Page 95 - Extinguishment of self, in search of dhamma

not take our own side; we will not take other people’s side; and, we will not take the side of the natural conditions that emerge. But, sometimes, we do not ask these questions. We think yes, no. We think whether we imagine it ourselves. These are all the phenomenon of thinking. But, if we observe whether there is a sense of “us”. Or, whether they (Translator’s note: The phenomena) really emerge like that. Then, we will have the answer: What it is like, not having a sense of “self”.
When there is no sense of “self” like this, when we contemplate minor bodily movements, we will experience the nature of the physical-mental phenomena that are working. We will understand what the old saying: “The mind is the master, the body is the servant” means. Before we shift each time, does the mind make the command rst? Before we blink, does the mind command us to blink? Before we open our mouth to speak, does the mind make the command rst? When we see whether the mind make the command rst, this is called the contemplation of the initial mind (tonjit).
The initial mind is the mind that experiences before we shift, the mind that experiences before we move. Or, it is the mind that has the duty to command the body to move. Observe this—even our own eyes, if we keep them open, if the mind does not command it, will they blink? Try keeping our eyes open for a long time, how does it feel? Before
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