Who?

Good Morning,

One of the hardest things to understand and see clearly is the "selfless" (empty of self) nature of all we experience. This can be difficult to understand at first, after all who is writing this post? Who is reading it? Who is practicing? and Whose back aches? To say there is no self sounds like nonsense, yet selflessness is considered one of mankind's greatest realizations. Think about it, how substantial is the concept of "me"? If we look closely we will see that the pain in our body, the anger at a friend or coworker, our dinner plans all are impermanent and none of them are "me." In fact, nothing we can experience lasts long enough to qualify as a solid, consistent self. Are you the same person this year as you were last year? It is here we begin to realize that this entity I've called "myself" is nothing more than a mental construct. Imagine if you truly were everything you thought and felt!

In college philosophy classes we spent many hours trying to come to some conclusion about what it means to be human, the single thing that separates us from computers and animals. many people said the ability to learn, others said the function of logic and reason make us human, but I felt that it went much deeper. The thing that makes us human, is the ability for our mind to recognize the concept or "me." It is the faculty of cognizance. The ability to ask when I talk to myself to who am I speaking? Recognizing this duality is what makes us human, but it does not stop there.

Once we realize that the mind is not "me" that it is separate form that concept, we begin to wonder what is mind? What am I? We are quite simply a collection of experiences. We are shaped by them, guided by them and ultimately hold on to them as a real solid self. We as people are as beautiful as a rainbow and yet we are no more substantial. The fact that we insert "I" in front of things - I'm angry or I'm hurt only makes the concept of "me" feel more solid.

The truth is there is no "I" to be angry. Anger is what angers; love is what loves. By seeing the world this way, we begin to see the clear, stable world as it is and not as "I" color it. Our perceptions all of a sudden take on new meaning when we no longer spend time defending "myself" or making sure "my" point is understood, we no longer take things personally and we gain the ability to walk independently of self, to be happy with things just as they are, because we now know what their true selfless nature is.

All we are is the result of what we have thought. Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

Have a wonderfully selfless day and weekend and look at it this way: When you are not thinking about who you are, who are you?

Peace and Love, Jim