Self-portrait

"Self-portraits" try to expose enough personal & unique aspects of personality to create interest. At the same time, enough of the universal is revealed that we recognize the subject as human.

In contemporary life, we tend to push our own agenda, to sell ourselves as uniquely "hot," smart, talented, valuable, busy, indisposable - knowing our society's furious, heartless penchant for only caring - momentarily - about the latest glitz.

As we mature, and really get to know ourselves, we realize that yes, we do have a unique personality, with positive, negative & neutral quirks, BUT we see these more & more objectively ie experience them less & less personally. At the same time, we begin to see ourselves more & more in others, including in those who may be less than admirable. We increasingly see others' & our own imperfections, as nevertheless perfectly human. We may even come to recognize our perfection in other ordinary people, & start saying 'namaste' sincerely. Gradually, "Who am I?" becomes an open question of central importance.

"When all the layers of false identity have been stripped off, there is no longer any version of that old self. What is left behind is pure consciousness (rigpa). That is our original being. That is our true identity. Our true nature is indestructible. No matter whether we are sick or healthy, poor or wealthy, it always remains divine and perfect as it is. When we realize our true nature, our life is transformed in a way we could not have imagined before. We realize the very meaning of our life and it puts an end to all searching right there." Lama Anam Thubten

“There is one teaching of the Buddha’s that I think sums up in many ways the whole path, when he says, 'Nothing whatsoever is to be clung to as “I” or “mine.” Whoever hears this has heard all of the teachings. Whoever practices this practices all of the teachings; whoever realizes this has realized all of the teachings.'” Joseph Goldstein

Richard P. Boyle. “Realizing Awakened Consciousness. Interviews with Buddhist Teachers and a New Perspective on the Mind.” Columbia University Press, 2015.

"In Buddhism, this one total reality can be viewed from two sides:

• reality as a collection of numberless individual things (relative truth), and

• reality as one universal entirety containing no individuality (absolute truth).

From this perspective, our lives are at once both individual and universal. So 'when one side is illuminated, the other is dark' means that when we say 'self,' although 'all beings' are included, 'all beings' are in the dark and do not appear in our minds and speech. When we say 'all things,' 'self' is still there but it is in the dark and so it does not appear in our minds and speech. When the self is illuminated, all things are in the dark, and when all things are illuminated, the self is in the dark. This is the way Dogen Zenji expresses this wondrous reality of interdependent origination."

Shohaku Okumura. "Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo." Wisdom, 2010.