“We reduce, concretize, or substantialize experiences or feelings, which are, in their very nature, fleeting or evanescent. In so doing, we define ourselves by our moods and by our thoughts. We do not just let ourselves be happy or sad, for instance; we must become a happy person or a sad one. This is the chronic tendency of the ignorant or deluded mind, to make “things” out of that which is no thing.”
― Mark Epstein
To summarize:
- Everything is always changing. Feelings, thoughts, physical sensations-they come and they go-nothing stays the same.
- You are not your thoughts or your moods. You are, in fact, that which is noticing thoughts, moods, emotions or physical sensations. You can’t be something that you are noticing.
- You are no thing. You notice things (thoughts, feelings, moods, sensations) come and you notice things go. Once again, you are not the things you are noticing coming and going. See #2 again if you forgot.
- Mark isn’t saying YOU are ignorant or deluded, just that you may have a deluded or ignorant mind. It’s not personal, because you are not the mind either. You notice the mind-how it grabs on to things, creates stories, gets stuck on the past or flies forward to the future. No problem. You just notice. It’s really not personal-that’s just how minds work.
- Don’t make something out of no thing.