a sensory experience...

“To this I replied, "I still think that my body is not merely a sensory appearance, for surely it came from my parents, who were its cause and condition."

He said, "If you think that your body came from your father and mother, then what are the beginning and end of these parents? What are their source, their location, their final destination? Tell me!"

I answered, "I think that they exist, but I am not aware of what they are. It seems to me that a physical body without parents is not possible."

He retorted, "Consider this. Who are the parents of the body in a dream, in the bardo, and in the hell realms?"

With that, I arrived at the decision that this body has never existed, being simply a sensory experience.”



― Dudjom Lingpa, Buddhahood Without Meditation: A Visionary Account Known as Refining One's Perception