-noise ratio problem. 197 00:07:50,944 --> 00:07:54,074 The signal is the genuine social cues sent by the other person. 198 00:07:54,305 --> 00:07:58,434 The noise is your own internal emotional reactions and cognitive biases. 199 00:07:58,824 --> 00:08:00,254 When the noise is too loud, 200 00:08:00,745 --> 00:08:02,553 the signal gets submerged. 201 00:08:02,904 --> 00:08:04,454 You think you're looking at someone else, 202 00:08:04,745 --> 00:08:06,504 but what you're actually seeing 203 00:08:06,504 --> 00:08:08,434 is a reflection of your own inner self. 204 00:08:08,904 --> 00:08:13,360 This is why an anxious person struggles to accurately judge 205 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:14,473 others' attitudes toward them. 206 00:08:14,904 --> 00:08:18,733 It's also why a narcissistic person can almost never truly understand 207 00:08:18,745 --> 00:08:19,874 how others feel. 208 00:08:20,425 --> 00:08:23,033 It's not that their social cognition hardware is broken; 209 00:08:23,105 --> 00:08:25,233 it's that the noise they generate 210 00:08:25,264 --> 00:08:28,113 overwhelms the hardware's ability to receive. 211 00:08:28,345 --> 00:08:28,533 Now, 212 00:08:28,824 --> 00:08:33,433 remember this core finding: your accuracy in perceiving others' mental states 213 00:08:33,465 --> 00:08:35,714 depends on your own internal signal-to-noise ratio. 214 00:08:35,945 --> 00:08:36,734 The louder the noise, 215 00:08:36,985 --> 00:08:38,514 the less you see others. 216 00:08:38,585 --> 00:08:39,374 The quieter the noise, 217 00:08:39,625 --> 00:08:41,514 the more transparent others become to you. 218 00:08:41,904 --> 00:08:44,313 Now, let's shift the focus to Buddhism. 219 00:08:44,705 --> 00:08:45,913 The "Six Supernormal Powers" (Abhijñā) 220 00:08:45,985 --> 00:08:49,874 are six special abilities that can appear after reaching a certain stage of practice. 221 00:08:50,264 --> 00:08:50,854 The Divine Eye (Divyacakṣu): 222 00:08:51,264 --> 00:08:53,354 The ability to see things standard vision cannot. 223 00:08:53,705 --> 00:08:54,293 The Divine Ear (Divyaśrotra): 224 00:08:54,585 --> 00:08:56,673 The ability to hear sounds standard hearing cannot. 225 00:08:57,264 --> 00:08:57,854 The Power of Transformation (Riddhividhi): 226 00:08:58,264 --> 00:09:00,193 The freedom to travel anywhere at will. 227 00:09:00,705 --> 00:09:01,254 The Knowledge of Past Lives (Pūrvenivāsānusmṛti): 228 00:09:01,585 --> 00:09:03,354 Knowing experiences from prior existences. 229 00:09:03,825 --> 00:09:04,413 The Knowledge of Others' Minds (Paracittajñāna): 230 00:09:04,745 --> 00:09:06,754 Knowing what others are thinking. 231 00:09:07,544 --> 00:09:08,134 The Extinction of Mental Outflows (Āśravakṣayajñāna): 232 00:09:08,504 --> 00:09:09,874 The total cessation of all afflictions. 233 00:09:10,264 --> 00:09:10,774 The first five powers, 234 00:09:11,184 --> 00:09:12,673 Buddhism makes clear, 235 00:09:12,705 --> 00:09:14,754 can be obtained by non-Buddhist practitioners as well. 236 00:09:14,865 --> 00:09:16,264 Through deepening meditative concentration, 237 00:09:16,264 --> 00:09:18,433 these five abilities may emerge. 238 00:09:18,544 --> 00:09:19,254 But the sixth power, 239 00:09:19,504 --> 00:09:20,433 the Extinction of Mental Outflows, 240 00:09:20,504 --> 00:09:23,354 can only be realized within the Buddhist framework of practice. 241 00:09:23,585 --> 00:09:27,634 Moreover, Buddhism repeatedly emphasizes one point: the first five powers are not final. 242 00:09:27,705 --> 00:09:30,114 Only Lou jin tong (Asravaksaya) is true liberation. 243 00:09:30,308 --> 00:09:30,774 But why? 244 00:09:31,225 --> 00:09:32,474 To answer this question, 245 00:09:32,504 --> 00:09:35,754 we must first clarify what the word "Lou" (leakage) actually means. 246 00:09:36,184 --> 00:09:36,374 "Lou," 247 00:09:36,784 --> 00:09:38,153 or asrava in Sanskrit, 248 00:09:38,345 --> 00:09:40,714 literally means outflow or leakage. 249 00:09:40,865 --> 00:09:41,854 In Yogachara philosophy, 250 00:09:42,065 --> 00:09:43,014 what does this leakage refer to? 251 00:09:43,945 --> 00:09:47,700 It refers to a state where factors causing vexation and suffering 252 00:09:47,700 --> 00:09:49,874 continuously flow out of your mental activities. 253 00:09:50,144 --> 00:09:50,813 Specifically, 254 00:09:51,144 --> 00:09:52,854 there are three fundamental leakages: the leakage of desire, 255 00:09:53,225 --> 00:09:54,854 attachment to sensory pleasures; 256 00:09:55,465 --> 00:09:55,894 the leakage of existence, 257 00:09:56,264 --> 00:09:57,894 attachment to existence itself; 258 00:09:58,465 --> 00:09:59,053 and the leakage of ignorance, 259 00:09:59,384 --> 00:10:01,234 fundamental ignorance of ultimate reality. 