No Self | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh | #mindfulness

You are empty of the self.

You are empty of a separate existence.

That self, the non-changing entity,

it's not there.

There's nothing unchanging.

Everything is flowing, everything is changing,

form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness.

You don't see anything that can remain the same in two consecutive moments.

And therefore,

a self that remains always the same

is not there.

There is no unchanging self.

And neuroscience can help also.

When we look into the brain, we see a lot of neurons.

And they are working together,

exchanging information every moment.

And there is no neuron...

that plays the role of the president, the role of the commander,

and that is a community of cells,

that...

operate like a symphony orchestra, but there is no conductor.

In our body, there is no cell that plays the role of the president.

of the boss,

of the one who is giving orders.

Therefore, a decision is made,

but there is no decision-maker.

A decision is made, but there is no decision-maker outside of the decision.

There is a feeling taking place, but there is no feeler.

There is a perception that happens,

but there is no perceiver existing outside of the perception.

Suppose you talk about the wind.

And you say, the wind blows.

It looks like there is the wind...

that does the job of blowing.

We say the rain falls.

Imagine a rain that doesn't fall.

So you can say there is rain, but you cannot find a rain-er.

You cannot find a rain-er.

The same thing is true with our feelings, perceptions.

There is a feeling of sadness, and of joy.

But there is no feeler standing outside in the background.

because there is no self, there is no self-nature.

Everything depends on everything else in order to express itself.

And that is the teaching of inter-dependence.

You cannot be by yourself.

It's impossible to be, it is possible to inter-be,

but it's not possible to be.