Parable: Once the sage saw the tracks of large hooves on the bank of the river. He carefully examined them and said to his disciples: "These tracks belong to a huge elephant, which is lame on one leg, hungry and carries a lot of luggage." The disciples were surprised: "How can you know this without seeing the elephant?" The sage explained: "The footprints are deep, which means that the elephant is very heavy. One leg leaves a less deep mark, which means it is lame. There is no grass around the tracks, which means that he is hungry. And the uneven depth of the tracks indicates that he is carrying a heavy load." This parable, like a magnifying glass, shows the power of inference based on careful observation and logical thinking.

Subsequent knowledge (Skt. paricchinna-jñāna; Tib. bcad shoes):

It's like meeting an old friend – recognizing something that we've already perceived. When you meet someone you know on the street, you immediately recognize their face, voice, or behavior. This is subsequent cognition – our mind compares the current perception with the information stored in the memory and identifies the object.

Example: You hear a familiar tune on the radio. After a few seconds, you recognize the song and remember its name and artist. This is the subsequent cognition – your mind compares what you heard with the information stored in your memory.

Parable: A monk who had spent many years in seclusion in the mountains came down to the city. He saw many unfamiliar things and people. But when he heard the sound of a bell coming from the temple, he immediately recognized it.

Correct assumption (Skt. manaḥ-parīkṣā; Tib. yid dpyod):

It's like an intuitive insight, a correct guess based on limited information. Imagine that you hear a meow outside the door. If you don't see a cat, you're still very likely to assume that there's a cat there.

Example: Your friend is usually late for meetings. You agreed to meet at a café at 7 p.m. At 7:15 a.m. he's still gone. You assume that he's likely to stay another 10-15 minutes, and this assumption turns out to be correct.

Parable: Once a traveler got lost in the forest. He saw two roads diverging in different directions. On one road there were fresh tracks leading deep into the forest, and the other was overgrown with grass. The traveler assumed that no one had walked along the overgrown road for a long time, and decided to follow the road with footprints. This parable shows how, even with a lack of information, we can make the right assumption based on common sense and intuition.

Direct perception without definition (Skt. aniyata-pratibhāsa; Tib. snang la ma nges pa):

It's like a fleeting vision, a first impression, but it's even more fleeting and indefinite. Imagine that you catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye. You are aware that something has happened, but you don't have time to determine what it is. This direct perception without definition is a primordial sensory impression that has not yet been clearly formed and named in our minds. It's like a shadow flashing on a wall – we see movement, But we don't know what caused it.

Example: You are sitting in a quiet room and suddenly you hear a rustle in the next room. You are aware that there was a sound, but you cannot immediately determine what it was – whether a book fell, a mouse ran by, or something else.

Parable: A disciple asked his Zen teacher, "What is mind?" The teacher suddenly shouted and clapped his hands. The disciple shuddered at the surprise. The teacher said, "This is mind—pure awareness of the moment without any thoughts or definitions." This parable, like a flash of lightning, illustrates the fleeting nature of pure perception that precedes conceptualization.

Doubt (Skt. saṃśaya; тиб. Di Tashome):

It's like a swing, oscillating between two or more possibilities. Imagine not being able to remember if you turned off the iron when you left the house. Your mind is torn between two options: "turned off" and "didn't turn off", causing a feeling of anxiety. Doubt is a natural part of our cognitive process when we are faced with a lack of information or conflicting data.

Example: You are offered to invest money in a new project that sounds very tempting. On the one hand, you see the potential benefit, on the other hand, you feel apprehension and uncertainty.

Parable: One day a man was standing on the bank of a river and could not decide whether to ford it or to take a boat. He doubted whether it was shallow enough to make the boat capsize. His doubts paralyzed him like fetters, and he was never able to get to the other side. interfering with decision-making and action.

