Letting Go of the Discriminating Self

Everything we see arises, changes, and passes away. People and things, thoughts and feelings, never stay in exactly the same form. Yet today's teaching explains that if we only follow this change, it is hard to fully know the true nature of all things. Only when we are not caught by the appearance of arising and ceasing can we look into the reality that cannot be divided into arising and ceasing.

Understanding this principle as knowledge alone is not enough. The moment we hold on to the thought 'I know the truth,' the knowing self and the known object split apart into two again. Looking through the discriminating thought that self and object exist separately, we see only the differences that appear on the surface. To awaken to the sign of equality without difference, we must also stop holding the very subject that watches and judges as a fixed, solid thing.

This does not mean seeing or thinking nothing at all. Observation still happens, but without putting the thought 'I am observing' in front of it. It is a state where awareness is clear, yet that awareness is not claimed as 'mine' — the monk connects this to no-mind. It is not forcing the mind to become empty, but the practice of laying down the force that constantly divides self from other, right from wrong, gain from loss inside the mind.

Think of a school. A school, its teachers, students, and books are all needed for learning. But the building itself, a title, or the thickness of a book is not the essence of learning. What matters is the actual learning and awakening that happens through all these conditions. In the same way, the forms and explanations of practice are tools that point toward the way. Do not stop at holding the finger — look directly at the truth it is pointing to.

Words like 'buddha-nature' or 'awakening' also become another object the moment we think of them as separately existing things. A concept can show a direction, but the concept itself is not the truth. This practice of what is beyond arising and ceasing is not about searching, among ever-changing appearances, for one more unchanging object. It is closer to stepping out of the very frame of discriminating thought that searches for and grasps at objects.

This teaching may sound difficult and lofty. So let us begin from one small moment today. When judgment arises as you look at someone, do not simply follow the content of that judgment — also look at the place where 'I am seeing this person this way' arises. Do not blame this watching self either; quietly notice how discriminating thought arises and then passes away.