Non Self Quotes
Most popular non-self quotes
When we agonize over questions like, "Who am I? Where do I come from? Was I wanted? What is the meaning of my life?" we suffer because we're caught in the idea of a separate self. But if we look deeply, we can practice no-self. This is the realization that we're not a separate self; we're connected to our ancestors and to all beings.
In the beginning, we may believe that there must be someone in order for the breathing to be possible; there must be someone in order for the walking to be possible. But in fact the walking, the breathing, is enough; we don't need a walker, we don't need a breather. We can just notice that there is walking going on. There is breathing going on. What I consider to be the Buddha walking is just the walking, but it's a high quality of walking. Because that walking is enjoyable, it's mindful walking — there's a lot of peace and joy. The Buddha is that breathing. The Buddha is that walking.
Western psychotherapy aims at helping create a self that is stable and wholesome. But because psychotherapy in the West is still caught in the idea of self, it can bring about only a little transformation and a little healing; it can't go very far. As long as we are caught in the idea of a separate self, ignorance is still in us. When we see the intimate relationship between what is self and what is not self, ignorance is healed and suffering, anger, jealousy, and fear disappear. If we can practice no-self, we'll be able to go beyond the questions that make people suffer so much.
The teaching of impermanence and nonself were offered by the Buddha as keys to unlock the door of reality.
