“To destroy the perception of the ‘self’ in the mind, you have to meditate, to make the mind become totally peaceful.”

“To destroy the perception of the ‘self’ in the mind, you have to meditate, to make the mind become totally peaceful.”

Question:  Is it wrong to say there is "no self", because one can experience an identifiable self. There is no permanent entity called ‘self’, and what is experienced as self is only an impermanent ever changing entity. Can Ajahn comment on that please?  

Than Ajahn:  The concept of ‘self’ is based on two parts: in the body and in the mind. We have a body which we call ‘self’, i.e. ourselves. We also have a ‘self’ in the mind. Both of these ‘self’ are delusional.  It is created by thought itself. It thinks that the body is ‘you’, so the body becomes ‘you’ and if you think the mind is you then the mind becomes you. 

If you study the nature of the body, you will find that the body is just a composition of the 32 parts. It is made up from the four elements. When the body dissolves, it turns back into these elements. There is no ‘self’ in the body, no ‘self’ in the 32 parts, no ‘self’ in the four elements. This is one way to destroy the perception of ‘self’ in the body. 

To destroy the perception of the ‘self’ in the mind, you have to meditate, to make the mind become totally peaceful. When the mind stops thinking then the notion of the ‘self’ will disappear and all that is left is just the knower. That’s the true self, but this is also not the ‘self’, it is the knower, the mind. 

The mind is the knower, the one who knows. You will then understand that there is no ‘self’ in the mind – all there is in the mind is the knowing; and there is no ‘self’ in the body – all there is in the body are just the 32 parts or the four elements. So this is the way you contemplate, to study the nature of the body and the mind to see that there is no ‘self’ in both of these places. 

The ‘self’ comes from thoughts, the delusion (avijja). The delusion creates the notion that there is a ‘self’. Due to lack of wisdom, it falls into the belief that there is a ‘self’ from the notion. When you get rid of the notion, when you calm the mind, the notion will disappear and then you know that the notion is just a temporary thing. The thing that is always there is the knower, that’s the real thing.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

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