260 00:10:01,504 --> 00:10:02,514 Do you notice something? 261 00:10:02,625 --> 00:10:06,094 This is exactly the Greed, Anger, and Ignorance we derived in the meditation episode. 262 00:10:06,904 --> 00:10:09,433 Within our predictive coding framework, 263 00:10:09,705 --> 00:10:12,673 Greed is the craving for states with low prediction error. 264 00:10:13,024 --> 00:10:16,073 Anger is the resistance to states with high prediction error. 265 00:10:16,424 --> 00:10:19,433 Ignorance is not knowing that this entire mechanism is at work. 266 00:10:19,729 --> 00:10:20,528 And "leakage" 267 00:10:20,585 --> 00:10:24,953 is the constant operation of these three improper reactions within your consciousness. 268 00:10:25,345 --> 00:10:27,104 They don't just pop up occasionally; 269 00:10:27,105 --> 00:10:29,714 they flow constantly, like a faucet that hasn't been turned off. 270 00:10:30,065 --> 00:10:31,913 Translating this into the language of predictive coding: 271 00:10:31,945 --> 00:10:35,919 Leakage represents parts of your prior belief system 272 00:10:35,919 --> 00:10:37,634 where precision weights are severely miscalibrated. 273 00:10:38,465 --> 00:10:40,394 Some weights that should be high are not high enough— 274 00:10:40,424 --> 00:10:42,104 for instance, your awareness of impermanence. 275 00:10:42,105 --> 00:10:44,024 It should be a high-precision prior, 276 00:10:44,024 --> 00:10:46,024 but most people set it extremely low, 277 00:10:46,024 --> 00:10:47,754 pretending everything is eternal. 278 00:10:47,865 --> 00:10:49,663 Some weights that should be low are too high; 279 00:10:49,664 --> 00:10:52,480 for example, beliefs like "Everyone must like me" 280 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:53,783 or "Loss means total destruction." 281 00:10:53,784 --> 00:10:57,994 Their precision weights are set so high that no sensory data can penetrate them. 282 00:10:58,304 --> 00:11:00,583 These miscalibrated weights are not static; 283 00:11:00,585 --> 00:11:02,224 they operate continuously, 284 00:11:02,225 --> 00:11:04,024 constantly distorting your perception 285 00:11:04,024 --> 00:11:05,634 and constantly generating suffering. 286 00:11:05,904 --> 00:11:07,533 This process of continuous outflow 287 00:11:07,865 --> 00:11:08,754 is "leakage." 288 00:11:09,345 --> 00:11:10,433 And Lou jin tong, 289 00:11:10,544 --> 00:11:13,354 literally means stopping the leakage entirely. 290 00:11:13,664 --> 00:11:16,953 All precision weights return to their proper levels. 291 00:11:17,144 --> 00:11:18,634 It's not about eliminating beliefs; 292 00:11:18,745 --> 00:11:21,953 it's about making every belief a revisable hypothesis 293 00:11:22,065 --> 00:11:23,994 rather than an unshakeable truth. 294 00:11:24,625 --> 00:11:28,474 The entire system no longer leaks noise out of control. 295 00:11:28,945 --> 00:11:29,134 Now, 296 00:11:29,664 --> 00:11:31,749 I'm going to do the core work of this video: 297 00:11:31,759 --> 00:11:36,234 connecting Telepathy and the Extinction of Outflows with a single logical chain. 298 00:11:36,544 --> 00:11:38,749 Back to the key conclusion we derived earlier: 299 00:11:38,759 --> 00:11:42,114 the accuracy of your perception of others' mental states 300 00:11:42,225 --> 00:11:44,673 depends on your own internal signal-to-noise ratio. 301 00:11:44,985 --> 00:11:45,854 The more "leakage" you have, 302 00:11:46,144 --> 00:11:47,994 the more internal noise there is. 303 00:11:48,784 --> 00:11:49,703 The more greed you have, 304 00:11:49,705 --> 00:11:53,673 the more likely you'll interpret others' actions through your own desires. 305 00:11:53,985 --> 00:11:54,953 The more anger you have, 306 00:11:55,065 --> 00:11:58,394 the more likely you'll read hostility into neutral signals. 307 00:11:58,865 --> 00:11:59,494 The more ignorance you have, 308 00:11:59,904 --> 00:12:02,033 the less you'll see your own projections. 309 00:12:02,264 --> 00:12:04,024 You think you're seeing the truth, 310 00:12:04,024 --> 00:12:07,033 but you're actually seeing your own shadows. 311 00:12:07,225 --> 00:12:07,734 Conversely, 312 00:12:07,904 --> 00:12:08,943 the less leakage you have, 313 00:12:08,945 --> 00:12:10,754 the less internal noise you have. 314 00:12:11,065 --> 00:12:13,214 When you are no longer constantly driven by your fears, 315 00:12:13,544 --> 00:12:16,114 desires, and biases, 316 00:12:16,304 --> 00:12:19,634 your social cognition network can finally quiet down 317 00:12:19,664 --> 00:12:23,153 and receive the authentic signals from the other person. 318 00:12:23,384 --> 00:12:25,714 You haven't gained a new superpower; 319 00:12:25,745 --> 00:12:28,594 you've simply removed the noise source that's been interfering with you. 320 00:12:29,144 --> 00:12:32,953 This is why Buddhism says Lou jin tong is the root of the Six Powers. 