Expensive Object

Suppose we come to possess a very expensive object. The minute it comes into our possession our mind changes : "Now where can I keep it? If I leave it here somebody might steal it." We worry ourselves into a state, trying to find a place to keep it. This is suffering. And when did it arise? It arose as soon as we understood that we had obtained something. That's where the suffering lies. Before we had obtained that object it caused no suffering. The suffering hadn't yet arisen because there was no object yet for the mind to cling to.

The self is the same. If we think in terms of "MY" self then everything around us becomes "MINE". And confusion follows. If there is no "I" and "MY" then there is no confusion.

(The Teachings of Ajahn Chah)