Feel-good energy surges subside on their own, and
Ugly thoughts and confusion dissolve into space—
Ordinary knowing doesn’t manage or control.
May I know the truth of pure being, utter simplicity
Commentary
Awakening to mind-nature, buddha nature, natural awareness, ordinary
knowing, the perfection of wisdom, whatever term you like to use, does not
necessarily change the content of what arises in experience. It does, however, change our relationship with it.
Ordinarily, pleasant or blissful experiences trigger attraction in the sense of
self, and a grasping reaction starts to operate, trying to hold onto the pleasant or blissful sensations, or even solidify them. That reaction of attraction throws us out of balance with what is arising, and we descend into struggle, trying to hold onto something whose time has passed. When you are awake and present, resting in mind-nature, the reactive mechanism has no foothold. The sense of self is not there, and the pleasant or blissful experiences subside naturally when they run out of energy.
A similar dynamic takes place with unpleasant experiences. They arise, but
again, because there is no sense of self, they are not pushed away, suppressed, or acted upon, and they dissolve into space.
Ordinary knowing, one of many epithets for mind-nature, takes things just as they arise. In ordinary knowing, movements to manage or control what is
experienced are not triggered. There is experience and knowing. The knowing is not separated from what is experienced. What is experienced is not separated from the knowing. It is utter simplicity, free of the complications of emotional reactivity and conceptual confusion.