There is no âpersonâ!
There's still this misconception of a âpersonâ being enlightened. A âpersonâ doing. A âpersonâ desiring. A âpersonâ controlling. A âpersonâ suffering. A âpersonâ possessing or owning something. A âpersonâ being aware. A âpersonâ existing at all.
I don't see a âpersonâ anywhere! All I see is objects!
That piece of cloth? An object.
This human body? An object.
Those daydreams, fantasies and dreams? Objects.
This I-thought? An object.
The sense of peace, bliss or that of presence? An object.
A âpersonâ is just a label latched onto these objects? Guess what!? That label is also an object.
This totally fabricated narrative woven using all these objects about me, you, people, continuity, change, history, past, future, cause-effect, desire, vengeance, morality, lack, problems... is also an object.
I don't know if I am being blunt when I am saying this but I am just being honest:
Your friends and family? What are they, really? Aren't they all walking, talking bodies?
You? What are you? This body? These thoughts? That manufactured sense of someone observing these thoughts?
Aren't all of these just objects!? Exactly like a portrait! You can paint on it, rub it, erase it... whatever. Exactly like in imagination! They are all objects that appear and disappear in a flash. It makes no difference if they are present or absent, if they are âgoodâ or âbadâ... they are all still objects.
And even those âdesiresâ! They are just thoughts... just objects. I can write the following text: âI want a quintillion dollarsâ! Tell me. What is the difference between this text and the object that is your âdesireâ? They are both objects that are saying something, apparently. How come one of these means something to you while the other doesn't?
If âyouâ are an object, what is in need of satisfaction here?
Do you try to satisfy a doll? Can you make a doll happy, sad or whatever? Can a doll like or dislike anything?
How come you could ever be satisfied? How come you could ever be happy or sad? How come you can like or dislike something? You are just another object that comes and goes!
There's no one liking anything or disliking anything, here.
I can play with a doll and say that the doll did X, likes Y, etc. but I know it's just an object that I am stitching a narrative of a person into! Makes for a wonderful story... but will it turn into an actual person?
What is being done with âyouâ is the same thing. A hand moves. An I-thought appears. Sadness appears. Memories flash. A thought âI want somethingâ appears. Moving human bodies appear in your surroundings. A world appears as the body steps out. All of these are then stitched into a beautiful story of âI moved my hand. Why am I so sad these days? Oh, I remember that I had to go out to get milk for my cat! Oh, hello there, mailman! Oh, there you are, kitty! Meow! Woah, this world is so big! Will I ever explore it all?â. This narrative is just another object, of course.
Apologies if my narrative skills are terrible!
Anyway, this narration is not wrong at all. It's part of the entertainment. But what's the difference between this bundle of thoughts, memories, bones, muscles etc. moving around v/s a doll moving around? Does this bundle like or desire or lack or need anything? Nope, that's just another thought. Thus, there is no difference at all. This bundle is as lifeless as the doll! But the story is such that this lifeless bundle has life but the lifeless doll doesn't!
Everything appearing right now is utterly devoid of life, meaning, authority or independence! The meaning is given simply by just a narrative layered on top of all this, which is itself devoid of meaning, ultimately.
Just like how a doll is given life by a story even if lifeless, this human body and other bodies are given life by a story, as well. Otherwise, they are just objects. Actually, they are objects regardless. Nevermind the âotherwiseâ!
Yes, this does seem like there's no drama to this. But the drama is provided by the narrative! Not by the objects.
If you think of an entire scene in your mind, you know that first and foremost, it's all imagination. You can then create a story on top of all the pixels you imagined. The imagination of all pixels as well as the imagination of the story go hand in hand. Once you are bored, you can drop all the pixels as well as the story. Does this story somehow create an attachment with what you know is clearly imagined? Nope, you just drop it and you come up with a new scenario!
Similarly, this real world is all objects. And then there's a story(another object) going hand in hand. It's about how this group of objects is a person, that group another person, a relationship between the two groups, the past of that group, the future of this group and what not!
These objects can be dropped at any moment. Any new objects can appear and then disappear just like any new âimaginaryâ scenario can appear and then disappear.
Absolutely nothing is holding them in place! They are all objects with no life, authority, ability whatsoever. They can't do anything, like anything, need anything. They are never happy, sad, or whatever, either. They lack any and all qualities. You are thus never happy or sad. You never like anything or dislike anything. You don't do anything.
Hmmm, anyway, what does this remind you of?
Ah, " ". It's all " ". No qualities. No labels. No descriptions!
While I am at it, even these sensations, emotions, thoughts, colours, forms, experience, whatever... don't exist apart from the story of these.
Various objects with qualities, history, significance etc. might appear, but they are all primarily objects with no qualities, distinctions, properties, names, form or whatever. Even using the plural formâobjectsâis inaccurate here.
Obviously, these stories don't need to be controlled. The stories don't have to be made to match your liking. As I have said, there is neither anyone liking or even a thought of liking without the said story. They are all objects! What controls all these objects? That would itself be an object... which is lifeless... so that cannot be it.
All can be said is that these objects effortlessly and suddenly appear and disappear exactly like how you your imagination is always effortless and sudden.
A trillion dollars! Bam! An entire universe! Bam! A big bang! Bam!
No âpersonâ anywhere! There's no âgoodâ or âbadâ, âoldâ or ânewâ! No one is assessing or judging anything. Everything is perfect already.
If everything is an object, what owns these objects? That would itself have to be an object which cannot own.
If everything is an object, what controls these objects? That would itself have to be an object which cannot control.
If everything is an object, what satisfies these objects?Objects cannot be satisfied.
None of this is applicable to mere objects.
If everything is an object, there's nothing that is separate from it! Everything arises and dissolves as a singular subjectless arising. No separation. No subject-object distinction!
YOU are the space in which this arising takes place. Better said, YOU are the arising itself. No difference, really. It doesn't matter because âchangeâ itself is a concept layered on top of this indescribable arising. Without the narrative of âchangeâ, it's already clear that there's no change. Even âspaceâ actually makes it seem YOU contain this arising, which is just more concepts.
It's just this... object-ness of everything.
The dance of this object-ness continues... without ever having any âpersonâ judging it, limiting it or needing it to be a certain way. It's a good thing that there is no âpersonâ, because if it were to exist, then this object-ness would only appear in favour of this âpersonâ, protecting its identity, limitations and suffering. Thanks to its non-existence, this impersonal arising has no incentive to stick to a particular story. It can dance however without even the slightest bit of hesitation! But it never dances randomly despite this... as it's all YOU. The dance never happens against itself. It's always in perfect accordance, even right now, provided that it is unassessed for it is unassessable.