Q. Is there such a thing as your real self, or does your self change as time passes and according to the given circumstances you are in?

A. In Buddhism one’s real self is referred to as the true-Self, or the Buddha-Nature. You are to your real self as a wave is to the sea. You are part of your real self as the function of it, just as a wave is part of the sea as the function of it. A wave changes as time passes and according to the circumstances it is in, but the sea itself never changes.

The ceaseless changes of all the waves are how the sea is. In the same way, your real self never changes at all, although you, as a human being, change every moment. Buddhism is a religion that helps people to realise the real self in person.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway