Noble Truth 2 question

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Rick
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Noble Truth 2 question

Post by Rick »

Does the 'grasping' of Noble Truth 2 always boil down to: grasping at self?

In other words, when you grasp at phenomena, are you actually grasping at your sense of self?

On a related note, does grasping at self ever stop (before enlightenment), or is it always there, even if it is unmanifest?
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Noble Truth 2 question

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Rick wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:07 am Does the 'grasping' of Noble Truth 2 always boil down to: grasping at self?

In other words, when you grasp at phenomena, are you actually grasping at your sense of self?

On a related note, does grasping at self ever stop (before enlightenment), or is it always there, even if it is unmanifest?
I think that intentionally “not grasping” is an ongoing process, a process that occurs over and over again with every situation concerning the (illusive experience of) self, as well as outward phenomena. That process is basically the Buddhist path. In that regard, yes, self-grasping stops whenever you practice it, whenever you put your mind to it.

A Buddha transcends or goes beyond any duality of self/no self. In the sutras, the Buddha almost never refers to himself but almost always as “the Tathagatha”. But it wouldn’t matter if he said “me” because me/no me is the same thing at that point.
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Rick
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Re: Noble Truth 2 question

Post by Rick »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 3:48 am I think that intentionally “not grasping” is an ongoing process, a process that occurs over and over again with every situation concerning the (illusive experience of) self, as well as outward phenomena. That process is basically the Buddhist path. In that regard, yes, self-grasping stops whenever you practice it, whenever you put your mind to it.
Conscious self-grasping might lessen when you practice non-grasping. But doesn't something as primal as self-grasping ply its trade largely unconsciously as unmanifested self-grasping?
A Buddha transcends or goes beyond any duality of self/no self. In the sutras, the Buddha almost never refers to himself but almost always as “the Tathagatha”. But it wouldn’t matter if he said “me” because me/no me is the same thing at that point.
What about us unenlighteneds, when we experience thing-grasping, is self-grasping always at the root of it?
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