No Self, No Problem: Awakening to Our True Nature

by Anam Thubten

We have lost the realization of who we are and that is the greatest failure there is. Nothing else is really a tragedy or a real serious failure in comparison with the failure of losing our unity with our true nature. This has already happened to all of us from the very beginning and that is why it is impossible to really fail again. Any subsequent failure is just an idea. “Oh, I am losing my job. I failed. I didn’t pass my test. I failed again. My relationship is falling apart. I failed again. My meditation is filled with turbulence. I failed. I wasn’t able to live the life that I fantasized. I am not able to live according to my ideal standards. I failed.” These are all concepts. The true failure is that we have lost our unity with our true nature. Beyond that there is no failure. Everything else is simply a perception, an idea. Of course we can live in that illusion of failure forever and torment ourselves day after day. Sometimes our mind is the greatest challenge we face, more challenging than anything we face from the outside. Our mind can be very destructive, very dangerous. Our mind can be our greatest adversary, especially when our mind chooses to live in unenlightened perceptions of reality.