You asked me how to get rid of the “self or ego” in you. You have tried it very hard but sometimes still fail and you don’t understand why?

Don’t aim for perfection. Life around us constantly changes in every day, every hour, and in every breath. We better live, observe and enjoy our life to the fullest. Do not make it heavy. Don’t bother to impose on life the colours we want it to have or the style with which we are accustomed.

Let’s find where the self resides in us. There exists a physical body which feels pleasant when being touched and pain when being beaten. On the other hand, the self is invisible, but it is a co-existing entity like earth and air. It does not appear outside. It rather hides within our thoughts and desires in the forms of anger, hatred, love, sadness, and suffering as reactions to what life presents us with. What we see, hear and imagine affect our consciousness and awaken the self to think how to act, feel depressed or excited, and so on. The self then incites the body to get up, take actions, express sorrow, anger, resentment, forgiveness, or tolerance… But what is the end result? If we think good, do many good deeds, then we are praised for. If we think wrong, do bad things, then we are reprimanded, imprisoned, or even executed for a serious crime. At that time, the self disappears. It is gone, leaving our physical body facing with the world alone!

Now do we somewhat understand the “two in one” truth in ourselves? If so, then which one will we listen to and follow? Our physical form or the self of no form that always lures us to do this and that with an ordinary mind, but never takes responsibility for its causes. The poet Nguyen Du had to bitterly admit “Being born in a body, you have to comply with it. Do not not blame heaven for your destiny!” He didn’t mention why the body has to be involved.

If we cannot distinguish the root cause of how this four-element formed body came in life, then we would be easily confused, and we cannot recognize who is the owner, and who is the visitor. Subsequently, our body gets headaches with the arrogant and delusion that the self often throws at the owner making us miserable without a way to escape.

We need to remind each other to keep practicing so we can achieve our goal. Constantly observe our mind, and ask ourselves who is the person that is eating, talking, and thinking? An owner or a visitor? The distinction is not aimed at the up-down, in-out, high-low, or the rich-poor … but to recognize whether what is happening right now brings benefits to people, life, to ourselves or brings harm to life, people, and creates bad karma of the so-called self.

When you and I are fully aware of the truth as discussed above, then where does the so-called self exist to create storms, cause delusions, drive you insane, or make you suffer and sorrow?

PHD-People’s Artist Bach Tuyet – Nguoi Do Thi Magazine (02/02/2020)