Usually we experience things in chunks of moments. These are particularly large blocks of time compared to, say, a nanosecond. Smaller time units like nanoseconds are considered too small for 'cognition' but I discovered experiencing these small moments can be special.
I feel because we are unaware whats going on at unit level (nanoseconds) we develop only a partial view of reality, composed mainly of opinions and partial truths at best. This gives us opinions, and yes, emotions! It is significant to discover the mechanics that built emotions, ideas, reactions and our conclusions about things.
To experience the nanosecond:
Firstly, experience at a very small time unit level requires a very agile mind. (Like gymnasts become capable of impossible feats by continuous practice and training, a human mind can become agile and more capable by directed training, continuous training). Also, it is not just agility that helps to capture these small transient moments that build up to create sense impressions/emotions, one requires significant detachment from emotions to achieve this objectivity. A calm mind, detached from craving/aversion/greed/passion/hatred is a necessary preliminary to achieve concentration to capture the nanosecond experience. It helps reaching 'truthful judgements', a mind free from bias, free to investigate.
The special thing:
Now, the special thing about experiencing reality with this agility and detachment is that you get to see the fabrications that have built your thoughts. When one discovers the mechanism to thoughts it becomes difficult to live with biases, existence become lighter, and most prominently a moral life becomes the most natural state of being. Existence becomes joyful. I know I havent really built the relation between witnessing the discovery of mechanism of thought (frm experiencing truth at nanosecond level) and the change in behavior yet.
The change comes:
There is a significant change in behavior … and such a person is closer to truths than to his/her own thoughts! For example, a person looking at a flower will have a very clear cognition of the smell but will not be particularly pleased. Passing by a sewer this person will again have a very clear cognition (if the mind is still calm and concentrated) of the smell but will not be particularly displeased. The mind is trained for bare cognition from nanomoment to nanomoment and is left with no time to judge with ‘interefering opinions’ or tagging of each experience as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ or pleasure and pain. Complete cognition of reality with penetrative experience with smaller time units changes not only the smaller picture but the larger experience as well, along with behavior. The emotional states change and the person becomes free from judging mindlessly, mind is clear to cognize reality as it is. The effect of this is not insignificant, it disables repressions or opinions that create chimeras, obsessions, phobias, guilts, cravings and aversions pulling us into wrong or biased opinions and frees one from uneding spiral of pleasure and pain.
Reality of the world akin to reality experienced is a very powerful state, the mind is lucid, clear and bright. Mind is closer to truth, such state is called the state of concentration 'dhyan', thoughts are linear, efficient and clear. Doubts, guilt, suffering, pain or pleasure don’t exist. Joy of knowledge springs forth. These states have to be practiced to be made more permanent basis of experience and one has to work hard to change habit pattern of the mind, to shift from making judgments/creating emotions to learning to stay calm and detached, even as one goes about very day business rationally (v. imp.:)
To reap a capacity of mind capable of cognition even at the nanosecond level requires constant training by directing one’ attention (vipassana). When such training of mind is perfected ‘knowledge’/Truth/wisdom starts becoming accessible, makes people more loving, wise, and lovable indeed :)
Again, I have an indirect understanding yet, but perhaps a step further than just the written word(shrut pragya) ... a calm mind will further help direct experience. Busy minds seldom reach somewhere.
* For calming the mind reflect upon Death as death, becoming as becoming, origin as origin, passing as passing, being as being, and thoughts as fabrications...
