Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘The question at the start of the Buddhist path, and at every step after, is simply this: of the things you are grasping, which are you afraid to put down?

Whatever you say, your answer reveals who you think you are. Is it stuff, like those boxes in the basement you never open but can’t bring yourself to throw away? Is it a story about yourself—about what you’re becoming, or what you can’t change? Perhaps it’s a belief system that acts as a kind of security blanket. Maybe it’s Buddhism itself.

This isn’t about good and bad. What you’re holding on to is not a problem in itself. This is about what you think you need, what you’re afraid to let go of. Nothing you are holding on to right now is something you can’t put down. Nothing. Your hopes, fears, beliefs—you think they make you you, but until you liberate them, you’ll never be liberated from them. Attachment, aversion, and ignorance are the same—you don’t need them either, but you don’t know who you are without them.’ (from Lion’s Roar)