Added by Codex: transcript-backed evidence

These evidence pages help ground the appearances page in the actual practice language of the transcripts.

• Sam Harris on appearances in the mirror of consciousness
• Sam Harris on awareness as already open and free of self
• Sam Harris on the path already being the goal

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These descriptions attempt to explain concepts that cannot be captured by language alone. While comprehending them intellectually through language may be necessary, it is not sufficient. To appreciate them fully, we must also experience them directly, firsthand, through practice. See also theory vs. practice.

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Appearances refer to any and all phenomena that arise from consciousness. These "objects of awareness" as they are also called, are inseparable from awareness itself, and therefore share all of its characteristics.

Below are some examples of common appearances. Like waves on the ocean, while they differ greatly in form, size, and force, they each emanate from the same unified substance.

Everyday Appearances

• Thoughts: memories, conscious reasoning, spontaneous ideas (like sudden hunches or insights that seem to bypass our usual reasoning processes), etc.
• Mental States: focus, curiosity, attachment, doubt, etc.
• Emotional States: joy, sadness, anger, compassion, etc.
• Physical Sensations: breath (sensation of breath moving in and out), heartbeat (the rythmic pulsing felt in the body), proprioception (how our bodies feel in relation to the space around us), temperature, pain, taste, smell, etc.
• Visual Impressions: objects we see with open eyes (external impressions), and the words and images we we imagine or remember when they’re closed (internal impressions)
• Auditory Impressions: environmental sounds from the world (external) and **self-talk, or the musings of the observer (internal)