321 00:12:33,544 --> 00:12:36,234 Let me clarify this relationship with an analogy. 322 00:12:36,625 --> 00:12:39,073 Imagine you have a signal receiving antenna. 323 00:12:39,304 --> 00:12:42,024 The hardware of this antenna itself is excellent. 324 00:12:42,024 --> 00:12:43,274 It is extremely sensitive. 325 00:12:43,544 --> 00:12:46,594 That is the social-cognitive network in your brain. 326 00:12:47,184 --> 00:12:48,114 But the problem is, 327 00:12:48,184 --> 00:12:51,624 several high-power signal transmitters are installed right next to it. 328 00:12:51,625 --> 00:12:53,394 They are constantly blasting out noise. 329 00:12:53,784 --> 00:12:54,783 These transmitters 330 00:12:54,784 --> 00:12:57,354 are your greed, your anger, and your ignorance. 331 00:12:57,384 --> 00:13:00,354 Your fears, your desires, your biases. 332 00:13:00,625 --> 00:13:01,783 Under these circumstances, 333 00:13:01,784 --> 00:13:04,053 can you receive a faint signal from a distance? 334 00:13:04,585 --> 00:13:05,394 You can't. 335 00:13:05,664 --> 00:13:06,653 It's not that the antenna is broken; 336 00:13:07,065 --> 00:13:09,474 it's that the noise is drowning out the signal. 337 00:13:09,784 --> 00:13:10,734 What is Telepathy (Ceto-pariya-ñāṇa)? 338 00:13:11,184 --> 00:13:13,474 It's the antenna finally functioning normally. 339 00:13:13,664 --> 00:13:14,693 What is the Extinction of Outflows (Asavakkhaya)? 340 00:13:15,105 --> 00:13:17,714 It's when those noise transmitters are finally turned off. 341 00:13:17,825 --> 00:13:19,134 You don't need to upgrade the antenna; 342 00:13:19,424 --> 00:13:20,874 you need to shut down the noise. 343 00:13:21,065 --> 00:13:22,504 The antenna was always there, 344 00:13:22,504 --> 00:13:24,114 and it was always sensitive. 345 00:13:24,504 --> 00:13:27,504 Does this logic find support 346 00:13:27,504 --> 00:13:28,374 in empirical research within cognitive neuroscience? 347 00:13:28,908 --> 00:13:29,708 Yes, it does. 348 00:13:30,264 --> 00:13:33,494 Findings from multiple research teams point in the same direction. 349 00:13:33,504 --> 00:13:38,653 Meditation training can significantly enhance one's accuracy 350 00:13:38,664 --> 00:13:40,153 in perceiving others' emotional states. 351 00:13:40,664 --> 00:13:41,673 In 2012, 352 00:13:41,745 --> 00:13:45,974 Tania Singer's team at the Max Planck Institute in Germany 353 00:13:46,184 --> 00:13:48,474 conducted a large-scale study on meditation training. 354 00:13:48,784 --> 00:13:50,464 They divided participants into groups 355 00:13:50,465 --> 00:13:52,553 to receive different types of meditation training. 356 00:13:52,625 --> 00:13:56,354 One group focused specifically on compassion and social cognition. 357 00:13:56,865 --> 00:13:57,573 The results showed that 358 00:13:57,985 --> 00:14:00,264 those who received compassion meditation training 359 00:14:00,264 --> 00:14:04,793 were significantly more accurate at identifying others' emotions than the control group. 360 00:14:05,585 --> 00:14:07,453 And what was the neural mechanism behind this improvement? 361 00:14:07,904 --> 00:14:09,153 Brain imaging showed that 362 00:14:09,184 --> 00:14:12,840 synergistic activity in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex 363 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,384 was enhanced in these participants, 364 00:14:14,384 --> 00:14:18,594 while activity in the Default Mode Network related to self-referential processing decreased. 365 00:14:18,784 --> 00:14:19,573 Do you see it? 366 00:14:20,105 --> 00:14:22,193 When self-related noise decreases, 367 00:14:22,304 --> 00:14:25,153 the signal from the social-cognitive network becomes clearer. 368 00:14:25,384 --> 00:14:27,453 Isn't this exactly the logic we just derived? 369 00:14:28,304 --> 00:14:31,634 A follow-up study in 2014 further discovered that 370 00:14:31,745 --> 00:14:34,943 the advantage meditators have in empathic accuracy tests 371 00:14:34,945 --> 00:14:37,063 isn't because they "care" more about others, 372 00:14:37,065 --> 00:14:40,514 but because they are less interfered with by their own emotional states. 373 00:14:40,745 --> 00:14:41,333 In other words, 374 00:14:41,664 --> 00:14:43,703 their advantage isn't about having something extra; 375 00:14:43,705 --> 00:14:45,033 it's about having something less. 376 00:14:45,304 --> 00:14:46,413 Less self-projection. 377 00:14:46,745 --> 00:14:48,153 Less emotional noise. 378 00:14:48,184 --> 00:14:50,874 Less distortion of signals by prior beliefs. 379 00:14:51,384 --> 00:14:55,433 This finding perfectly aligns structurally with Buddhist descriptions. 380 00:14:55,784 --> 00:14:59,693 Buddhism never claimed that telepathy works by using some special medium 381 00:14:59,705 --> 00:15:02,274 to read information inside someone else's brain. 