Introduction
“Running around trying to alleviate our suffering obscures our true nature—basic goodness—which is clear and unchanging. … The wisdom and love beneath the clutter of negativity are natural and permanent.”[i]
Chapter Two of this book responds to the Second Great Question: Who Am I?[ii] Despite our momentary experiences of consciousness, most of us cannot sustain that peaceful state. We must peel away the layers of our old identity to reveal our compassionate and liberated self (True Self).
Our “essence is the pure unconditioned nature of who we are—the purest fiber of our being. It is more fundamental and intrinsic than our personality. It is a permanent abiding presence. Essence is our true nature. It is being without the distortion of our personal history. When we lose contact with the experience and presence of our essence and its essential qualities, we literally feel a hole or emptiness or deficiency in ourselves. Most often this is frightening and painful. One of the characteristics of the ego/personality is that it feels it must compensate for this loss.”[iii]
Compensating for that “loss” results in the creation of our false-self survival strategy, and the suffering and fear we experience every day. A change of identity is a critical and necessary step toward the freedom, peace of mind, joy and compassion which is our natural state of awareness. It is the second step in Transcendence.
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Additional Reading:
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[i] Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham. “No Complaints.” Shambhala Sun. Boulder, Colorado, November 2004, p. 12.
[ii] Henry, Roy Charles. Who Am I? The Second Great Question: Understanding the Importance of the Human Identity. October 2013.
[iii] Malik, Karen. “Essence.” Shambhala Sun. Boulder, Colorado, May 2006, pp. 32-33.
