A Self That Knows

My body is like a phantom, like bubbles in a stream. My mind, looking into itself, is as formless as empty space, yet somewhere within sounds are perceived. Who is hearing?

That question was asked by the 14th century Zen Master Bassui. Questions like this one would constantly keep Bassui searching for an answer in meditation, until he found comfort remembering the inherent emptiness of consciousness. Within that emptiness is a fullness. That fullness appears differently in every physical focus. The one who is hearing is hearing our inner sounds. We hear the self through the channels of awareness that manifest through experiences.

We flow through awareness,and then focus using our branding fork of beliefs. Once beliefs are branded they become experiences. The body is a phantom. It bubbles in a stream. Each bubble within the body is another thought in the conscious mind. Thoughts gather and then change as the energy within them moves through eternity.

As Hui-neng the 6th Patriarch of Chan Buddhism said during his 8th century life:

There is within oneself that which knows.