One of the very first Buddhist texts I read explained how the idea of “I” or “Me” is just a composite, just a shadow that arises from the interaction of the material world and our senses. It’s always changing, coming and going, and yet we can build up such desire, hope, and anger based upon this. And yet, if we just let go of this “I” and “Me”, all of those things just pass by, unable to find a place to glom onto. Perhaps this is why letting go like this, or bowing, leaves my heart feeling like it’s been washed clean.

I love this image of “self” as the ghost of a thousand sharp-edged pieces of garbage!

from Wired magazine.