CHANGING TIDES AND TIMES
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our mind right now! Mind is not some thing that we can take out and examine. It is not some thing we can pin down and say, "This exactly is the mind." In lacking this capability, it should not surprise us that we also lack the potential for validating or verifying the continuity of future or previous existences. Thus, even though we can only see this body right now, our blank memory of having had other bodies should not surprise us. Ultimately speaking, the physical body that we are experiencing at any particular point is only a projection of the mind and, as such, arises from tendencies in the mind, to be experienced by the mind. Take two people; if one of them goes to sleep and the other observes the sleeper, regardless of how incredible and complicated the dreams of the sleeper are, the other person cannot see them. The observer has no way of seeing what the other person is experiencing because it is intangible. It cannot be seen empirically, nor is it possible from the point of view of the observer to validate empirically any dream with any other sense faculty. This does not mean that the dreamer is not dreaming! For the dreamer, the dream (while lacking tangibility) is perfectly valid. Similarly, any attempt to validate the karmic process empirically is simply a waste of time. Although the dream arises from something intangible, this does not mean that the process of cause and effect does not work. Even though the physical senses do not enable one to validate the law of karma, one can see this truth through spiritual insight. As one's realization develops, one becomes directly aware of cause and effect, which gives an awareness of the process of rebirth. Ordinarily, one is accustomed to verifying the truth or the falsity of something before giving it credence. In the instance of karmic fruition, however, the lack of empirical verification should not be taken as either an indication or absolute proof of its non-existence. Rather, one needs to recognize that one is not necesr.arily consciously aware of it right now. Earlier we were discussing the concept of the empty, clear, and unimpeded nature of mind as being the inherent nature of one's self. Due to the several levels of confusion and distortion that take place in the mind, our present unliberated situation manifests. The first of these delusions is a simple lack of direct experience and awareness of the nature of mind. Rather than experiencing