Meditation on Abandoning Self-Grasping Ignorance

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing essential Buddhist terms and ideas from the lecture on overcoming self-grasping ignorance.

Self-grasping ignorance

The mistaken mind that believes the self, body, and all phenomena truly exist; root of all suffering.

Origins

In the Four Noble Truths, the delusions—especially self-grasping—that give rise to suffering and rebirth.

Inner demon

Another name for self-grasping; an internal force that destroys mental peace day and night.

Delusion

Any wrong awareness whose sole function is to disturb and harm the mind, obstructing happiness.

Mental peace

The inner calm that is the true source of happiness, continually disrupted by delusions.

Samsara

The cycle of impure life and repeated rebirth in which no lasting happiness can be found.

Renunciation

The heartfelt wish to be free from samsaric suffering, fulfilled by abandoning its origins.

Sutra of the Four Noble Truths

Buddha’s teaching that advises ‘You should abandon origins’ to attain liberation.

Non-virtuous actions

Deeds motivated by attachment or anger that produce future suffering.

Inner poison

Metaphor for self-grasping, which pollutes the mind far worse than any external toxin.

Hallucination-like suffering

Painful experiences that arise because the deluded mind perceives everything incorrectly.

Yogi Saraha

Great master who taught that release from self-grasping guarantees release from suffering.

Determination to abandon

The firm resolve to recognize, reduce, and finally eradicate self-grasping.

Object of meditation

One’s own determination to abandon self-grasping, held single-pointedly during practice.

Cycle of impure life

Another phrase for samsara, characterized by endless problems caused by delusions.

Attachment

Deluded liking that arises from believing things truly exist, leading to clinging behavior.

Anger

Deluded aversion toward disliked objects, also rooted in self-grasping ignorance.

Liberation

Permanent freedom from the sufferings of this and future lives, achieved by eliminating delusions.

Meditation practice (recognize, reduce, abandon)

The applied effort to see self-grasping, diminish its power, and ultimately uproot it completely.