382 00:15:02,504 --> 00:15:04,984 If you look closely at the descriptions in Yogacara, 383 00:15:04,985 --> 00:15:09,354 the mechanism of telepathy is closer to this: when your mind is clear enough, 384 00:15:09,504 --> 00:15:13,744 the mental activities of other beings will appear, like the moon reflecting in clean water, 385 00:15:13,745 --> 00:15:16,234 naturally manifesting within your cognitive field. 386 00:15:16,664 --> 00:15:19,913 Note the metaphor: the moon reflecting in clean water. 387 00:15:20,105 --> 00:15:22,783 It's not that you reach into the sky to grab the moon; 388 00:15:22,784 --> 00:15:24,703 the moon reflects on its own. 389 00:15:24,705 --> 00:15:26,634 But the prerequisite is that the water must be clear. 390 00:15:27,024 --> 00:15:28,173 If the water is murky, 391 00:15:28,424 --> 00:15:29,943 the moon is still in the sky, 392 00:15:29,945 --> 00:15:31,153 but you simply cannot see it. 393 00:15:31,504 --> 00:15:32,214 When the water clears, 394 00:15:32,424 --> 00:15:33,634 the moon naturally appears. 395 00:15:33,904 --> 00:15:35,553 Murky water represents your 'outflows' (asavas). 396 00:15:36,424 --> 00:15:37,994 Clear water is the 'extinction of outflows'. 397 00:15:38,465 --> 00:15:40,673 The reflection of the moon is telepathy. 398 00:15:40,908 --> 00:15:41,664 Alright. 399 00:15:41,664 --> 00:15:44,354 Now let me push this logic to an even deeper level. 400 00:15:44,544 --> 00:15:45,693 You might ask, "Okay..." 401 00:15:45,825 --> 00:15:46,703 I understand. 402 00:15:46,705 --> 00:15:50,224 Reducing internal noise can improve the accuracy of how we perceive others. 403 00:15:50,225 --> 00:15:51,153 That makes sense. 404 00:15:51,345 --> 00:15:53,634 But the kind of telepathy, or "knowledge of others' minds," described in Buddhism 405 00:15:53,705 --> 00:15:56,014 seems to be more than just "reading expressions accurately." 406 00:15:56,705 --> 00:15:58,384 Some accounts are quite hyperbolic, 407 00:15:58,384 --> 00:16:01,313 claiming one can directly know the specific thoughts in another's mind. 408 00:16:01,625 --> 00:16:02,413 How do we explain that? 409 00:16:03,225 --> 00:16:05,234 I need to draw a line here. 410 00:16:05,424 --> 00:16:07,874 What I have derived for you so far— 411 00:16:07,985 --> 00:16:11,259 that reducing internal noise improves the signal-to-noise ratio of social cognition, 412 00:16:11,259 --> 00:16:13,634 thereby enhancing the perception of others' mental states— 413 00:16:13,825 --> 00:16:16,714 is supported by solid scientific evidence. 414 00:16:16,865 --> 00:16:20,854 But the ability to directly read specific thought content, 415 00:16:20,865 --> 00:16:21,953 as described in Buddhist literature, 416 00:16:22,065 --> 00:16:25,073 has been neither proven nor disproven by current science. 417 00:16:25,264 --> 00:16:29,634 It might be an exaggerated description of highly developed social cognitive abilities, 418 00:16:29,904 --> 00:16:33,553 or it might involve mechanisms of conscious interaction we don't yet understand. 419 00:16:34,264 --> 00:16:35,813 This is an honest "I don't know." 420 00:16:36,625 --> 00:16:39,994 But even if we take the most conservative interpretation of telepathy, 421 00:16:40,105 --> 00:16:43,313 as an exceptionally keen social perception, 422 00:16:43,384 --> 00:16:46,153 the conclusion is profound enough. 423 00:16:46,264 --> 00:16:50,823 Because it reveals a highly counter-intuitive truth: to see others clearly, 424 00:16:50,825 --> 00:16:53,033 you don't need to learn mind-reading techniques. 425 00:16:53,304 --> 00:16:54,134 What you need to do 426 00:16:54,424 --> 00:16:55,553 is to clear yourself. 427 00:16:55,904 --> 00:16:59,894 This logic reminds me of a widely recognized 428 00:16:59,985 --> 00:17:01,073 consensus in the field of psychotherapy. 429 00:17:01,544 --> 00:17:03,903 In all training for psychotherapists, 430 00:17:03,904 --> 00:17:06,634 there is a core component called "personal analysis" 431 00:17:06,704 --> 00:17:08,193 or "personal experience." 432 00:17:08,464 --> 00:17:12,834 Essentially, the therapist must first undergo hundreds of hours of therapy themselves. 433 00:17:13,148 --> 00:17:13,614 Why? 434 00:17:14,144 --> 00:17:18,513 Because if you are filled with unprocessed trauma and complexes, 435 00:17:18,744 --> 00:17:20,473 when you face a client, 436 00:17:20,664 --> 00:17:22,634 you aren't seeing their pain; 437 00:17:22,704 --> 00:17:25,473 you are seeing your own pain projected onto them. 438 00:17:25,865 --> 00:17:27,314 You think you are helping them, 439 00:17:27,424 --> 00:17:29,834 but you are actually fighting your own shadow. 