Dharma HallVolume VIIIDo Not Seek Outside

The Illness Is Not Trusting Yourself

Linji's diagnosis was the most precise: "The illness is in not trusting yourself. When self-trust is insufficient, you chase outward." Why seek outside? Because you don't believe you're already complete. Everything you find externally is borrowed — use it and it's gone. What you already have doesn't need finding. It's always been there.