The essence of a clay pot is clay. No matter the pot's shape, size, or design, what truly remains is the clay. In the same way, the essence of a wooden table is wood. The form can change, but the substance stays the same.
So, what is our essence?
Let's explore.
Why do we say the essence of the pot is clay? Because the pot can take many forms - it can be round or square, tall or short - but in every case, the clay remains unchanged. It's the constant behind all variations. The same logic applies to the wooden table. The wood stays the same, even if the table is reshaped or repurposed.
Now, when it comes to truth and falsehood, things get more complex. What one person sees as true might seem false to another, depending on their perspective or situation. So, how do we decide what's truly real?
Using the example of the clay and the pot, we can define two clear and strict criteria for truth:
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What is unchanging is true.
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What changes - even slowly - is false.
These are the most rigorous standards we can apply. But don’t take them on blind belief. Test them out in your own experience.
Look around - everything in the world changes. Objects change, our surroundings change, even our body is constantly changing. According to the criteria, all of these are false - temporary, shifting appearances.
But in the midst of all this change, there's something that doesn't shift: our sense of "I". From childhood to old age, through every phase of life, the sense of being - the one who experiences - remains untouched. This presence, the experiencer, is constant. It watches the world change, the body grow and age, the mind fluctuate - but it stays the same.
That unchanging presence is our true essence.
I am the experiencer.
This realization is what's often called self-realization.
Sit with this. Contemplate it. Let it settle until no doubt remains.
Because in the end, this knowing - I am the experiencer - is all that truly matters.