Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

When you inquire in this way as deeply as you can
follow the thread into who you are or what you are,
you are almost sure to find that there is no solid place
to land. If you ask: "Who is the I who is asking who
am I?", ultimately you come to, "I don't know." The "I"
just appears as a construct which is known by its
attributes, none of which, taken singly or together,
really makes up the whole of the person. Moreover,
the "I" construct has the tendency continually to
dissolve and reconstruct itself, virtually moment by
moment. It also has a strong tendency to feel
diminished, small, insecure, and uncertain, since its
existence is so tenuous to begin with. This only
makes the tyranny and suffering associated with
unawareness of how much we are caught up in "I,"
"me," and "mine" that much worse.
Then there is the problem of outside forces. The "I"
tends to feel good when outside circumstances are
supporting its belief in its own goodness, and bad
when it runs into criticism, difficulties, and what it
perceives as obstacles and defeats. Here perhaps
lies a major explanation for diminished self-esteem in
many people. We aren't really familiar with this
constructed aspect of our identity process. This
makes it easy for us to lose our balance and feel
vulnerable and inconsequential when we are not
propped up and reinforced in our need for approval or