Westerners often seem to have a problem with self-worth. Many people say they hate themselves, or don’t like themselves. They are sure they are no good. This is probably because they don’t understand the fact of buddha nature. Understanding buddha nature is the best means of overcoming this low self-esteem, but in addition to that is the practice of emptiness. From the emptiness point of view, the person who is hated, the self, is not there. And even if disagreeable traits are there, because of emptiness it is always possible to improve. There are no permanent hateful states. Emptiness is, in a way, like the Philosopher’s Stone that Western alchemists once searched for. It is there, but not there; it is the essence of everything; it is the question and the answer to all questions. That is emptiness.

Tai Situ Rinpoche

from the book Awakening the Sleeping Buddha

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