Reading from SN II 12.23 Causes for Liberation
“What is the cause for renewal of being?”
Or renewal of karma, of action
“Identity, should be answered. “
This is bhāva.
Bhāva is also ‘becoming.’
This sense of identity.
Which becomes more and more solidified.
But how does it get solidified?
“But this identity comes from a cause,
It is not independent.
What is the cause for identity?
Attachments, should be answered.”
Now, what is this identity?
It’s just a bundle of attachments. J
Because identity is:
‘I’, ‘I’,
‘I am this, I am that.’
‘I like this, I like that.’
‘I don’t like this, I don’t like that.’
‘Don’t give me this, give me that!’
‘Because my preference is this, not that!’
And so all of these things,
They accumulate.
They agglomerate.
And in the end,
They are the things we cling to as:
‘This is me’
For these attachments to arise,
There needs to be an ‘I’ to arise also,
To support all of that.
And so,
These attachments are constituted of elements
That are even finer which is:
“But these attachments come from a cause,
They are not independent.
What is the cause for attachments?
Discontent, should be answered.”
And so,
What is the root for all these attachments?
This would normally be called
Craving and clinging.
Attachments is what I call clinging,
Usually, that would be the normal way of saying that.
And then craving,
But I prefer ‘discontent’.
For me, it makes more sense.
It’s something which I can play more, in my mind, with.
And this discontent means:
Like if we were always perfectly content,
How would that be?
And then, from there,
We can understand how attachments arise.
We start leaning one way,
Or the other.
Rather than,
Being okay with whatever arises.
One of my favorite teachings from Bhante Vimalaramsi,
In relation to non-self is:
“Every time you let go of craving,
In the mind;
Every time you let go of a distraction,
In your mind;
Every time,
You let go of the false belief in a personal self.”
And you become freer and freer,
Every time.
This is a really good Anatta teaching.
Because it’s really practical,
And you can really use it.
You can really understand.
Just do this exercise,
Lightly, without forcing that.
But see what it is,
When a hindrance arises in the mind,
Whatever it is,
Whether it’s anger,
whether it’s wanting something,
Whether it’s restlessness,
Whether it’s any of the other hindrances
But that would be the main ones.
There’s always going to be a ‘taking it personal.’
Attached to it.
So it works in both ways.
By letting go of that belief in ‘taking it personal’
Every time,
You are also cutting off the root of that hindrance.
It’s very profound.
That’s why we train to release the distractions constantly,
That’s why Samādhi is closer and closer to understanding
What Anatta is.
Because there’s nothing there.
(In Samādhi)
There’s nothing to stick.
There’s no defilements.
Samādhi is the end of defilements.
Samādhi is the thing which happens,
That unity of mind,
That collectedness of mind, that happens,
When all the impurities,
Which are distorting the mind,
Are gone.
So it is just a natural thing that happens.
And this is no self.
There’s no self there.
It’s very light.
It’s a very light state.
Uplifted.
And as soon as there is a sense of self,
Or a sense of ‘I’ that becomes more and more manifest,
It becomes a hindrance!
J
So this is very interesting to understand.