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sign, with all its specific limitations, such as its molded form, color, and shape. The third
is the counterpart sign, which is a subtle, emblematic representation of the whole quality
of the element it symbolizes.
Theravada Buddhist contemplatives claim that physical reality may be mentally
altered by the contemplative manipulation of the counterpart signs. The role of meditative
stabilization in the discipline of contemplation may be likened to the role of mathematics
in the physical sciences. Without knowledge of mathematics and the ability to apply this
knowledge in the study of the laws of nature, modern physical science would hardly have
progressed as it has. Mathematics is indispensable not only for scientific understanding of
the physical world but also for developing the necessary technology to further our
knowledge and control of nature. Similarly, meditative stabilization is said to be
indispensable for gaining contemplative insight into the nature of physical and mental
phenomena; and it is said to allow for the development of various types of extrasensory
perception and paranormal abilities that can be used in knowing and controlling nature.
Buddhaghosa explains in detail how the mind is exercised in the use of
counterpart signs in order to develop extrasensory perception and paranormal abilities.29
To take one example, if one wishes to transform a liquid into a solid, one focuses on the
counterpart sign of the earth emblem. Then, on emerging from the state of meditative
stabilization, one focuses the attention on a body of liquid, such as a lake, and resolves,
 Let there be earth ; and it becomes solid, so that one can walk upon it freely.30 This
contemplative tradition claims that this exertion of the mind s power over matter can be
either private or public, as the contemplative wishes. Thus, abilities such as walking on
water and multiplying physical objects are seen not as acts of supernatural intervention
but as rational, lawful manipulations of matter by the mind. The fundamental hypothesis
is that consciousness is an integral element of the natural world and that it holds
extraordinary capacities that run completely counter to commonsense experience.
The Theravada tradition asserts that after the counterpart sign appears and
vanishes, one experiences the primal state of the mind from which thoughts originate.
This state of awareness is said to be  process-free, in contrast to the  active mind, and
as it is free from all sense impressions, it shines in its own radiance, which is otherwise
obscured because of external influences.
According to this ancient contemplative tradition, it is possible to train the mind
so that the attention can be uninterruptedly sustained for hours on end. Such
concentrative ability is said to be crucial for fathoming the nature of consciousness and
tapping its hidden potentials. These claims of Theravada Buddhist contemplatives
obviously appear incredible in light of our commonsense assumptions about the mind.
Moreover, our indoctrination into scientific materialism tells us that such claims must be
false as a matter of principle, without our ever putting those training techniques to the
test. Nevertheless, the simple fact is that Western scientists have never conducted the
kind of research on developing sustained attention that was done in ancient India and
continues to be pursued in southeast Asia today. It is experience alone not the
metaphysical assumptions of Buddhism or scientific materialism that can determine
whether the claims of this contemplative tradition are valid.
Imagination-Induced Sustained Attention
While Buddhaghosa relied heavily on Singhalese accounts of Buddhist
contemplative practice, two of his Indian contemporaries, Vasubandhu and Asanga,
belonged to another Buddhist tradition whose records were preserved in Sanskrit. These
two contemplatives, who were brothers, are among the most authoritative proponents of
the school of Mahayana Buddhism, which remains today a living tradition among
Tibetans and other Asian societies. Like Buddhaghosa, they assert that, contrary to
James s belief, the healthy mind can in fact attend continuously to an object that does not
change. However, while one focuses the attention on an unchanging object, there is the
possibility of dementia setting in if one allows the potency of attentional vividness to
wane. The result of such faulty practice is that one enters a kind of trance, or mental
stupor, in which one s intelligence degenerates. The way to avert this danger is by taking
on the difficult challenge of enhancing one s attentional vividness without sacrificing
attentional stability.
The Mahayana Buddhist contemplative tradition uses a wide array of objects for
the cultivation of sustained attention, but it especially emphasizes the practice of
visualization.32 Here a clear distinction must be made between the physical support for
the meditative object and the meditative object itself. Any kind of physical object,
commonly one with religious significance, may be used in the preliminary stages of this
practice so that one becomes thoroughly familiar with its characteristics. But during the
actual training in sustained attention, one visualizes a mental image of that object. Unlike
the previously described technique of attending to a visually induced afterimage, this
method entails mentally creating and sustaining an image of a physical object, based
either on seeing it or on hearing of its characteristics. Rather than viewing a two-
dimensional mental image, one imagines the object three-dimensionally, bringing to mind [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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