False cognition (Skt. Viparaya-jñāna; тиб. People She):

It's like a mirage in the desert, a misperception or a misunderstanding of reality. Imagine that in the desert you see a mirage, a shiny surface that looks like water. Your mind mistakenly interprets the visual sensations as water, when in fact it's just hot sand. False cognition is a distortion of reality where our mind mistakes an illusion for reality. This can be due to a lack of information, bias, or simply a perceptual error.

Example: You look at a straight stick that is half submerged in water, and it appears to be broken at the water-air interface. This is an optical illusion – a false perception caused by the refraction of light.

Parable: One night, a man was walking along the road and saw a rope coiled up in the dark. He was frightened, thinking it was a snake, and he ran away. Only in the morning, in the light of the sun, did he see that it was just a rope. This classic Buddhist parable, like a lantern in the night, illustrates how our minds can misinterpret reality, creating fears and illusions there, where there are none.

Understanding these seven types of perception is like a clue to the mystery, helping us to become more aware of how our minds interact with the world and how errors in our cognition can arise. This is the first step to developing wisdom and the ability to see things as they really are. As one wise Buddhist monk said, "To get rid of illusions, we must first understand how they arise." Exploring these seven aspects of our perception is an important step on this path that leads to a clearer and more conscious understanding of ourselves and the world.

Now let us deepen our understanding of these seven facets of our perception, as if peering into the ancient wisdom scrolls of the Buddhist teachings, which, like light, shed truth on the nature of our mind.

Direct Perception: Buddhist texts, like echoes of centuries, emphasize the paramount importance of direct experience as the foundation of true knowledge. In the Majhima Nikaya, the Buddha, like a wise teacher, exhorts us to see things as they are, without the mediation of concepts or interpretations.

"Oh bhikkhus, when you see the form with the eye, you simply see the form. When you hear a sound with your ear, you just hear the sound. When you smell a smell through your nose, you just smell the smell. When you taste with your tongue, you just taste it. When you touch your body, you just feel the touch. When you know a thought with your mind, you simply know a thought."

This passage emphasizes the need for awareness and being in the present moment, without immediately labeling and judging our sensory experiences.

Inference: Buddhist logic (pramana), like a sharp sword, attaches great importance to inference as a valid source of knowledge. However, the Buddhist texts, likewise warnings, remind us of the need to distinguish between superficial understanding based on reasoning and deep understanding that arises from meditation and contemplation. The Golden Light Sutra speaks of the importance of distinguishing between these two types of understanding.

"Rely on your own experience, not the words of others. Rely on your own reason, not on other people's opinions. Rely on your own wisdom, not blind faith."

While inference is valuable as a tool, it must be supplemented by personal experience and intuitive understanding.

Subsequent Cognition: The Buddhist teachings, like a river of time, speak of the impermanence of all things. Our memories and recognition of objects are based on past impressions, which are themselves changeable. The Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification) describes the process of the arising and disappearance of mental images, emphasizing the transience of our experience and therefore of our subsequent cognition.

"Everything composite is impermanent, everything composite suffers, all dharmas are devoid of self."

Our recognition, like a shadow, is based on memory, which can be imperfect and subject to change.

Correct Assumption: Although there is no explicit mention of "correct guessing" as a separate category in Buddhist texts, the principle of right thinking (samma sankappa) in the Noble Eightfold Path implies the ability to make wise and well-founded assumptions based on compassion and wisdom.

"Right thinking is aimed at renunciation, the absence of ill will and the absence of cruelty."

A correct assumption, like a compass, in a Buddhist context, would be based on ethical principles and the desire for the welfare of all beings.

Direct Perception Without Definition: This state is often described in the context of vipassana meditation (insight meditation), like a safe haven. In the initial stages of practice, we learn to observe our sensations and thoughts without evaluating or categorizing them.

"Just observe, just notice, just be here."

Many Buddhist teachers, like guides, emphasize the importance of this non-conceptual perception in developing a deep understanding of reality.