440 00:17:30,744 --> 00:17:34,559 Good therapists can keenly sense what victims 441 00:17:34,559 --> 00:17:35,314 leave unsaid 442 00:17:35,744 --> 00:17:38,834 not because they learned some magical mind-reading technique, 443 00:17:39,025 --> 00:17:41,314 but because they are clean enough themselves. 444 00:17:41,345 --> 00:17:44,394 Their social cognitive antennas don't have that much noise. 445 00:17:44,704 --> 00:17:47,094 Isn't this a secular version of telepathy? 446 00:17:47,744 --> 00:17:50,273 Now, let me raise the level of this framework further 447 00:17:50,305 --> 00:17:52,834 and make the final bridge using the language of Yogacara. 448 00:17:53,144 --> 00:17:55,673 Yogacara speaks of the seventh consciousness, Manas-vijnana— 449 00:17:55,704 --> 00:17:59,513 the always-online "self-manufacturing machine" we are familiar with. 450 00:17:59,664 --> 00:18:02,653 It's not just responsible for labeling every experience as "mine"; 451 00:18:03,025 --> 00:18:05,953 it is also a high-powered noise transmitter. 452 00:18:06,105 --> 00:18:08,473 The four fundamental afflictions it produces— 453 00:18:08,625 --> 00:18:11,753 self-view, self-love, self-pride, and self-ignorance— 454 00:18:11,944 --> 00:18:15,513 are each high-precision, weighted prior beliefs. 455 00:18:15,625 --> 00:18:19,753 Each one constantly distorts your perception of the world and others. 456 00:18:20,025 --> 00:18:20,453 "Self-view"— 457 00:18:20,825 --> 00:18:22,834 the belief in an independent, substantial "I"— 458 00:18:22,865 --> 00:18:26,253 makes you encode all social interactions as "about me." 459 00:18:27,265 --> 00:18:28,594 When someone says something, 460 00:18:28,664 --> 00:18:30,913 your first reaction isn't to understand their meaning, 461 00:18:31,025 --> 00:18:33,874 but to judge how that statement impacts you. 462 00:18:34,184 --> 00:18:34,614 "Self-love"— 463 00:18:34,904 --> 00:18:36,554 an attachment to this self— 464 00:18:36,625 --> 00:18:40,319 makes you prioritize self-centered information in social cognition, like "do they like me?" 465 00:18:40,319 --> 00:18:43,263 or "are they useful to me?" 466 00:18:43,265 --> 00:18:45,913 It filters out the other person's genuine emotional expression. 467 00:18:46,224 --> 00:18:46,653 "Self-pride"— 468 00:18:46,984 --> 00:18:48,864 the impulse to compare self-worth— 469 00:18:48,865 --> 00:18:51,824 means when you look at others, you aren't seeing them; 470 00:18:51,825 --> 00:18:52,933 you are comparing yourself to them, 471 00:18:53,105 --> 00:18:54,433 or judging them. 472 00:18:54,585 --> 00:18:55,784 When you meet someone, 473 00:18:55,785 --> 00:18:58,144 your first reaction isn't to feel their presence, 474 00:18:58,144 --> 00:19:00,993 but to determine if they are superior or inferior to you. 475 00:19:01,785 --> 00:19:02,253 "Self-ignorance"— 476 00:19:02,664 --> 00:19:04,784 unawareness of this entire self-mechanism— 477 00:19:04,785 --> 00:19:08,233 leaves you oblivious to the fact that these three noises are operating. 478 00:19:08,464 --> 00:19:11,114 You think your judgment of others is objective, 479 00:19:11,224 --> 00:19:12,574 or that you "just have a good eye for people." 480 00:19:13,065 --> 00:19:17,220 You don't realize every judgment is deeply colored by the noise of Manas. 481 00:19:17,220 --> 00:19:18,193 been deeply tainted. 482 00:19:18,545 --> 00:19:20,064 These four fundamental afflictions 483 00:19:20,065 --> 00:19:24,354 are the four high-power noise transmitters next to your antenna. 484 00:19:24,825 --> 00:19:27,314 In Yogacara, within the process of transforming consciousness into wisdom, 485 00:19:27,424 --> 00:19:29,253 what is the corresponding transformation for Manas-vijnana? 486 00:19:29,944 --> 00:19:31,753 It transforms into the Wisdom of Equality. 487 00:19:31,904 --> 00:19:33,094 What is the Wisdom of Equality? 488 00:19:33,545 --> 00:19:36,594 It is the equal and non-discriminatory awareness of all sentient beings. 489 00:19:36,744 --> 00:19:40,314 No longer encoding all social information with a self-centered bias, 490 00:19:40,384 --> 00:19:43,874 but perceiving every existence as it is, without distortion. 491 00:19:44,144 --> 00:19:44,933 Have you noticed? 492 00:19:45,505 --> 00:19:47,273 The description of 'Wisdom of Equality,' 493 00:19:47,345 --> 00:19:49,263 translated into the language of cognitive science, 494 00:19:49,265 --> 00:19:53,433 is the pure output of the social cognitive network in a zero-noise state. 495 00:19:53,904 --> 00:19:56,233 The four afflictions of Manas-vijnana are turned off; 496 00:19:56,305 --> 00:19:58,594 the four noise transmitters are shut down, 497 00:19:58,904 --> 00:20:01,794 and the antenna finally receives a clean signal. 498 00:20:02,545 --> 00:20:05,794 You are no longer seeing others through the distorted mirror of the 'self.' 499 00:20:05,904 --> 00:20:09,953 For the first time, you see them as they originally are, undistorted. 