AN INTRODUCTION TOZEN BUDDHISM
manentlyeliminated,andconsciousnessisalwaysboundtothe
narrowestcircle.Whatwouldhappenifanindividualconscious-
nessweretosucceedinembracingatoneglanceasimultaneous
picture ofall that it could imagineis beyond conception.
Ifmanhasalreadysucceededinbuildingupthestructureof
theworldfromthefewclearthingsthathecanperceiveatone
andthesametime,whatgodlyspectaclewouldpresentitselfto
hiseyeswereheabletoperceiveagreatdealallatonceand
distinctly? This question only concerns perceptions that are
possibletous.Butifweaddtothosetheunconsciouscontents
—i.e. contentswhich are not yet, or no longer, capableof
consciousness—and thentrytoimagineacompletespectacle,
why,thisisbeyondthemostaudaciousfantasy.Thisunimagin-
ablenessisofcourseacompleteimpossibilityintheconscious
form, butintheunconsciousnessform itis afact, inasmuch
as allthatisseethingbelowis anever-presentpotentialityof
conception.Theunconsciousisanunglimpsable completeness
ofallsubliminalpsychicfactors,a"totalexhibition"ofpotential
nature. It constitutes theentire dispositionfromwhich con-
sciousnesstakesfragmentsfromtimetotime.Nowifconscious-
nessisemptiedasfaraspossibleofitscontents,thelatterwill
fallintoastate(atleastatransitorystate)ofunconsciousness.
ThisdisplacementensuesasaruleinZenthroughthefactof
theenergyoftheconsciousbeingwithdrawnfromthecontents
andtransferredeithertotheconceptionofemptinessortothe
koan.Asthetwolast-namedmustbestable, thesuccessionof
imagesisalsoabolished,andwithittheenergywhichmaintains
thekineticoftheconscious.Theamountofenergythatissaved
goesovertotheunconscious,andreinforcesitsnaturalsupply
uptoacertainmaximum.Thisincreasesthereadinessofthe
unconsciouscontentstobreakthroughtotheconscious.Sincetheemptyingandtheclosingdownoftheconsciousisnoeasy
matter,a specialtrainingand an indefinitelylongperiod oftime^isnecessarytoproducethatmaximumoftensionwhich
leadsto thefinalbreak-throughofunconsciouscontents into
theconscious.Thecontentswhichbreakthrougharebynomeanscom-
*Bodhidharma,theFounderofZeninChina,says,"...Everyeffortof
suchmenmustmiscarry."(Suztiki:EssaysinZenBuddhism,I,p.176.)