Using non-self to let go AJAHM BRAHMM

Using non-self to let go
AJAHM BRAHMM

“First of all, our body. Do you possess your body? Do you own it? Is it yours? The older you become the more you realise just how out of control this body is. If there is an owner to this body, it's nature, not you. 

It gets sick. It hurts. It gets old. It gets better again. And you have just a little influence over this, but not that much. However you can understand that whenever you assume this body to be you or yours, you suffer because as soon as you think that this body which a mosquito is biting belongs to you, you suffer. If you could just imagine this mosquito was biting not your body but say, this microphone in front of me, would you worry about it? 

Would you be concerned about it? You would not, because this microphone isn't yours. If you could actually perceive, even like through your imagination, that this arm or this leg which the mosquito was biting wasn't yours, suffering will disappear straight away. The concern would be gone. There would be a sense of peace. Whenever you regard something as not yours, the result is this thing we call "letting go". 

What is the opposite of letting go? It is called owning. I won't call it controlling. I'll call it owning now because the owning always assumes an owner, and so we look at what we own and what we possess or rather what we think we possess, and this is the way of accessing the teaching of anatta using the Buddha's teaching which I mentioned earlier. That if there's a self, a soul, a me, there'll be things which belong to me. If there's things which belong to me, if there's possession, there has to be an owner. These two go together.

So you look for the teaching of anatta, just what you think you own. What do you own in this world? Do you own your body? If you do, you suffer. If you think you own your body you'll be attached to it. If you think you own the body you will not be able to let it go. I've seen many people in that predicament, close to death in pain but not willing to let the body go. Sometimes it's very sad to see a person thrashing about in the last few moments of their life, struggling for the breath, struggling for a comfortable position, struggling to stop death happening. Even though they're in pain, they'd rather have that pain and discomfort than have death. Why is that? It's attachment to the body. Why are they attached to their body? 

It's because they think it's theirs. They can't let it go. It's like a child with a little teddy bear or a doll. 

Someone's trying to take it from you. "No, leave it, it's mine. You can't have it". You won't let that teddy bear or little doll go. You can see that in a child, and you know that the child's being stupid. However, this little doll, this little teddy bear is also the body we carry around with us. When nature takes it back, do you scream? Do you cry "No, no, no. I'm too young to die. I've got too many things to do. Not yet, tomorrow maybe, but not today, not now"?

This is what we're talking about with attachment and the cause of this is this mirage of self and soul. This mirage of ownership. You can actually see this happening in certain moments of your life, when the body is threatened by sickness, by disease, or even just simple pain, when there's a pain in the legs when you're meditating, What is the problem? What is the real problem? Is it the pain or is it because you think it's my pain? Why can't you let go of the pain? 

Why can't you just go to the breath and just stay with the breath?

If you look closely you'll know you'll go to that which concerns you, which you think is your business, which you think is what you're supposed to be doing. You go to that which is your assumed responsibility, that which you own or think you own. You go to the pain in your legs because you think it's your legs. It's your pain. You have to do something about it. If you could realise at that point, or do a little imagining, not self: "This is not mine. Nothing to do with me. 

This is not my concern. Let the body look after the pain. I can look after the breath or look after the nimitta or look after the mind." You could do it then. When you understand you don't own these things, only then can you let them go. Attachment is born by the illusion of ownership.”

https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebmed055.htm