The Problem Isn’t Somewhere Else

When we meditate we see our mind very intimately. So much that we have not wanted to acknowledge comes into view. We see how the patterns of greed, hatred, jealousy, and fear are deeply rooted in us. The problem isn’t somewhere else. “Over there” is also right here.

The point of Buddhist practice is transcendence. In other words, we are not trying to improve ourselves; we are trying to go beyond ourselves. “Me” means all of my confused and nasty mental states. “Me” means all my misapprehensions, and my constant conceptual faux pas. That is what “me” is. We need to breathe it in and breathe it out. We have to come to accept and appreciate what we didn’t want to know was there at all.

Norman Fischer
from When You Greet Me I Bow