Who We Really Are

It is time to notice what is always here, despite my seemingly never-ending stream of thought about "my" life. I want to tell the truth about what is always here. What is always here, whether I am happy or sad, angry or peaceful, in despair or joyful, full of self-hatred or blissful, is this underlying pervasive presence. It is gentle, it doesn't not judge, does not talk, has no face. And it is that which breaths me, animates my body, types these words.

This is my "original face" which has no attributes yet takes on all forms and disguises itself in different forms, including those I love and those I hate.

How to really die? It is to acknowledge this presence in the midst of all our dramas, internal or external. It is to acknowledge the origin of the dramas, and see that which makes all this possible.

"To whom do these thoughts arise"? ~ Ramana Marharshi

"Not that which the eye sees

But that whereby the eye can see

know that alone to be Brahman the eternal

Not what people here adore

Not that which the ear hears

But whereby the ear can hear

Know that alone to be Brahman the eternal

Not what people here adore

Not that which the mind thinks

but whereby the mind can think

Know that alone to be Brahman the eternal

Not what people here adore" ~ Upanishads

To die is to die to the person we think we are.

And what is a person? A person is a conglomeration of past stories, memories, relations and future aspirations. These are all thoughts and they don't exist in actuality. A person does not actually exist!

Is this body a "person"? No. It is a body. Without the thought: "This body is who I am", it is nothing! Absolutely nothing. This is the same for ALL bodies. Therefore in the Heart Sutra, Buddha said, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form."

"Heart Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom" (Panruo Boluomiduo Xin Jing 般若波羅蜜多心經; Prajnaparamita-Hridaya-Sutra), translated into Chinese by Xuanzang 玄奘

觀自在菩薩。行深般若波羅蜜多時。照見五蘊皆空。度一切苦厄。

When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Perfection of the Wisdom (prajna paramita), he illuminated the Five Appearances (skandha) and saw that they are all empty (shunya), and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

舍利子，色不異空。 空不異色。

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form.

色即是空。空即是色。受、想、行、識，亦復如是。

Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form.

So too are feeling, thoughts, formation, and consciousness.

舍利子，是諸法空相。不生，不滅。不垢，不淨，不增，不減。

Shariputra, all teachings (dharma) are empty of characteristics.

They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish.

是故空中。無色。無受、想、行、識。無眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意。無色、聲、香、味、觸、法。無眼界。乃至無意識界。無無明。亦無無明盡。乃至無老死。亦無老死盡。

Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, thought, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death.

無苦、集、滅、道。無智，亦無得。

There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining.

以無所得故。菩提薩埵。依般若波羅蜜多故。心無罣礙。

Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva through reliance on prajna paramita is unimpeded in his mind.

無罣礙故。無有恐怖。遠離顛倒夢想。

Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind.

究竟涅槃。三世諸佛。依般若波羅蜜多故。

Ultimately Nirvana! All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi through reliance on prajna paramita.

得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。故知般若波羅蜜多。是大神咒。是大明咒是無上咒。是無等等咒。

Therefore know that prajna paramita is a Great Spiritual Mantra, a Great Bright Mantra, a Supreme Mantra, an Unequalled Mantra.

能除一切苦。真實不虛故。

It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false.

說般若波羅蜜多咒即說咒曰：揭帝，揭帝，般羅揭帝，般羅僧揭帝，菩提僧莎訶。

That is why the Mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken.

Recite it like this:

Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté. Bodhi Svaha!