Is it possible to have perception without reification?
Yes. The sutta MN 1 below shows this and presents the difference between unenlightened persons and the enlightened ones.
The unenlightened:
“Here, bhikkhus, an untaught ordinary person, who has no regard for
noble ones and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, who has
no regard for true men and is unskilled and undisciplined in their
Dhamma, perceives earth as earth. Having perceived earth as earth, he
conceives himself as earth, he conceives himself in earth, he
conceives himself apart from earth, he conceives earth to be ‘mine,’
he delights in earth. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood
it, I say.
“He perceives the seen as the seen. Having perceived the seen as the
seen, he conceives himself as the seen, he conceives himself in the
seen, he conceives himself apart from the seen, he conceives the seen
to be ‘mine,’ he delights in the seen. Why is that? Because he has not
fully understood it, I say.
“He perceives the heard as the heard. Having perceived the heard as
the heard, he conceives himself as the heard, he conceives himself in
the heard, he conceives himself apart from the heard, he conceives the
heard to be ‘mine,’ he delights in the heard. Why is that? Because he
has not fully understood it, I say.
“He perceives Nibbāna as Nibbāna. Having perceived Nibbāna as Nibbāna,
he conceives himself as Nibbāna, he conceives himself in Nibbāna, he
conceives himself apart from Nibbāna, he conceives Nibbāna to be
‘mine,’ he delights in Nibbāna. Why is that? Because he has not fully
understood it, I say.
The enlightened:
“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who is an arahant with taints destroyed, who has
lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden,
reached his own goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is
completely liberated through final knowledge, he too directly knows
earth as earth. Having directly known earth as earth, he does not
conceive himself as earth, he does not conceive himself in earth, he
does not conceive himself apart from earth, he does not conceive earth
to be ‘mine,’ he does not delight in earth. Why is that? Because he
has fully understood it, I say.
“He too directly knows water as water…Nibbāna as Nibbāna…Why is that?
Because he has fully understood it, I say.
“Bhikkhus, the Tathāgata, too, accomplished and fully enlightened,
directly knows earth as earth. Having directly known earth as earth,
he does not conceive himself as earth, he does not conceive himself in
earth, he does not conceive himself apart from earth, he does not
conceive earth to be ‘mine,’ he does not delight in earth. Why is
that? Because he has understood that delight is the root of suffering,
and that with being as condition there is birth, and that for whatever
has come to be there is ageing and death. Therefore, bhikkhus, through
the complete destruction, fading away, cessation, giving up, and
relinquishing of cravings, the Tathāgata has awakened to supreme full
enlightenment, I say.
“He too directly knows water as water…Nibbāna as Nibbāna…Why is that?
Because he has understood that delight is the root of suffering, and
that with being as condition there is birth, and that for whatever has
come to be there is ageing and death. Therefore, bhikkhus, through the
complete destruction, fading away, cessation, giving up, and
relinquishing of cravings, the Tathāgata has awakened to supreme full
enlightenment, I say.”
MN 1
But why is it this way?
In the following sutta and commentary, Ven. Thanissaro explained that reification is rooted in the mental idea of the self i.e. "I am the thinker". So, everything other than the self is objectified and classified into non-self objects based on their relationship to the self.
However, for the enlightened, self-view and conceit has been destroyed. Thus, they see things as they truly are.
For e.g. if you're a vegan, you may look at a meat dish and cringe. If you're meat lover, you may look at a meat dish and salivate.
But an arahant will just see it as it is, without reacting based on greed, aversion and delusion. The arahant still has the non-clinging aggregate of perception (please see Ven. Thanissaro's footnote to Iti 44 and SN 22.48), using which, he can identify what is sensed, without reifying (concept-proliferating) it relative to the self.
"I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
about seclusion & the state of peace.
Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
clinging to nothing in the world?"
"He should put an entire stop
to the root of objectification-classifications:
'I am the thinker.'
Commentary by Ven. Thanissaro:
On objectification-classifications
and their role in leading to conflict, see Snp 4.11 and the
introduction to MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at
the root of these classifications in that it reads into the immediate
present a set of distinctions — I/not-I; being/not-being;
thinker/thought; identity/non-identity — that then can proliferate
into mental and physical conflict. The conceit inherent in this
perception thus forms a fetter on the mind. To become unbound, one
must learn to examine these distinctions — which we all take for
granted — to see that they are simply assumptions that are not
inherent in experience, and that we would be better off to be able to
drop them.
Snp 4.14
