Please Identify Yourself

Recently I heard someone on the radio explaining the new crime of identity theft, and I immediately thought, Yes! Rob me, please! Take my identity, and leave the cash!

I can regard my entire dharma path as a matter of shifting identities, and it all started with me trying to run away from myself—the sentimental, histrionic drama of me-ness. The Buddha says that the false conceit of “I” or “self” is the bane of our existence, and I was indeed relieved when I began to see through the various membranes of personal identity. But what really surprised and delighted me is what I saw on the other side. It turns out I am not who I thought I was—I’m much, much more than that.