The Buddha Project Reply To: The self-sufficient substantially existent self
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Meeting myslef as impermanent.
My life has been colored by the fact that I have made myself in a dialectical relationship between past and future. Life has then been lived in a constant attempt to control the future from experiences from the past and thus a fear of being punished, like a constant balancing on a knife edge. What then becomes clear when I stand in the presence, is a relief and a calmness, how through my senses I see, feel, taste and hear what is going on in a new way. That I don’t have to act on all the habitual impulses and thus continue on old trodden paths that only lead to suffering. That nagging anxiety and fear of reprisal fades away, as does the exhausting constant grasping for control and being one step ahead.
I meet a more honest and authentic person, more compassionate to myself, in my actions as a human being and thus more compassionate towards the actions of others. A form of calm wonder at the world I encounter instead of, like Jean d’Arc, fighting to achieve (own) peace and freedom. This is what I see, the next step is to try to keep this in mind when acting in everyday life, based on this more impermanent approach and image of the making of myself.