David: This idea of a static realization that never changes is more the by-product of wrong use of language than anything else because you can’t conceptualize permanence. Permanence is just the opposite of transient. If someone says, “I am permanently awakened,” well, what does that mean? The only kind of permanence that exists is the one that language can conceive of, which is the indefinite extension of that which is transient. Do you understand? It’s not necessary to understand.
So, that which is really permanent doesn’t stay. Something can only stay put if it’s an object or a thing, including realization. Realization is not an object, therefore it doesn’t stay put. It’s not permanent. It allows for the consciousness that loses it, that loses perception of it. Realization gives birth to the loss of realization.
In this way, samsara is located in nirvana. Samsara is not outside of nirvana. Nirvana creates samsara for its own realization. So, you must understand this point so that you’ll begin to cherish your ignorant mind instead of hating it. In fact, dethrone the idea of an ignorant mind altogether, deconstruct it, and throw it away. This is why I speak of wave after wave of realization. Wave of course is a metaphor as in the wave of an ocean, which is why I’m not hesitant to use it.
I’m not making a literalistic and reductionistic statement there. I’m not using the linear mind to posit that. I’m creating something else in the field of metaphor so that you don’t get lost among many bland statements that don’t amount to much in the end. So, we talk about a wave of realization and another wave in eternally self-generating wave of awakening, all proceeding from an unidentifiable source, from the unconditioned. You say “the unconditioned.” What is it? Well, it’s not anywhere. Reality is nowhere when we’re speaking of the unconditioned. That’s it.