500 00:20:10,345 --> 00:20:11,874 This is Telepathy (Paracitta-jnana). 501 00:20:12,464 --> 00:20:13,933 It’s not adding something; 502 00:20:14,345 --> 00:20:15,953 it’s dismantling something. 503 00:20:16,184 --> 00:20:17,693 And this process of dismantling 504 00:20:18,025 --> 00:20:19,074 is 'Asavakkhaya' (the exhaustion of outflows). 505 00:20:19,664 --> 00:20:23,140 This logical structure reminds me of the insight Huxley shared 506 00:20:23,140 --> 00:20:24,874 back in the 1950s. 507 00:20:25,184 --> 00:20:28,223 The main function of the brain may not be to produce consciousness, 508 00:20:28,224 --> 00:20:29,634 but to filter it. 509 00:20:29,944 --> 00:20:31,713 Like the 'reducing valve' we discussed, 510 00:20:31,984 --> 00:20:35,433 the brain is more of a reducer than a producer. 511 00:20:35,545 --> 00:20:39,993 It narrows a vast flow of information into a manageable trickle 512 00:20:40,184 --> 00:20:42,794 to allow you to function in daily life. 513 00:20:43,065 --> 00:20:45,095 Applying this logic to social cognition, 514 00:20:45,105 --> 00:20:48,114 your ability to perceive others' mental states 515 00:20:48,144 --> 00:20:50,263 may not need to be increased, 516 00:20:50,265 --> 00:20:52,153 but has likely been suppressed all along. 517 00:20:52,825 --> 00:20:53,894 It is your own 'outflows,' 518 00:20:54,265 --> 00:20:55,834 your greed, anger, and ignorance, 519 00:20:55,904 --> 00:20:58,013 and the noise generated by your Manas-vijnana 520 00:20:58,345 --> 00:20:59,433 that are suppressing it. 521 00:20:59,944 --> 00:21:01,294 When these suppressions are removed, 522 00:21:01,744 --> 00:21:03,153 the ability naturally emerges. 523 00:21:03,704 --> 00:21:07,034 This is why Buddhism says sentient beings are 'inherently complete.' 524 00:21:07,625 --> 00:21:09,834 It doesn't mean you are born knowing everything; 525 00:21:10,105 --> 00:21:11,753 it means your underlying hardware 526 00:21:11,825 --> 00:21:13,394 has always been complete. 527 00:21:13,785 --> 00:21:17,834 It is software-level bugs that interfere with the hardware's operation. 528 00:21:18,424 --> 00:21:20,713 Practicing 'Asavakkhayanhana' isn't a hardware upgrade; 529 00:21:20,785 --> 00:21:22,074 it is software debugging. 530 00:21:22,585 --> 00:21:23,173 Speaking of which, 531 00:21:23,424 --> 00:21:25,473 let me add an AI perspective 532 00:21:25,545 --> 00:21:27,233 to make this structure more complete. 533 00:21:27,464 --> 00:21:28,534 In machine learning, 534 00:21:28,744 --> 00:21:30,874 there is a concept called 'overfitting.' 535 00:21:31,105 --> 00:21:35,374 If a model learns too much noise and specific patterns 536 00:21:35,384 --> 00:21:36,314 from the training data, 537 00:21:36,384 --> 00:21:39,673 it will actually lose its ability to judge new data. 538 00:21:39,904 --> 00:21:43,554 An overfitted model seems to perform perfectly on the training set, 539 00:21:43,585 --> 00:21:45,794 but fails completely when it encounters new situations. 540 00:21:46,224 --> 00:21:48,673 The same goes for your judgment of others. 541 00:21:48,904 --> 00:21:52,054 Your life experiences have left you with a massive 'training dataset,' 542 00:21:52,424 --> 00:21:56,753 including trauma, prejudice, cultural assumptions, and defense mechanisms. 543 00:21:57,025 --> 00:22:00,153 This data has trained your social cognitive model. 544 00:22:00,904 --> 00:22:02,983 But if this model is overfitted, 545 00:22:02,984 --> 00:22:05,743 learning too much from the specific patterns of your personal history, 546 00:22:05,744 --> 00:22:09,394 it loses its ability to generalize to new, different people. 547 00:22:09,865 --> 00:22:13,074 You use experiences with an ex to judge a new partner; 548 00:22:13,464 --> 00:22:17,433 you use your parents' behavior to infer the intent of all authority figures. 549 00:22:17,785 --> 00:22:19,824 You aren't seeing the unique individual; 550 00:22:19,825 --> 00:22:22,513 you are seeing ghosts from your past training set. 551 00:22:22,904 --> 00:22:23,493 'Asavakkhayanhana,' 552 00:22:23,825 --> 00:22:25,463 in machine learning terms, 553 00:22:25,464 --> 00:22:28,913 is when your social cognitive model reaches perfect generalization. 554 00:22:29,265 --> 00:22:32,273 It is no longer held hostage by any specific training dataset. 555 00:22:32,625 --> 00:22:34,423 Faced with every new individual, 556 00:22:34,424 --> 00:22:35,903 it can model them as they are, 557 00:22:35,904 --> 00:22:36,913 no more, no less. 558 00:22:37,345 --> 00:22:40,953 This echoes the analogy from our episode on 'Dedication of Merit': 559 00:22:41,345 --> 00:22:46,634 it's switching the spiritual loss function from local to global optimization. 