There is so much misinformation concerning the idea of “No Self.” The key to transcending this confusion is to understand the reason for its existence.
Sturgeon’s Law reminds us that 90% of everything sucks (but not in the fun tingly way). This could look like the majority of humanity (including the majority of meditation teachers) honestly believing it is best to be rigid, fearful, superstitious, controlling, elitist, cryptic, competitive, and cruel. Such rigidity could blind people to the subtleties of communication, causing them to mistake figures of speech for literal statements. Such is the case of “No Self.”
Thanks to our sympathetic nervous system we are wired to notice: vulnerably, passively, viscerally, randomly, and fleetingly. Our parasympathetic nervous system (on the other hand) is wired to physically relax and mentally release. But what has that to do with “No Self?”
FIRST let’s begin with a literal approach. Every time we relax into our exhalation, whatever we noticed during our previous inhalation, could FEEL: less solid, less permanent, and less defining (if only for a moment). SECOND let’s explore this as a simile. As we relax into our exhalation, whatever we perceived during our previous inhalation could fleetingly feel as non-graspable, as impermanent, and as inconsequential as if it simply had no bearing at all on our sense of self. THIRD let’s convert this to a metaphor. As we relax into our exhalation whatever we noticed during our previous inhalation could fleeting cease to be “me...” thus, for a moment, it is “NOT myself.”
centuries ago the south Indian Buddhist philosopher Nargarjuna explained the so called two truths of the conventional and the ultimate. With each inhalation our mindfulness perceives and with each exhalation our meditation fleetingly releases only to have our mindfulness perceive again during the very next inhalation. Great Buddhist yogis throughout the centuries have warned against the folly of favoring release over perception or the other way around. But that has not stopped the rigid from being foolish and generously sharing the virulence of their confusion with others.
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