How do we perceive pitch-dark?
score:2
In my understanding, light refers to form only with regards to eye consciousness. When there is pitch dark, there are no visible forms. But the other senses still remain in play perceiving the other aspects of form, for instance: the body feels the tactile sensations of form - a small breeze or the pressure of the body pushing against the ground. Likewise for the remaining sense organs and their respective sense objects. Therefore, this perpetuates the intellect-consciousness and with the absence of light but with the presence of the other sense organs and their sense objects, mind reconciles with itself by creating the perception of pitch dark.
Upvote:0
Interesting question. The Suttas say almost the same about eye-consciousness. Ive been thinking about this question. My opinion is that the suttas and abhidhamma are technically wrong 😳. This marks the first time Ive ever held such an opinion, but I think eye-consciousness is present in pitch black when attention goes to the visual cortex; because samjna is happening. The visual cortex is still processing and creating summaries of the visual field to pass on to the rest of the brain, and attention is on that summary. In my opinion, that is what eye-consciousness is: the eye 👁 giving raw sight data to the visual cortex which is summarizing it and applying edge detection etc and passing that summary on to the cortex default mode network 🧠. And all that is still happening.
Congratulations you’re the first person to ever convince me of a technical error by the Buddha. I say technical because I don’t think the omission from the normal teaching is detrimental in any way to any aspect of practice, but this is very interesting and could even be a useful, relatively short-term, contemplative lesson. If this is directly addressed elsewhere in the suttas or by a master saying the opposite, I’ll probably change my opinion. Thanks for an insightful question 🙏🏻👍🏻
Upvote:1
Visible light is the visible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation which upon contact with the sensitive medium can be cognized by the nervous system.
When there is no color vision, that doesn't mean that the eye has no object, there is still vision but it is without color.
When you decide to look and see 'darkness', that experience depends on the nervous system interpreting, conceiving & perceiving the conditions that can be known with the eye element.
If you had no eye then looking wouldn't occur and no information would come into being based on the eye-instrument.
The absense of color vision is seen as a darkness with the eye element, that which sees is the eye, the uncolored spectrum visible is the seen and consciousness cognizes it as 'dark', perception perceives it as 'darkness', can be felt as pleasant or otherwise depending on the circumstance.
This directing of attention to seeing gives you knowledge you wouldn't have otherwise.
A person with no eye can't see darkness in a dark room, can't perceive shades or even direct attention to that knowledge & vision of darkness.
It is kind of evident in that you can see dark spaces in an otherwise illuminated room and there darkness is something you see & know with the eye due to seeing.
You can also think about it as seeing shades of black color as more or less uniform in terms of a distinguishable shape.
More post
- 📝 Why do users of psychedelic drugs tend to gravitate toward Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies?
- 📝 Leave pain while enjoying life?
- 📝 When is an ideology a religion and not just philosophy, or a way of living?
- 📝 What is the meaning of ditthi visuddhi?
- 📝 Is there any Proof of No-Rebirth?
- 📝 References, Suttas, on the effects of rejecting (gifts)
- 📝 Buddhist view on letting the anger out. Any problems with that?
- 📝 The Animal Plane & Evolution?
- 📝 Observing sensations during normal time.
- 📝 What is the best way to generate Metta
- 📝 What is breath?
- 📝 Guru Yoga at Home?
- 📝 How a sotapanna person experiences the mind?
- 📝 Is the Pali Canon the final authority in the Theravada tradition?
- 📝 Can someone help me to find suttas on Self compassion
- 📝 From which text is the quote by Buddha “My practice is the nonpractice, the attainment of nonattainment” taken?
- 📝 Sleep and meditation
- 📝 Buddhism and theory of relativity
- 📝 The pali word for this concept
- 📝 What does the word "world" mean in the Buddhist context?
- 📝 Does freedom from birth and death mean there is no freedom to experience birth and death without desire?
- 📝 What is meant by the 8 stages of insight?
- 📝 Hard breath (intentional breath) in Pali
- 📝 Doubt and contradiction in buddhas teaching
- 📝 Where in the Pali Canon does it give examples of right livelihood and it's opposite
- 📝 Does sutta recitation actually entail understanding of the text?
- 📝 Do we perceive the whole?
- 📝 Do Buddhist texts record or comment on the then-prevalent varna or caste systems?
- 📝 Is there a generally agreed upon idea of what Buddha nature is?
- 📝 Modern Narcissism and Buddhism
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How does Buddhism perceive swearing or vulgarities?
- 📝 How to maintain a Buddhist practice through dark times?
- 📝 How can an arahant still perceive without ignorance?
- 📝 How do we perceive pitch-dark?
- 📝 How do Mahayana Buddhists perceive the world?
- 📝 If there is no soul, how can there be rebirth?
- 📝 How to explain what Buddhism is?
- 📝 How does stream entry occur?
- 📝 Lust - How Can it be Overcome?
- 📝 How not to kill the mouse in my house?
- 📝 How to determine the end of a meditation session without a clock?
- 📝 How do Buddhists express condolences?
- 📝 How can I assess the quality of a local Buddhist group?
- 📝 How should Buddhists handle prayer requests?
- 📝 How do you tell a 4-year-old who the Buddha was?
- 📝 How is sexual misconduct explained in regards to the five precepts?
- 📝 How to deal with people and handle rude language?
- 📝 How to deal with bad past karma that makes my current life miserable?
- 📝 As a Buddhist with a Muslim family, community, and background... how do you integrate/cope?
- 📝 How concentrated is access concentration and how would one recognise it?
- 📝 How are 'conceit' and 'identity-view' not the same?
- 📝 If I start doing Vipassana now, how long will it take me to achieve Nirvana?
- 📝 If anatta is a reality, then how do you explain Volition or Will?
- 📝 How do I slow down and start living according to my values? How do I change the direction of my life?
- 📝 How concerned should Buddhists be with the actions of others?
- 📝 How compatible are the beliefs of atheists and Buddhism?
- 📝 How does one practice mindfulness during thinking - e.g. thinking about how to solve a problem?
- 📝 How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
- 📝 How was the Buddha Jayanti edition of the Tripitaka derived?
- 📝 How to combine Buddhism with being a parent?