Page 18 - Extinguishment of self, in search of dhamma

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muddledness can be about the past, or about the future. In any case, it is caused mainly by thoughts. What causes this muddledness? It is caused by our desire, our fear, our satisfaction or dissatisfaction with things that appear in front of us. Phenomena that emerge in front of us are not con ned to things that the eyes see but can be things that we are thinking about. The thoughts that emerge in the present are the things that disturb our mind.
This is considered to be “experiencing the mind within the mind”. We will see the mind doing its duty— thinking about this and that and myriad things. When we know what our mind is thinking, this is a type of mind observation. Experiencing the mind within the mind is the mind thinking about this and that—good and bad things. There are all just thoughts; but, we feel it is dif cult to endure. This is because we tend to distinguish between thoughts that we like and thoughts that we dislike. The reason why it is dif cult to endure is not because we think too much, but because we like or dislike. Then, the thoughts pressure us and strain us until we cannot bear or ght them. This is what happens.
Therefore, if we know that the thoughts that appear are a natural condition that emerges through our mind; then, the principle of vipassana is that we need to wilfully contemplate. Wilfully contemplate the mind; experience the mind within the mind; experience the thoughts. When