Famous last words, right before justifying some ridiculous nonsense, "Oh, that's just me." If I tell myself a story about myself, how believable is it, how close to Reality is it? If I tell that story about me to you, how true is it, how much interpreting of it are you going to do with it, and how close to Reality is that going to be? Zen practice is to engage directly with Reality. Not a pretty (or ugly) version of Reality, just Reality. No picking, no choosing, just Reality. So, if I think I'm (Noun), then that means I should (verb). No. "Thinking" and "should" are not the best parameters to choose our nouns and verbs with. No stories, no justifications, as they say in Korea, no "painting legs on a snake." The snake is just fine as it is, just like I'm just fine as I am, you're fine the way you are, except for those fairy tales we think we have to concoct about ourselves.
The Dharma Talk from June 18, 2015. Click on the title to listen.