Adyashanti said, “Ego is a movement. It’s a verb. It is not something static. It’s the after-the-fact movement of mind that’s always becoming. In other words, egos are always on the path. They are on the psychology path, the spiritual path, the path to get more money or a better car. That sense of ‘me’ is always becoming, always moving, always achieving. Or else it is doing the opposite—moving backwards, rejecting, denying. So, in order for this verb to keep going, there has to be movement. We have to be going forward or backward, toward or away from. We have to have somebody to blame, and usually it’s ourselves. We’ve got to be getting somewhere because otherwise we are not becoming.”

Does that make sense? Our mental states are constantly changing and flowing, just like a river. Thoughts, emotions, and perceptions arise and pass away ksana to ksana, without a fixed or permanent “self” to anchor them. Everything is impermanent—especially thoughts, emotions, and perceptions. Buddha taught that because the “mind is always becoming” it is anatta—not-self. Since there’s no inherent, unchanging self, only constantly arising and passing phenomena—each moment is distinct from the last and constantly moving forward with us. There’s no going back… although we often live in the past… review, review, review… endlessly going over and over what happened. Revising, reworking, endlessly. We are actually only moving forward. No matter how much our thoughts are stuck in the past.

By practicing the Dharma and mindfulness meditation we can stay present, not only noticing but experiencing the arising and passing of all kinds of mental states… and even sometimes not getting caught up and identifying with them. Having a deeper understanding of the impermanent nature of the mind.