29/12/2025
May this year be one of health, depth, and quiet fulfillment for you.
In modern spirituality, words such as
“emptiness,” “enlightenment,”
“here and now,” and “the true self”
are used far too lightly.
In particular, it has gradually become taken for granted
to speak of enlightenment
as “awakening to an imperishable essence”
or “realizing an eternal self.”
However, there is one crucial fact
that is often overlooked.
The Buddha began his teaching
by rejecting precisely this way of thinking—
a view that was already widespread
in ancient India.
An eternal self.
An imperishable substance.
An unchanging essence.
These ideas may appear to offer salvation,
but the Buddha dismissed them
as mere concepts—fixed views.
Why?
Because they are simply another form
of solidifying the “self.”
No one can see or directly experience
anything called “eternal” or “imperishable.”
Such notions arise only from human longing
within a limited span of time.
“Emptiness” does not mean
a sublime source of spiritual energy.
Nor does enlightenment point to
something eternal.
The moment we grasp these ideas and think,
“This is my true self,”
we fall back once again
into attachment to the ego.
The Buddha’s teaching does not stand
on such a position.
What the Buddha taught
was the fact that dependent arising
is always flowing.
Arising and changing,
never remaining the same—
this ceaseless flow of impermanence
was what he called “emptiness.”
Therefore, emptiness is not
a special state to be experienced,
but a word used to describe this reality.
The idea of “here and now”
is also often misunderstood.
The past is illusion.
The future is illusion.
Only the present is real.
From a Buddhist perspective, however,
this becomes an attachment to the present.
Past, present, and future
are all included within what is manifesting now.
They are not things to be denied;
they are simply different ways
dependent arising appears.
That is why
“here and now”
cannot be isolated or taken on its own.
What we call “now”
arises and vanishes moment by moment,
flowing away without ever coming to rest.
Non-self does not mean
that the sense of “I” disappears.
It means that unconscious identification
with body and mind
quietly loosens.
So even when awakening occurs,
even with enlightenment,
the world does not reverse.
Life, personality, and social roles continue.
What loosens instead
is the grasping that says,
“This is my true essence,”
“This is eternal.”
What emerges then
is jikishin—the straight, true heart.
Jikishin is not an eternal self,
nor an imperishable true Self.
It is a heart that does not distort dependent arising,
does not flee into concepts,
and does not deceive itself.
A clear and transparent heart,
free from confusion.
A heart that does not seek enlightenment,
and, being free of self,
cannot even think, “I am enlightened.”
It is the functioning of the heart
that responds directly
to what is happening.
This way of the heart
is something that has always been present
in everyone.
Last year felt like a time
to quietly set down spiritual labels
and return to the reality of dependent arising.
May this year be one
in which we carefully observe
how this straight heart
moves and works
within everyday life.
Wishing you a peaceful and meaningful New Year.