There’s a pretty drastic difference between a rock and a human mind. Rocks don’t appear to change just by looking at them. Thoughts do.
Timescale and proximity.
You can’t really contrast anything from the workings of your mind, because it’s all you ever see.
I don’t see the difficulty. I contrast how I feel when I first wake up in the morning (half dead) and how I feel half an hour later (alive). I contrast myself before and after a glass of beer. When I drive a car, I notice if I am making errors of judgement. While I am sure I am not perfect at seeing my own flaws, to the extent that I do, it’s a routine sort of thing, not a revelation.
I believe that this particular flaw is chiefly responsible for a good deal, if not all, of human suffering, as well as ambition. I don’t know if that belief can be used towards anything as categorically practical as transfiguration, but it certainly is useful for solving ontological and existential crises and improving happiness and peace of mind.
So the Buddhists say, but I’ve done a fair amount of meditation and never noticed any connection between contemplating my interior life and the presence or absence of suffering. Neither has the experience thrown up so much as a speedbump, never mind a serious challenge to anything. Wow, maybe I’m naturally enlightened already! Except I wouldn’t say my life manifested any evidence of that.
Timescale and proximity.
I don’t see the difficulty. I contrast how I feel when I first wake up in the morning (half dead) and how I feel half an hour later (alive). I contrast myself before and after a glass of beer. When I drive a car, I notice if I am making errors of judgement. While I am sure I am not perfect at seeing my own flaws, to the extent that I do, it’s a routine sort of thing, not a revelation.
So the Buddhists say, but I’ve done a fair amount of meditation and never noticed any connection between contemplating my interior life and the presence or absence of suffering. Neither has the experience thrown up so much as a speedbump, never mind a serious challenge to anything. Wow, maybe I’m naturally enlightened already! Except I wouldn’t say my life manifested any evidence of that.