560 00:22:47,065 --> 00:22:50,233 Asavakkhayanhana is the ultimate form of this global optimization. 561 00:22:50,664 --> 00:22:54,013 When your loss function is no longer just "minimize my prediction error," 562 00:22:54,305 --> 00:22:56,713 but becomes "perceive all things as they truly are," 563 00:22:56,825 --> 00:23:00,753 your model naturally gains the ability to generalize to all sentient beings. 564 00:23:01,505 --> 00:23:03,109 This is the AI translation of Telepathy: 565 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,354 a perfectly generalized social cognition model. 566 00:23:06,785 --> 00:23:06,973 Alright. 567 00:23:07,464 --> 00:23:09,913 Let me pull all today's threads together. 568 00:23:10,224 --> 00:23:11,773 What exactly is Telepathy? 569 00:23:12,384 --> 00:23:16,539 It is not a superpower for reading words in another person's brain 570 00:23:16,539 --> 00:23:17,513 through some unknown physical medium. 571 00:23:17,944 --> 00:23:20,114 Within the framework of cognitive neuroscience, 572 00:23:20,184 --> 00:23:23,713 it is the innate social cognition system of your brain. 573 00:23:23,904 --> 00:23:26,794 It is a high signal-to-noise ratio state of perception 574 00:23:26,944 --> 00:23:29,993 attained after internal noise has been largely removed. 575 00:23:30,345 --> 00:23:34,794 Your mirror system, your TPJ, and your social cognition network 576 00:23:34,825 --> 00:23:36,193 have always been working. 577 00:23:36,265 --> 00:23:38,834 They have always been receiving signals from others. 578 00:23:39,785 --> 00:23:41,673 But your own internal greed, anger, and ignorance, 579 00:23:41,704 --> 00:23:43,114 your projection bias, 580 00:23:43,184 --> 00:23:45,993 and the egocentric noise generated by your Manas-vijnana 581 00:23:46,184 --> 00:23:48,634 have long been drowning out these signals. 582 00:23:48,984 --> 00:23:50,374 When this noise is cleared, 583 00:23:50,785 --> 00:23:52,473 the signal naturally becomes clear. 584 00:23:53,025 --> 00:23:54,614 And what exactly is the Termination of Outflows (Asavakkhaya)? 585 00:23:55,345 --> 00:23:57,114 In the framework of predictive coding, 586 00:23:57,144 --> 00:24:01,493 the "outflow" (Asava) is all the severely miscalibrated precision weights 587 00:24:01,505 --> 00:24:02,354 within your prior belief system. 588 00:24:02,585 --> 00:24:04,794 They continuously distort your perception, 589 00:24:04,904 --> 00:24:06,173 continuously create suffering, 590 00:24:06,464 --> 00:24:08,074 and continuously leak noise. 591 00:24:08,384 --> 00:24:11,993 The termination of outflows means all weights return to their proper places. 592 00:24:12,265 --> 00:24:13,864 It's not about eradicating beliefs, 593 00:24:13,865 --> 00:24:17,913 but ensuring the system no longer runs with out-of-control biases. 594 00:24:18,224 --> 00:24:21,013 So, what is the relationship between Telepathy and the Termination of Outflows? 595 00:24:21,545 --> 00:24:22,374 Termination is the cause; 596 00:24:22,825 --> 00:24:24,114 Telepathy is the effect. 597 00:24:24,345 --> 00:24:26,304 It's not that you've developed a new ability, 598 00:24:26,305 --> 00:24:28,874 but that you've removed the obstacles blocking it. 599 00:24:29,065 --> 00:24:29,773 When the water is clear, 600 00:24:30,025 --> 00:24:31,634 the moon naturally reflects in it. 601 00:24:31,825 --> 00:24:33,173 When the noise on the antenna is turned off, 602 00:24:33,424 --> 00:24:34,993 the signal becomes naturally clear. 603 00:24:35,345 --> 00:24:37,513 When Manas-vijnana transforms into the Wisdom of Equality, 604 00:24:37,585 --> 00:24:40,554 your perception of all beings naturally becomes truthful. 605 00:24:40,904 --> 00:24:41,614 Three languages, 606 00:24:41,865 --> 00:24:43,153 one logical chain. 607 00:24:43,585 --> 00:24:46,273 This conclusion gives me a very practical inspiration. 608 00:24:46,505 --> 00:24:50,000 You don't need to wait until your "outflows" are gone to improve 609 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:50,794 your social cognition ability. 610 00:24:50,984 --> 00:24:52,663 It is a continuous spectrum, 611 00:24:52,664 --> 00:24:54,233 not a binary switch. 612 00:24:55,025 --> 00:24:57,193 For every bit of internal noise you reduce, 613 00:24:57,224 --> 00:24:59,834 your perception of others becomes one bit clearer. 614 00:25:00,105 --> 00:25:02,913 You can start doing one simple thing today. 615 00:25:03,184 --> 00:25:05,394 Next time you are talking to someone, 616 00:25:05,664 --> 00:25:08,834 pay attention to the background program running in your brain. 617 00:25:09,184 --> 00:25:10,784 Are you listening to what they are saying, 618 00:25:10,785 --> 00:25:12,854 or are you thinking about what you are going to say next? 619 00:25:13,265 --> 00:25:15,074 Are you feeling their emotions, 620 00:25:15,105 --> 00:25:16,574 or are you judging them as a person? 