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Alan recounts the story of how Shariputra and Maudgalyayana first encountered the teachings of the Buddha. “Those phenomena that are causally created, the Tathagatha has shown their causes and he has also shown their cessation. Thus, the teaching of the Great Sage.” Normally, we identify strongly with subjective impulses and objective appearances, but when we observe them, we see that they are just phenomena arising from and dissolving into the mind. This first-hand experience into the conventional nature of mind preps us for the dissolution of the coarse mind into substrate consciousness and for the ascertainment of the ultimate nature of mind. Meditation: mindfulness of the mind via awareness of awareness. Let your eyes be open and rest gaze in the space before you without focusing on anything. Just be present, and sustain the flow of mindfulness in the present. Absent of grasping, there is a quality of knowing. Rest in that awareness. Note mental events emerging from the flow of awareness and watch where they dissolve into. Let the light of awareness illuminate single-pointedly the space of the mind and whatever arises therein. Observe the emergence of thoughts and images and their cessation. Q1. In the explanation of the illusionist, whose alaya does the illusion appear in? Q2. I have a question about the location of the mind. Javana occur in the dharmadhatu as does awareness. Do we need conceptual and/or non-conceptual guidance to pinpoint that location? Q3. How can we make implicit knowing more explicit in our daily lives? Q4. If the substantial cause of the illusion is the alaya, what is the illusionist doing? Q5. My understanding of taking refuge and bodhicitta is limited. Can you explain their significance? Can they be taken at various levels? Is it possible to take refuge for a limited time? Is there danger in taking refuge too early? What happens when refuge is taken out of the motivations of fear and self-centeredness? Meditation starts at 13:50