The I of the Storm
The I of the Storm
This chapter discusses the self. The tension between the ongoing sense of self in ordinary experience and the failure to find that self in reflection is of central importance in Buddhism—the origin of human suffering is just this tendency to grasp onto and build a sense of self, an ego, where there is none. As meditators catch glimpses of impermanence, selflessness, and suffering, and some inkling that the pervasiveness of suffering may have its origin in their own self-grasping, they may develop some real motivation and urgency to persevere in their investigation of mind. They try to develop a strong and stable insight and inquisitiveness into the moment to moment arising of mind. The search for how the self arises is thus a way of asking, “What and where is mind?” in a direct and personal way.
Keywords: self, Buddhism, human suffering, ego, self-grasping, mind
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