Nobody Home

"Nobody home" means that no matter how much you reduce yourself, down to the cellular level, the electrons, the quarks, whatever the smallest part is you can reference, it is moving and changing. There is not one thing in this whole wide world that is fixed. If you find it, it's already gone. Since there isn't one single solitary thing in the whole universe that is fixed, it stands to reason there is no constant "self" that is experiencing any of this. Any reasonable person can understand this—it actually makes common sense.

As basic as this notion may be, it is the ever elusive essence of the Buddhist path. This is the point we keep harping on, we keep trying to realize and we keep coming back to over and over again. Why does it require so much time and energy? Because our habit of approaching the world from "my" point of view is so deeply embedded in us that it's difficult to remember that the “my” part is just smoke and mirrors. All the problems and confusion we've ever had are based in this misperception that whatever is happening, it's happening to me. Everything. Anger, desire, fear, jealousy, hurt—all of it. Every time we take a closer look, we can see there is no such thing.

(from The Wisdom of Solitude: A Zen Retreat in the Woods, by Jane Dobisz)