Doubt: In Buddhism, doubt, like a thorny bush, is seen as one of the five obstacles to enlightenment. However, this does not mean that doubt is always harmful. Healthy doubt, like the wind, can motivate us to investigate and seek the truth. In the Kalama Sutta , the Buddha, like a wise counselor, admonishes us not to blindly believe in authorities, traditions, or rumors, but to test everything by experience.

"Do not believe the reports, do not believe the traditions, do not believe the rumors, do not believe the scriptures, do not believe the assumptions, do not believe the probabilities, do not believe the thought that 'this is our opinion,' do not believe the authority of teachers or elders. But when you yourself know that these things are not good, these things are evil, these things are condemned by the wise, these things, if practiced and observed, lead to harm and suffering, then give them up."

Doubt, like a tool, should be used for research, not as a cause for stagnation.

False cognition: The doctrine of emptiness (sunyata), like the sun, is central to Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. It says that all phenomena are devoid of their own, independent essence. Our ordinary perception of the world as consisting of solid, self-existent objects is a form of false cognition based on illusion. The Heart Sutra states:

"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form; Emptiness is not different from form, form is not different from emptiness. The same applies to sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness."

"Understanding emptiness is like a key that helps us free ourselves from false beliefs about reality and see the world as it really is, interconnected and constantly changing."

These passages from the Buddhist teachings deepen our understanding of the seven types of perception like precious threads and show how these categories relate to key Buddhist principles such as mindfulness, wisdom, impermanence, right thinking, and emptiness. Exploring these aspects of our mind, like diving into a deep well, is an important step on the path to self-knowledge and liberation from suffering.

Chapter 2. Beyond Illusions: Meeting the Immediate

Immediate Knowledge – Looking Beyond the Veil of the Mind

"The mind is like a wild elephant. If left unchecked, it will only bring destruction. But if he is tamed, he will become the greatest helper." – Tibetan proverb

Imagine a moment of absolute silence when all external noises cease and all that remains is pure, unclouded awareness. This is not a dream, not a fantasy, but a moment of genuine clarity, when the mind, like the calm surface of a lake, reflects reality without distortion. It is in this ability of our consciousness that lies the key to the deepest understanding of ourselves and the world – something that in Buddhist psychology, especially in the tradition of the great Nalanda Monastery, is called direct perception (Skt. pratyakṣa; Tib. mngon sum).

Think for a moment: How many times a day do we actually see, hear, and feel the world as it is, without the admixture of our biases, expectations, and interpretations? More often than not, our minds are like a stirred sea, where waves of thought and emotion distort the reflection of the truth. But imagine that there is a way to calm these waves and see reality in all its pristine purity.

"Knowing nature, or knowing agent… is called the mind, and it is immaterial… Cognitive acts have the nature of knowledge because of the basic nature of clarity, which underlies all cognitive acts. This is… the basic nature of the mind, clear light," says His Holiness the Dalai Lama. These words penetrate like a ray of light to the very heart of our minds, pointing to our innate capacity for clear and immediate knowledge.

But why should we, modern people living in a world of information noise and constant haste, immerse ourselves in the study of such subtle aspects of Buddhist psychology? The answer is simple and deeply personal: to gain mental health, peace of mind, and genuine understanding. After all, many of our sufferings, anxieties, and disappointments stem from misinterpretations of reality, from misconceptions that we accept as truth.

Remember how often we react not to the fact itself, but to our interpretation of this fact. The boss frowns – and now a whole scenario about our incompetence and impending dismissal is born in our minds. A friend doesn't respond to the message right away – and we already feel rejected. These mental constructs, often having nothing to do with reality, poison our lives and undermine our mental health.

"The mind is like a monkey jumping from branch to branch, constantly distracted and grasping at anything," say Tibetan monks, drawing an analogy with the restless nature of our everyday consciousness. But in the Nalanda Tradition we are taught that behind this hustle and bustle lies the potential for infallible cognition, free from conceptuality. This is the essence of direct perception, which, according to this ancient wisdom, is of four kinds: