From: dnomhcir@gmx.com   
      
   oldernow  writes:   
      
   > "They Said It Was Simple" - Wei Wu Wei   
   >   
   > 31. They Said It was Simple   
   >   
   > STRANGE TO SAY - and how rare it is! - the term 'phenomena'   
   > implies precisely what etymologically it says. Every   
   > thing, every conceivable thing, that our senses, and   
   > our mind (which interprets what our senses perceive)   
   > cognise, is exactly an 'appearance', i.e., an appearance   
   > in consciousness interpreted as an event extended in space   
   > and in duration and objectified in a world external to that   
   > which cognises it. And simultaneously that which cognises   
   > it assumes that it is the subject of the cognition and,   
   > as such, an entity apart from that which is cognised.   
   >   
   > As long as these associated assumptions subsist, the   
   > correlated assumption of 'bondage', and the painful   
   > sensations accompanying that assumption, must necessarily   
   > remain intact.   
   >   
   > Therefore release from this assumed 'bondage' can only be   
   > obtained by comprehending the falsity of these assumptions   
   > which are responsible for the presumed bondage, for both   
   > 'assumptions' and 'bondage' are apparent only, i.e.,   
   > are purely 'phenomenal'.   
   >   
   > 'Appearance' is precisely what the word implies, i.e.,   
   > something that 'seems to be', not 'something that is'.   
   >   
   > If this is realised - and how obvious it should be, since   
   > the terms themselves say it precisely! - the psychological   
   > elements of a purely psychological bondage are severed,   
   > and only the psychological conditioning occasioned by   
   > that 'bondage' remains, and this, like all conditioning,   
   > will dissolve as a result of a process of de-conditioning   
   > which consists in the establishment of the concept of   
   > 'appearance' (phenomenon) in place of the concept of   
   > 'reality'.   
   >   
   > The dissolution of that which is cognised as 'real' and   
   > 'separate', as events extended in space and in time,   
   > necessarily involves the dissolution of the assumed   
   > cognising entity, and both are then seen as phenomena,   
   > or appearance, in consciousness.   
   >   
   > When this readjustment is effected both subject and   
   > object no longer exist as such, and no entity remains   
   > which could be conceived as being 'bound'. That is -   
   > bondage is no more.   
   >   
   > How very simple indeed it is!   
   >   
   > Note: 'Then who am I?' If anyone could tell you that,   
   > what you were told would necessarily be nonsense - for   
   > it would be just another object, as phenomenal as the   
   > rest. Some day you will know automatically what you are -   
   > which is what the Masters meant when they said so often,   
   > 'You will know of yourself whether water is tepid or cold'   
   > - or, you will just be that knowledge.   
      
   Where does the quotation end?   
      
   It looks like a very long way of saying 'The cause of suffering is   
   clinging'.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)