replacement

Invite buddha nature to replace you

There isn't space for both the I, me, and our buddha nature, or god, if you prefer that word. There isn't space for them both at the same time. And this is the dilemma we face: to realise our true nature, for it to become the real lived experience in this moment, I have to get out of the way. And of course this I has one primary characteristic, and that is, it doesn't want to get out of the way.

It's a selfishness, a self-centredness. It puts itself at the heart of existence, erroneously. It's like a little child standing on top of a mound of earth, saying I'm the king of the castle. This sense of I – the separate self, with sovereignty over itself, with its own dominion – this is an illusion. It's no more meaningful than that child claiming to be the king of a castle, when there is no castle, and he is not a king. This is the nature of our ego. This is the nature of the I.

And the divine within us is waiting so patiently, to replace us, to replace this sense of I. And what a benediction it is, when the I finally does step aside, like a bad dictator that is finally removed from power. What a relief it is, when that part of us which is not separate, which is not selfish, which is at peace in the world, with nothing to prove, nothing to achieve, no need to dominate anyone or anything. This part of us, which I call our buddha nature, makes for so much more enjoyable a life, so much less stressed, so much more at ease in the world.

So really the question is, are you ready yet? Are you ripe? Is that bud ready to open within you? If it is, then this is all we need do: invite the buddha nature to replace us. 

It's a rather alarming phrase, isn't it: replace. We don't want to be replaceable. We want to be special. We want to be important. The I, the ego, demands this. And indeed we are each of us unique. But the unique part is not the important part of who we are. The important part is that which joins us, that which is common to the whole of existence, the essential part of our being.

In any case, in all day to day matters, the reality is we are replaceable. If you've ever done a job, you know the reality is that if you're not doing that job, someone else can. When we are in an intimate relationship, we so much like to think of it as special: I'm the only person who can make this other person feel complete. But it's not true. Even in intimacy we're all, each of us, thoroughly replaceable. So in every aspect of life, you can and will be replaced sooner or later. And even as a living being, one day it will be over. You will die, someone else will be born, and life will go on. But you will have been replaced.

Seeing all this, surely it makes it easier to invite that replacement now, to invite buddha nature to replace one.