Sunday, April 01, 2007

Non-ownership of Mind in Buddhism

"Though ordinarily thought of as a self, as belonging to self, a little reflection will prove how far from being 'owned' this mind and body are. The heedless man never thinks whether 'my body', 'my mind', 'myself' could really be true. But neither body nor mind obey a self, they just work governed by certain laws and conditions. There is no possibility of a (ego) self, who is the owner of mind and body.
Such ideas are born of craving for security. And where there is craving, there is bound to be suffering. So this root of suffering spreads its battening rootlets both deep and wide."
Angkor Wat statue overgrown with tree roots
Photo by Werner Bischof

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