Most of us are far too busy to spend any time in silence, studying who we really are at the deepest level.
So we live rushed, frantic, stressful lives, in expectation of a ‘better’ future and the elusive ‘goodies’ that are at the end of the rainbow!
We are so wrapped up in our ego that, in our frenetic craving for ‘success’, we completely forget that Life can only be lived now, in the present moment. That’s the only place that life exists! Every moment is special. Every moment is complete.
‘An unexamined life is not worth living’ said Socrates, which is what the Zen sage Dogen also implies in the quote. Only by going deeply into our true nature, which is calm, compassionate, patient and loving, do we come to realise that the self does not actually exist. It is a creation of ego and the mind.
If we want to live from a place of peace, ‘enlightened’, we need to develop our awareness of the present, embrace reality, welcome all experiences and open our heart.