Earlier, we discussed that cognition can be divided into "cognizer" and "cognized." Among them, "cognizer" refers to sentient consciousness, a distinctive characteristic of life. Life and sentient beings are essentially the same, and they can be used interchangeably. Our consciousness presents the external phenomena we perceive. Consciousness is an ability of the mind to differentiate and categorize. When the mind truly and directly sees itself, it marks the state of enlightenment. Through it, ignorance is eliminated, leading to Buddhahood. In essence, these few sentences capture the essence of Buddhist practice, but achieving this state necessitates profound dedication and effort.
"Cognized'' refers to the objects of the mind. Materialism believes that the mountains, rivers, earth, the accumulation of matter, and the matter itself, are the objects of our cognition. In the Yogacara school of Buddhism, all these are categorized as the appearance aspect of the mind. If we take Yogacara as the conventional truth, it does not acknowledge the existence of inherent material substances. For example, the board I am holding in my hand, according to this perspective, is not a piece of wood composed of molecules and atoms; rather, it is a presentation of my consciousness. The form and shape I see is the presentation of my visual consciousness; the fact that I feel it is hard and soft when I touch it is the manifestation of my tactile consciousness; the fact that I smell nothing when I smell it is the manifestation of my olfactory consciousness.
They are manifestations of my consciousness, not something that is there independently. This manifestation is what is referred to as the object of cognition, or what Yogacara calls "appearance aspect." In fact, both matter and consciousness are the objects of cognition. When objects are cognized, it is what is called matter, which is the object of cognition of the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The things that the eyes see, the sounds that the ears hear, and so on are all cognized.
"Consciousness" can be a type of the cognized. For example, we know when we have emotions and thoughts. For instance, you know when you are thinking, “What a jerk.” In this case, the thought “What a jerk” and the accompanying words serve as objects of your consciousness.
When it comes to emotions, like experiencing depression, your mind is actually aware of the emotional state. However, the tragedy lies in feeling trapped by depression's grip.
Excerpted from:Cognition and Expression Part One
