by Tang Huyen

"In awakening one doesn't bother about reality or unreality, one simply lives life simpliciter. There is nothing to it. But that is what makes it worthwhile. It takes no effort. It is pure reward, in return for doing nothing, surely nothing to deserve it."

In Buddhism, nothing mental is fixed. As the Buddha
says: "What and what they think it, it is otherwise."
If one tries to pin something down, it will simply slip
away and tease one forever about it. It is commonly
recognised in linguistic studies that a sign or symbol
refers to something else, to something different from
it, of which it is the sign or symbol. That something
different is the referent, of which the sign or symbol
is sign or symbol. There is nothing in mentational
parameters (words, concepts, ideas, notions, signs,
symbols, images, similes, metaphors, metonyms,
etc.) that is in and of itself, but all of them refer to
something different from them and of which they are
the mentational representations. They are subservient
and indigent.

It can be argued that mathematical systems (not
elements, like numbers and points) are in and of
themselves and do not (necessarily) refer to anything
outside of them (though they can be applied to
something outside of them), but they depend on
their starting set, their axiomatic structure, and then
they are arbitrary, in that their axiomatic structure is
arbitrary. There are mathematical systems that are
pairwise contrary, for example hyperbolic
(Lobatchevkian) geometry and elliptical (Riemannian)
geometry, and each can have its sphere of application
(the former in sub-atomic particle-waves, the latter in
interstellar space, even right down to GPS and the
direction of smart bombs). If the mathematical
systems are consistent, they hold on their own, but
somebody must think them up.

The mental states have different relations to what is
outside of them. Some, like resentment, anger and
bitterness, have an object to which they refer. For
example, somebody's anger points to his object of
anger, somebody's bitterness points to his object of
bitterness, and this object (real or imagined) is what
causes the anger or bitterness. Paranoia often has
an object, though its relation to this object is
objectively questionable.

Other mental states are compleat in themselves,
sufficient to themselves, and do not refer to anything
other than themselves. For example, calm, peace,
serenity are compleat in themselves, sufficient to
themselves, and do not refer to anything other than
themselves. They are in and of themselves. They
serve as their own Archimedean platform. The Stoic
sage is sufficient to himself, stable in himself, and
behaves like a promontory on which waves come to
break themselves.

The state of non-mentation is purely non-symbolic,
mentality-free. It is purely subjective, strictly
sentimental. In Buddhism and Stoicism, the world
cannot be changed, only one's attitude to it can be
changed. Awakening is purely subjective, strictly
sentimental. There is nothing real to which it can
be tied. Nothing out there has changed, only one's
attitude to the world and to oneself has changed. But
that simple change makes all the difference. In
awakening one doesn't bother about reality or
unreality, one simply lives life simpliciter. There is
nothing to it. But that is what makes it worthwhile.
It takes no effort. It is pure reward, in return for
doing nothing, surely nothing to deserve it. Which is
why it is in and of itself.

Colophon

Posted to talk.religion.buddhism on 1 January 2007, in the "symbolic mind" thread, in reply to Brian Mitchell. Author: Tang Huyen. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

A precise philosophical analysis of what distinguishes the non-mentational state from ordinary mental activity. The key move is the distinction between referential and non-referential mental states: anger, bitterness, and paranoia all have objects outside themselves, while calm, serenity, and peace are Archimedean — self-standing platforms that refer to nothing beyond themselves. Non-mentation is the fullest development of this self-sufficiency: it is purely non-symbolic, not because it lacks content but because it has exited the referential structure of symbols entirely. The Stoic sage as promontory is one of Tang Huyen's most vivid images. The conclusion — "it takes no effort; it is pure reward for doing nothing" — is the practical upshot of the post's logical structure. Read alongside "Affirming the Realities" (<[email protected]>) on the self-showing world.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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