THE FACTS OF LIFE: EGOLESSNESS

Egolessness means that the fixed idea that we had about ourselves as solid and separate from each other is painfully limiting. That we take ourselves so seriously, that we are so absurdly important in our own minds, is a problem. Self-importance is like a prison for us, limiting us to the world of our likes and dislikes. We end up bored to death with ourselves and our world. We end up very dissatisfied.

We have two alternatives: either we take everything to be sure and real, or we don't. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality or we begin to challenge them. In Buddha's opinion, to train in stain open and curious--to train in dissolving the barriers that we erect between ourselves and the world--is the best use of our human lives. (From Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodron)