Page 25 - Dhamma Practice

phenomena that emerge and exist, as dictated by causes and conditions.
Just now, we see the separation of the unburdened mind and the physical body. How about when we think about certain things—do mental images appear? Sometimes—but they always contain mental tastes, correct? For example, when we think about things that upset us, how do we feel? (A practitioner answers: Discontented) Do we feel heavy or light? Now, we know that is suffering. What remains is how to extinguish it.
The Buddha talked about suffering, causes of suffering, and methods to extinguish suffering. Why do we feel suffering? It is because of attachment. Who attaches? We do. As mentioned just now—we need to extinguish the “self”. This means that the cause of suffering is “self”, correct? We are not aware that the Five Khandhas (the Five Aggregates) occur according to their causes and conditions. But, whenever we inject “self” into them—be it, rupa (corporeality), vedana (sensation), sanna (perception), sankhara (mental formations), and vinnana (consciousness)—the mind is saddened, and suffering emerges.
Now, try removing the feeling of “us” and, then, think about that same thought. Expand the unburdened mind to be bigger than the thought. How does the mind feel? It feels light, correct? It is alright to have thoughts,
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