Part 16 - Releasing Clinging Through Insight
(Upādāna Fades Naturally — When "Mine" Loses Meaning)
Clinging (upādāna) is the moment the mind says:
“This is mine.”
“This defines me.”
Most people try to drop clinging by force:
- “I should not be attached.”
- “I must let this go.”
But forcing release
is just a new form of clinging:
“I am the one who must be unattached.”
True release does not come from effort.
It comes from seeing clearly.
Why clinging loses power with insight
Clinging depends on a belief:
“This thing will protect me
or complete me.”
When insight sees the truth:
- nothing can be owned
- nothing can permanently please
- nothing can stabilize the “self”
then the hand that grasps
begins to relax by itself.
Insight is like a light.
The grip disappears because:
There is simply nothing to hold.
The pivot from possession to process
When clinging fades, identity shifts:
From:
→ “I am the owner of this feeling”
To:
→ “This feeling is just a passing event”
From:
→ “This is my reputation”
To:
→ “This is a thought in someone’s mind”
From:
→ “I can’t lose this”
To:
→ “There is nothing here to lose”
Ownership vanishes
when reality is understood.
How clinging dissolves in real time
1️⃣ Notice the tightening:
“I must keep / fix / avoid…”
2️⃣ Recognize the belief behind it:
“This defines me.”
3️⃣ See the falseness of that belief:
“There is no self here to protect.”
4️⃣ Feel the release happen:
without force, without judgment
Clinging drops
because the “self” it was protecting
is not found.
The beauty of natural release
No one lets go.
There is simply:
- less fear
- less effort
- less complexity
- less “me”
This is why the Buddha called this:
“The fading of clinging
through seeing”
(upādāna-pariññā)
Release becomes
a side effect of wisdom.
One sentence summary of Part 16
Clinging falls away naturally
when insight reveals
that nothing was ever “mine.”