If the Buddha Nature is within me, why can’t I recognize it?
Sunrise
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson
One question that I frequently get asked is, “If Buddha nature/Awareness, is within me why can’t I recognize it?” Almost all people I know, including my teachers and me, spent many hours in meditation and practice before the recognition of our true nature. It seems like no effort is required to find your true nature at the moment of recognition, but for some reason it requires a lot of effort before one comes to realize that no effort is required. I was confused about this paradox until a recent conversation with my wife about observation which led me to write this blog post.
To begin, I would like to start with a dialogue between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in the short story, A Scandal in Bohemia, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1891. In this dialogue, Sherlock Holmes is explaining the difference between seeing and observing.
You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.’
‘Frequently.’
‘How often?’
‘Well, some hundreds of times.’
‘Then how many are there?’
‘How many! I don’t know.’
‘Quite so. You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.
The key point in the above dialogue is to realize that the practice of observation takes effort. Yes, we are eternal, unblemished, complete Awareness but it takes a lot of discrimination (Viveka) to see the difference between our ordinary everyday consciousness, and our true nature as Awareness. To realize our Buddha nature requires a disciplined and still mind, a subtle mind that is capable of sustained focused observation. This requires a lot of practice. A mind that is slave to vasanas (addictions, karmic imprints) will not be able to recognize the truth of Awareness. A lot of the preliminary practices in many spiritual traditions are ways to quieten the mind, and remove our karmic impressions so the recognition of our true nature can begin to happen. Bypassing this step will not work because the recognition of our true nature as Awareness/Buddha Nature will happen only in a mind that is capable of discriminating between Awareness and the world around it.
The great Indian sage Ramana Maharishi said something similar about effort and practice:
Questioner: Why is not Awareness realized now or even remembered by us?
Maharishi: Because of want of acquaintance (parichaya) with it. It can be recognized only if it is consciously attained. Therefore make the effort and gain consciously.
The Dzogchen tradition has something along the same lines. I have paraphrased a discussion with my teacher that conveys the same point about recognition and practice.
Teacher: The Dzogchen position is neither of these. We cannot say that Rigpa in its present obscured state is operating as an omniscient awareness. Rigpa is obscured by fleeting stains, and automatically arising factors of stupidity and bewilderment. Because of these factors , Rigpa does not recognize its own face and, consequently, it is not operational.
Therefore, Dzogchen emphasizes the importance of preliminary practices and strengthening the two enlightenment-building networks of positive force and deep awareness. The purpose however, is not for building up good qualities, but for eliminating obscurations that prevent Rigpa from recognizing its own face. The “face” of rigpa is characterized as Samantabhadra literally, all-excellent. Such recognition will not happen all by itself, without any causes.
In my life, I have yet to meet a teacher who has recognized their Buddha nature without expending any effort. This recognition of our true nature is obvious, and no effort is needed in recognizing this truth once it has clearly been seen, but until this recognition has happened effort is needed. In conclusion, I would like to leave you with the anti-Advaita statement, “There is no path but only for those who have completed it.”