Everything is impermanent? No. Not “everything” but simply impermanent nature. Impermanent nature has nothing to do with something, everything, someone or somebody. To see “thing” and “body” is to give realness to it. When I got out from the dream I see the dream is not real, not everything in it is not real. In the same way there is only impermanent nature – not the things and bodies.
Essence Quickie 12: What is true to me is a lie.
We lie whenever we think we’re telling the truth. For there is no truth. There’s only the truth as we see it. I’m color-blind. I see something purple, you may see it green. Am I wrong? That’s how I see it. Are you wrong? That’s how you see it. Change the person and the truth is different. Change the system and the truth is different once again. All we can do at any given moment is respond to the person at the moment; the response will change depending on the person, the situation, the moment, and the system.
– Bernie Glassman, Bearing Witness – A Zen Master’s Lessons in Making Peace
Essence Quickie 11: Without self-inquiry, I am as dead.
The mind has the nature to remain status quo, not that it is lazy but rather without inquiry, it clings on to what is. Like a ball, without being kick, will remain where it is. Where it is may not necessary be a pleasant state. Some people just remains where they are, though they complaint how painful it is.
When you open up to self-inquiry, look out for what’s in for me – you can be sure there is a self-benefit somewhere that makes you stay where you are.