The Self, so often thought of as a thing, is, from a Buddhist perspective, an activity that arises under certain conditions, which can be seen and seen through. Sam guided our reflections this week, and drew upon several teachers in the Early Buddhist tradition, including Andrea Fella, Guy Armstong, and Susie Harrington (who also offers a guided reflection).
We listened to excerpts from the following three talks:
Not-self and selfing : Andrea Fella 9/11/18
The Five Aggregates Are Not Self: Guy Armstrong 9/10/19
Selfing and Freedom from Selfing: Susie Harrington 11/12/19
Sam then read verse 14 from the Tao Te Ching:
Eyes look but cannot see it
Ears listen but cannot hear it
Hands grasp but cannot touch it
Beyond the senses lies the great Unity —
invisible, inaudible, intangible
What rises up appears bright
What settles down appears dark
Yet there is neither darkness or light
just an unbroken dance of shadows
From nothingness to fullness
and back again to nothingness
This formless form
This imageless image
cannot be grasped by mind or might
Try to face it
In what place will you stand?
Try to follow it
To what place will you go?
Know That which is beyond all beginnings
and you will know everything here and now
Know everything in this moment
and you will know the Eternal Tao
Sam also read a quote from Nisargadatta Maharaj:
There is only one truth in the world, and that is that everything is unreal. I am the Unmanifested talking through the Manifest. When the body, the mind, the vital breath drop off, nothing happens; only I, the Absolute, prevail always. No knowledge is called for to understand this truth, because that knowledge is innate. (Feb. 12, 1981)
Burlington Buddhist Sangha 