Don't Get Caught Up in the Movie called Consciousness | Ajahn Dhammasiha | Dhammagiri Dhamma Talk

The Buddha used the simile of a magic show for consciousness. In his time there were no movies yet, otherwise he may well have used watching movie or TV or Youtube as a simile.

Ajahn Dhammasiha talks about how truly mindfully watching a film usually means that we can't 'enjoy' it anymore. The moment we're aware that this is not real, this is just pictures on a screen, this is artificially produced by actors and director and lighting arrangements and so on, we can't 'buy into it' any more.

It's difficult to get frightened by the villian, cheer for the heroine, and hope for the cavallery to appear and save them all, if we conciouosly know this is only a movie produced by actors in a studio.

Or imagine they were to zoom out of a romantic scene in moolight, to show you the surrounding studio, mics, lights, camera, prop-up and numerous people standing around. All emotional effect would immediately be lost.

Similarly, if we observe the constructed nature of consciousness, how it arises based on contact of internal sense bases and external forms, sounds, fragrances, tasts, sensations and thoughts/ideas, we would lose or at least weaken our attachment to it.

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