The Burden of the Body

     During the group practice tonight, we listened to Master Sheng Yen's talk where he provided some guidance on how to free oneself from the physical attachments of the body and form. The way I understand the teaching is that the body is only seen as a burden when we are sitting, because at that time, there is nothing distracting oneself from the pain. I tend to think that seeing the body as a "burden" would be a kind of suffering of sorts, but now I realize that it's not so much the sensations themselves that are burdensome but, more so, the sense of self that attaches to those sensations. As Master Sheng Yen pointed out, even with something as simple as the fragrance of coffee, there is a subtle sense of 'I" when the smell hits the nostrils. But if I recognize that there is no "I" in the experience and only the drifting smells of the coffee, I no longer create a subject and object around it.  
      Seeing as this happens, however, I will start to see that even the sense of the body is a kind of burden because it always seems so solid and real to me. I have to admit that indeed, I experience plenty of these burdens during sitting. The difference between now and before, however is that, whereas before I attributed the pains to something that is 'physical' and thus unchangeable, nowadays I am inclined to see pain as a mental habit. But more importantly, I don't see pain as an impediment to practice anymore. It's just a phenomena, and for this reason, my 'processing' of the pain has no bearing on the practice. I can be pain sensitive and still practice my method. I guess I am saying that I no longer measure myself according to how well I can bear pain, because I know that this too is a self-referential idea, and it's not necessary to cling to this idea during practice.