The Practice of Non-Self

The Buddha taught that there is no ongoing, abiding thing in anyone or anything that can be called a “self”. That which we call “self” is really a concept or a series of concepts.

Of course, in conventional reality (vs. ultimate reality), in regular, daily life, the idea of self comes in handy - taking care of oneself, expressing oneself, etc. But remembering that all this is really a concept is very helpful to practice.

So, rather than getting into the theory (concept!) of non-self, let’s look at it primarily as a practice. We can notice when the concept of “I” (my “self”) and the many corollaries that come from it appear in our minds. E.g., concerns about “how I’m doing”, “how I will look to others”, “how I’m going to do this / make it through the day”, etc...

And...we can let those concepts go! When we do that, we automatically return to whatever it is weʻre doing, and, freed from concepts, we are freer to really get into it!

And being free from our concepts of “myself” frees us to have a much larger view of who and what we may really be - and be that - our true Self, perhaps?

Photo: Zac Durant