The other morning while meditating, it suddenly hit me … truly a “duh!” moment … that the underlying problem that makes walking the path so difficult is that it is our ego that has defined the playing field. For the ego, it’s all about wanting what we don’t have. For the ego, it’s all about us v them, with the “them” clearly a threat. So of course for the ego, life is a constant challenge and a constant frustration.
But for our unborn Buddha mind, life is not a challenge. It experiences things directly with dispassion, free of labels, free of the intervention of the thinking mind, knowing that things are the way they are because it’s just the way it is. It is one with everything and everyone. And so the Buddha mind rests undisturbed, nothing in the world offends. It is open to receiving all that the present moment offers, is grateful, compassionate, and finds happiness in the moment.
Life is a constant challenge for us only because we have to deal with our ego and its neuroses. It is our ego that is our biggest challenge. Not life.
We can never loose sight of that truth. The ego is not our friend, it is not our protector. The ego’s thoughts are not in our best interest; they cause us suffering. I would not call it our enemy, because it is part of us, but it is clearly an antagonist, THE threat to our peace and happiness, our well-being.