Page 134 - Dhamma Practice

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When we look at an image, take our mind to that image. But, make the mind wider than the image. How do we feel? Do we feel heavy or light? This is different from bringing the image into our mind. By nature, when we see anything, when we hear anything, we tend to bring them into our mind. When we lack awareness, we always do this. But, if we experience by placing our mind there, see how our mind feels. It is clear, it is aware. We need to experience with awareness—see the phenomenon emerges and ceases there.
Are we now more adept at removing the sense of “us”? Yes? When we remove our sense of “us”, how does our mind feel? It feels uncluttered and light. There is one potential problem. When we remove the sense of “us”, we could still be attached to “he/she”. How are we attached? We may be attached to the image or to the name? The word attached here does not mean infatuation—totally different. What I am referring to is when we see the face of this person, we feel uncomfortable. When we hear his name, we feel uneasy, we feel suffering— unwholesomeness emerges.
Firstly, remove the sense of “us”. Once we have done this, if we still feel disturbed, try removing the sense of “he/she”. Try it. Think of someone you feel bad about, but do not fabricate the story. Observe—if you hear his name and feel uncomfortable, remove the name from his body. How does it feel? The image of the body with the