chownah wrote:Great! Now that we are back on topic, how do you see the sixth sense base (mind and mental objects) as being internal and external? For me this in the difficult one.Spiny Norman wrote:An obvious interconnection is that without visible form there would be no visual consciousness or contact. So what we experience is the interaction of internal and external via the sense-bases.chownah wrote: Anyway, since you seem to be of the view that there is an internality and an externality, how do you see that they are interconnected or are you of the view that they are not interconnected?
chownah
chownah
Take the zen koan, does the falling tree make a sound if there is no one listening.
Depending on internal base ("ear") and external ("vibrations") arise ear consciousness. The meeting of the three is contact. Only then is the sound heard.
In experiencing sound there is really no internal or external. They all have to be there for there to be sound.
The mind can take everything as an object both "external" (via the 5 senses) and "internal" (purely internally generated).
In experiencing mental objects, there is also no internal and external.