Whatever happens, you are the happening of it!

In the seen, there is just the seeing.

In the heard, only the hearing.

In the felt, just the feeling.

In the known, just the knowing.

So, you are not present here as an observable thing.

As some conscious entity separate from all this.

But most obviously you still are.

Present!

It's just that you are neither an object, nor a separate subject.

Whatever is seen, you are the seeing of it.

Whatever is heard, you are the hearing of it.

Whatever is felt, you are the feeling of it.

Whatever is known, you are the knowing of it.

Whatever happens, you are not the one to whom it is happening.

Whatever happens, you are The Happening of it.

The actual fact of it.

And when nothing is happening, you are that 'Nothing' in which anything can happen.

This is a direct understanding of the truth that Buddha pointed out to Bahiya. And this is the conclusion that this video will drive you towards using some very simple observations.

I should start by busting a myth.

If you've been on this path for a while, the inner search, you've probably heard teachings or meditations that make experience sound very disconnected.

Like there's just the sound and the sensation and so on, and that's all there is.

Such teachings are derived from Buddhism, where the body and mind are described in terms of aggregates or heaps. On the surface this makes experience sound very disconnected.

But is it really so?

Say you smell a rose and then there's a thought. The thought is related to the smell. It seems very natural to have thoughts related to what is being sensed or known.

But how did the thought know about the smell?

See?

The heaps aren't entirely separate are they?

There is some common link.

What is that link?

That is crucial to get to this understanding.

Can the neurons or the subnetwork in the brain that's produced the thought know about the smell?

Neurons can't smell. And they can't think for that matter. They can only activate and deactivate.

Sit dormant or fire their little bursts of ions.

The intricate patterns of these neurons firing is what appears to you as the smell and the thought. Both the smell and the thought are an outcome of this activity.

So, there are two key factors linking all this together.

One is simply that the mind, which is this entire stream of experience relies on the same underlying structure; the brain.

The smell and thought are linked because it is all information; associations being computed in the one interconnected structure.

The instrument of the brain and body is one part of the link.

But there is another even more amazing factor involved in the link.

For isn't it you to whom both the smell and the thought appear?

That is truly you.

To you the smell and the thought are also linked by their appearance.

They appear to the one Self.

Surely, that is you.

So what are you?

This is where Self-inquiry really begins.

Here you are going beyond ideas and beliefs, and the identity of being this body or mind, to seeing Reality as it really is.

Because everything you know of and can name has already been used up in the explanation up to this point.

The brain is the structure on which the activity takes place. The sight of the roses, the smell, the thinking, are all outcomes of that activity.

So, you're not the body or brain, which is the structure or instrument for the activity.

The substrate.

And you are not the activity, which is what is being perceived.

The perceptions of the smells, sights, sounds, thoughts, emotions, all of that together is the mind.

So then what are you?

While the phenomena are wildly diverse; the smell is of an entirely different nature to a thought, there is undeniably a factor linking all this together in your own experience.

There is a unity to it all.

That unity points to you.

Otherwise there would be no possibility of discussing sight and sound and smells.

These would be entirely unknown in thought.

With this in mind, let's revisit the direct transmission of the truth from Buddha to Bahiya and see what is really being expressed here.

This is the actual translation of what the Buddha said.

"Herein, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus:

In the seen there will be merely what is seen; in the heard will be merely what is heard; in the sensed will be merely what is sensed; in the cognized will be merely what is cognized.

In this way you should train yourself, Bahiya.

When, Bahiya, for you in the seen is merely what is seen, in what is heard merely what's heard, in the sensed is merely what is sensed, in the cognized is merely what is cognized, then, Bahiya, you will not be 'with that.'

When, Bahiya, you are not 'with that,' then, Bahiya, you will not be 'in that.'

When, Bahiya, you are not 'in that,' then, Bahiya, you will be be neither here nor beyond nor in between the two.

Just this is the end of suffering."

Now, I will link this back to our line of inquiry so you may see what is left unsaid here, yet also being pointed out very clearly.

What I'll describe is based on the understanding that struck home here. This probably goes against popular discourses and schools of thought and so on.

But who cares?

This is a direct understanding that matches all experience.

So, turn attention to the mind itself and see for yourself if this is true.

In the seen, there is just the seeing.

In the heard, only the hearing.

In the felt, just the feeling.

In the known, just the knowing.

So, there is no you there as a separate entity; as a conscious thing.

But you are still present...because all these distinct phenomena are known to you.

To You!

But you are not here as something apart, as something separate or beyond.

Whatever is seen, you are the seeing of it.

Whatever is heard, you are the hearing of it.

Whatever is felt, you are the feeling of it.

Whatever is known, you are the knowing of it.

Whatever happens, you are The Happening of it.

This is the crucial part to see clearly:

You are not the one to whom all this is happening.

Not someone to be pitied, saved, or liberated.

Not an individual sentient entity; some little 'me.'

Whatever happens, you are The Happening of it.

You are the doing of it.

And you are what is being done.

This is the conclusion to arrive upon for yourself:

Any idea of being a separate subject; a knower, and any sense of being are just part of the knowing.

Whatever is known, I am the knowing of it.

Whatever is perceived, I am the perceiving of it.

Whatever happens, I am not the one to whom it is happening -- I am The Happening of it.

And when nothing is happening, I am that 'Nothing' in which anything can happen.