Our True Self

The true "self" (the Tathagata in Buddhist scriptures) cannot be fully captured by language or concepts.  (*I pause, conveying the weight of this statement.*)

It's a vast, silent universe – without labels, without judgments. (*I gesture expansively, evoking a sense of boundless space.*)

From the grandest galaxies to the smallest ant, a perfect power orchestrates everything. (*My voice takes on a tone of awe.*)

Without fixed form, it transcends "good/bad" or "clean/dirty," like a lotus flower purely arising from mud.  (*I smile gently, imagining the lotus.*)

(Karma) is like the mud, appearing dirty, yet it actually nourishes the lotus. (*I point downwards, then upwards, symbolizing the connection between karma and growth.*)

Based on what we’ve learned, our minds judge the mud as "bad." (*I furrow my brow slightly, suggesting the limitations of learned judgments.*)

But these judgments are merely illusions born of karma – like seeing only the surface and not the deeper, infinite possibilities.  (*I gaze intently, implying a deeper level of understanding.*)

Nothing exists in isolation. Everything depends on countless causes and conditions (dependent origination). (*I interlock my fingers, demonstrating interconnectedness.*)

In both states of "clean" and "dirty," bacteria exist – from a biological perspective, neither possesses inherent goodness or badness.  (*I adopt a neutral tone, emphasizing objectivity.*)

When the right conditions come together, things arise; when those conditions dissipate, things cease. (*I open and close my hands, illustrating the transient nature of existence.*)

This is the coming together and falling apart due to the ripening of karma. (*I speak with a sense of inevitability.*)

This is why reality is called "empty" (Sunyata) – not because nothing exists, but because everything exists in an infinite web of interdependence.  (*I spread my arms wide, encompassing the vastness of interdependent reality.*)