There is no I.
It’s clear that if the liberation from suffering that I know is possible will happen to me, I will need to do my part. I will need to sit, to practice directing my attention, to participate in the supports practice offers, and to seek guidance. I will need to face what I must face, no matter how difficult that might be, to let go where that seems impossible, and to accept what is unacceptable to me. I need to meet Life half-way with willingness and more than willingness: with a passion for practice and an eagerness for the life I am given.
All this is true and, at the same time, not true at all. The thing is there is no “I,” no “my” or “me.” That is the illusion that practice takes us beyond. There is no entity separate from Life that can accomplish all the above things—it is Life that does. This, to me, is the mystery that we are here to experience. “I” do not exist, and yet there is something within this form we think of as “me” that is called out of the illusion of separation to truly live. To truly live! That thing is Life, and it will lead us to itself if only we will let it.
Gasshō,
Justin