There are many people who have a hard time with the concepts of your true Buddha nature, or your true Buddha self. These are abstract concepts; even though you can define their qualities, they don’t seem to have much relationship to ourselves as we know ourselves.
Since being able to connect with your true Buddha nature, your true self, is of critical importance in ending your suffering, this is a major barrier. There are two ways to make palpable this abstract concept.
The one is knowing that your true Buddha nature is your heart, your unwounded, pre-trauma heart. That is something that most people can wrap their heads around. In common discourse the heart is often referred to as the source of purity, of innocence, of joy.
Another way to make it palpable is through an avatar. For me, it was the photo of me as a toddler which came to me one day as I was meditating and I knew right then that that was my true Buddha self. Whenever I refer to my true Buddha self in my mantras, I visualize that toddler.
The reason why this avatar works so well is because it is me, at a very young age, and the photo projects the inner qualities that I associate with my true Buddha self, my unwounded heart … love, light, faith, trust, compassion, humility, gratefulness, joy, and contentment. As would be expected for a photo of a toddler, the qualities of strength, courage, and wisdom, which are also part of my true Buddha self, are snot apparent from that photo.
There is something about having a real photo of me as an innocent, unwounded being that makes connecting to my true Buddha self much easier. I would therefore encourage you to seek out such an avatar for yourself. If you don’t have any photos of you as a toddler, then try and call up from your memory images of you as a toddler.
Since being able to connect with your true Buddha nature, your true self, is of critical importance in ending your suffering, this is a major barrier. There are two ways to make palpable this abstract concept.
The one is knowing that your true Buddha nature is your heart, your unwounded, pre-trauma heart. That is something that most people can wrap their heads around. In common discourse the heart is often referred to as the source of purity, of innocence, of joy.
Another way to make it palpable is through an avatar. For me, it was the photo of me as a toddler which came to me one day as I was meditating and I knew right then that that was my true Buddha self. Whenever I refer to my true Buddha self in my mantras, I visualize that toddler.
The reason why this avatar works so well is because it is me, at a very young age, and the photo projects the inner qualities that I associate with my true Buddha self, my unwounded heart … love, light, faith, trust, compassion, humility, gratefulness, joy, and contentment. As would be expected for a photo of a toddler, the qualities of strength, courage, and wisdom, which are also part of my true Buddha self, are snot apparent from that photo.
There is something about having a real photo of me as an innocent, unwounded being that makes connecting to my true Buddha self much easier. I would therefore encourage you to seek out such an avatar for yourself. If you don’t have any photos of you as a toddler, then try and call up from your memory images of you as a toddler.
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