Thus the view “I have no self” is just as much a doctrine of self as the view “I have a self.” Because the act of clinging involves what the Buddha calls “I-making” — the creation of a sense of self — if one were to cling to the view that there is no self, one would be creating a very subtle sense of self around that view (see AN 4.24). But, as he says, the Dhamma is taught for “the elimination of all view-positions, determinations, biases, inclinations, & obsessions; for the stilling of all fabrications; for the relinquishing of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.”
Thus it is important to focus on how the Dhamma is taught: Even in his most thoroughgoing teachings about not-self, the Buddha never recommends replacing the assumption that there is a self with the assumption that there is no self. Instead, he only goes so far as to point out the drawbacks of various ways of conceiving the self and then to recommend dropping them.
Wherever you’re stuck
If, when you do good, you get stuck on your goodness, you’ll never get free. Wherever you’re stuck, that’s where there’s becoming and birth.
–Ajahn Fuang, “Awareness Itself“
June retreat at Wat Lao Lane Xang
Karma–Dharma Talk by Hogen Bays
Four linked videos of dharma talk and Q&A with Zen Teacher Hogen Bays.
Five Practices to Change Your Mind
Basic Buddhist meditation practices can transform the way you think and the way you view the world. Here, five teachers offer introductory methods for changing your mind—and your life.
http://www.tricycle.com/-practice/five-practices-change-your-mind
Awakening The Heart with Thich Nhat Hanh: Chanting
Keeping Our Understanding Alive
“The seeds of anger are always there. But when you notice, when you keep alive your understanding, they have no chance to manifest. Understanding is something that stays with you, and practicing the precepts, practicing meditation, helps you deepen your understanding all the time.”
On Meditation
“Normally the mind isn’t still, it’s moving all the time. We must strengthen the mind. Making the mind strong and making the body strong are not the same. To make the body strong we have to exercise it, to push it, in order to make it strong, but to make the mind strong means to make it peaceful, not to go thinking of this and that.” — Ajahn Chah
Tea and Rice
“Great enlightenment is the tea and rice of daily activity.” — Dogen
http://www.tricycle.com/brief-teachings/tea-and-rice
See the bigger Picture
“It is very important to see your life not only from the narrow view of your egoistic telescope but also from the broad view of the universal telescope called egolessness. This is why we have to practice. Right in the middle of the stream of time, we have to open our eyes there and see the total picture of time. Through spiritual practice we can go beyond our egoistic point of view. We can touch the core of time, see the whole world in a moment, and understand time in deep relationship with all beings. Then we cannot be isolated and cold people. We become beautiful and warm people, appreciating and helping all beings.”
–Dainin Katagiri