621 00:25:17,464 --> 00:25:18,834 Are you seeing them, 622 00:25:18,904 --> 00:25:22,054 or are you seeing the shadow of yourself you've projected onto them? 623 00:25:23,025 --> 00:25:26,114 When you begin to witness that background program, 624 00:25:26,265 --> 00:25:28,473 you are already reducing the noise. 625 00:25:28,865 --> 00:25:32,834 This is the direct application of meditation training in social cognition. 626 00:25:33,664 --> 00:25:37,513 In meditation, you practice observing your thoughts without following them. 627 00:25:37,704 --> 00:25:40,144 When transferred to social interaction, 628 00:25:40,144 --> 00:25:42,953 this is observing your projections without following them. 629 00:25:43,384 --> 00:25:46,463 Every time you pause your automatic judgment in a conversation 630 00:25:46,464 --> 00:25:48,394 and listen quietly for one more second, 631 00:25:48,505 --> 00:25:52,634 your social cognition antenna receives a bit more of the real signal. 632 00:25:53,065 --> 00:25:56,233 Every time you realize, "I wasn't seeing him just now, 633 00:25:56,424 --> 00:25:57,614 I was projecting myself," 634 00:25:58,105 --> 00:26:00,953 you turn off a small noise transmitter. 635 00:26:01,345 --> 00:26:03,233 This isn't some mystical cultivation; 636 00:26:03,345 --> 00:26:06,513 it is intentionality training that everyone can do every day. 637 00:26:06,944 --> 00:26:10,634 But here, a bigger question emerges that I am still pondering. 638 00:26:11,105 --> 00:26:13,034 The Telepathy we discussed today 639 00:26:13,105 --> 00:26:16,913 uses the most conservative interpretation: highly developed social cognition. 640 00:26:17,184 --> 00:26:19,753 But the Six Abhijna described in the Buddhist tradition 641 00:26:19,865 --> 00:26:21,314 clearly go far beyond that. 642 00:26:21,545 --> 00:26:25,233 Clairvoyance, clairaudience, teleportation, and retrocognition— 643 00:26:25,464 --> 00:26:27,394 if these abilities truly exist, 644 00:26:27,505 --> 00:26:28,814 what are their mechanisms? 645 00:26:29,224 --> 00:26:31,794 Do they follow the same logic, 646 00:26:31,825 --> 00:26:35,453 emerging naturally as underlying abilities once obstacles are removed? 647 00:26:35,943 --> 00:26:36,743 Or, 648 00:26:36,744 --> 00:26:40,614 do they involve levels of consciousness 649 00:26:40,625 --> 00:26:41,334 that our modern science hasn't even touched yet? 650 00:26:42,345 --> 00:26:45,634 Yogacara says the Alaya-vijnana is a storehouse of all seeds. 651 00:26:45,704 --> 00:26:47,423 The information stored within it 652 00:26:47,424 --> 00:26:49,673 goes far beyond your experiences in this single lifetime. 653 00:26:49,944 --> 00:26:51,544 If this claim is correct, 654 00:26:51,545 --> 00:26:54,554 then the range of information accessible after the 'exhaustion of leaks' 655 00:26:54,585 --> 00:26:58,354 may far exceed the social cognition we discussed today. 656 00:26:58,625 --> 00:27:02,273 But this enters a realm that science cannot currently verify. 657 00:27:02,744 --> 00:27:06,273 I'll label it as a conjecture worth taking seriously 658 00:27:06,305 --> 00:27:07,273 and leave it there. 659 00:27:07,585 --> 00:27:08,673 Perhaps one day, 660 00:27:08,704 --> 00:27:11,233 as the science of consciousness advances further, 661 00:27:11,305 --> 00:27:12,433 we will find 662 00:27:12,505 --> 00:27:15,233 that the Six Supernormal Powers are not six independent superpowers, 663 00:27:15,265 --> 00:27:19,720 but natural expressions across different dimensions 664 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:20,993 of the same obscured underlying awareness system. 665 00:27:21,785 --> 00:27:25,074 The 'exhaustion of leaks' opens more than just the window of social cognition; 666 00:27:25,144 --> 00:27:27,794 it opens all windows currently sealed by noise. 667 00:27:28,144 --> 00:27:29,834 But that is a story for later. 668 00:27:30,184 --> 00:27:31,213 What are your thoughts 669 00:27:31,384 --> 00:27:32,253 on this episode? 670 00:27:32,704 --> 00:27:34,273 Have you ever had an experience where, 671 00:27:34,345 --> 00:27:36,233 when you were particularly calm, 672 00:27:36,345 --> 00:27:38,973 you suddenly became exceptionally sensitive to others' feelings? 673 00:27:39,424 --> 00:27:40,544 Or conversely, 674 00:27:40,545 --> 00:27:42,634 when you were anxious and irritable, 675 00:27:42,704 --> 00:27:44,374 you were completely blind to others' emotions? 676 00:27:45,025 --> 00:27:47,013 What topic do you want me to talk about next? 677 00:27:47,545 --> 00:27:49,153 Feel free to leave a comment below. 678 00:27:49,704 --> 00:27:50,413 I am Leo Wang. 679 00:27:50,785 --> 00:27:51,534 See you next time.