Disassociation Will Lead to Your Welfare and Peacefulness

Monks, whatever is not yours, disassociate with it.

When you have disassociated with it, that will lead to your welfare and peacefulness.

And what is it, Monks, that is not yours?

The eye is not yours: disassociate with it. When you have disassociated with it, that will lead to your welfare and peacefulness.

(In the case of the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind, the discourses are similar to that of the eye.)

Suppose, Monks, people were to carry off the grass, sticks, branches, and foliage in this Jeta’s Grove, or to burn them, or to do with them as they wish. Would you think: People are carrying us off, or burning us, or doing with us as they wish?

‘No, Venerable Sir.’

For what reason?

‘Because, Venerable Sir that is neither our self nor what belongs to our self.’

So too, Monks, the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, the mind is not yours: disassociate with it. When you have disassociated with it, that will lead to your welfare and peacefulness.

(Reference: SN 35.101)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a Practitioner will need to disassociate with The Six Sense Bases not considering the physical body to be “you” or “the self”.

Through training the mind to disassociate with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind as being “the self”, a Practitioner can work towards the elimination of the fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as “personal existence view” to realize The Universal Truth of Non-self and “sensual desire”.

The Buddha helps his Students more deeply understand this Teaching relating it to “Jeta’s Grove”.

Jeta’s Grove was a location where The Buddha and his Students spent an extensive amount of time as there was a Temple there that was built for them to share these Teachings with the local community.

The Buddha and his Students stayed at Jeta’s Grove more than any other location. A beings mind can oftentimes associate material objects and possessions as belonging to you and taking ownership of these, including taking ownership over the physical body.

So, Gotama Buddha wisely uses this location as a way to ask the Students “Suppose, Monks, people were to carry off the grass, sticks, branches, and foliage in this Jeta's Grove, or to burn them, or to do with them as they wish. Would you think: People are carrying us off, or burning us, or doing with us as they wish?”.

The Students answer the question from The Buddha, ‘No, Venerable Sir’.

While the mind can be questioned and intellectually understand that none of these material objects are “you” or belong to you, the mind needs to be deeply trained to let them go “disassociating” with them which “will lead to your welfare and peacefulness”. If the mind continues to hold on to these impermanent objects, it will continue to experience discontentedness.

A Practitioner needs to mentally let go of holding on to people, situations, experiences, jobs, material objects, etc. A Practitioner does not necessarily need to eliminate them from their life, but instead, deeply train the mind to eliminate the craving/desire/attachment to hold on to these and other things permanently.

Through training the mind to let go of these impermanent conditions seeking pleasure, then it can be trained to reside in peacefulness, calmness, serenity, and contentedness with joy - permanently.

But, if the mind thinks that all these impermanent objects are “you” or “the self”, when those impermanent objects no longer exist, the mind will experience painful feelings.

By disassociating with all objects considering “that is not yours”, then the mind can be unaffected when impermanence is experienced.

If the mind is holding on to the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind craving for agreeable experiences with forms, sounds, odors, flavors, physical objects, and mental objects, it may experience pleasant feelings when it gets what it wants through The Six Sense Bases, but it will then also experience painful feelings and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant when the conditions that created the pleasant feelings no longer exist.

The cycle of continued discontentedness just continues, and the mind is not free from the strong feelings. It is unliberated continuing to experience constant discontentedness.

Instead, the mind can be liberated from the strong feelings to experience freedom and liberation, the peacefulness of Enlightenment, because the mind is no longer longing with a strong eagerness for the objects of its affection. The mind also will not experience painful feelings nor feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant when it is liberated from chasing after the objects of its affection through The Six Sense Bases.