INTRODUCTION

likely didn't realize that you were briefly in a state of no-
mind. This is because the gap between that state and the
influxofthoughtwastoonarrow.Yoursatorimayonlyhave
lastedforafewsecondsbeforethemindcamein,butit was
there;otherwise,youwouldnothaveexperiencedthebeauty.
Mindcanneitherrecognizenorcreatebeauty.Onlyforafew
seconds,whileyouwerecompletelypresent,wasthatbeauty
or that sacredness there. Because of the narrowness of that
gap and a lack of vigilance and alertness on your part, you
were probably unable to see the fundamental difference
betweentheperception,thethought-lessawarenessofbeauty,
and the naming and interpreting of it as thought: The time
gap was so small that it seemed tobe asingleprocess. The
truth is, however,that the moment thought camein,all you
hadwasamemoryofit.
Thewiderthetimegapbetweenperceptionandthought,
themoredepththereistoyouasahumanbeing,whichisto
saythemoreconsciousyouare.
Manypeople are so imprisonedin their minds that the
beautyof nature does not really exist for them. Theymight
say, "What a pretty flower," but that’s just a mechanical
mental labeling. Becausetheyare not still,not present,they
don't truly see the flower, don't feel its essence,its holiness
— just as they don't know themselves, don't feel their own
essence,theirownholiness.
Because we live in such a mind-dominated culture,
most modem art, architecture, music, and literature are
devoidofbeauty,ofinneressence,withveryfewexceptions.
Thereasonisthatthepeoplewhocreatethosethingscannot
— even for a moment — free themselves from their mind.
Sothey areneverintouchwith that place within where tree
creativity and beauty arise. The mind left to itself creates
monstrosities,andnotonlyinartgalleries.Lookatoururban
landscapes and industrial wastelands. No civilization has
everproducedsomuchugliness.