Nothing Outside: Facing Life’s Challenges with Curiosity

Join us for Early Morning Light Talks—a brief, inspiring reflection shared at the close of our morning meditation sessions. These talks explore timeless Zen teachings and offer practical insights to navigate daily life with clarity and compassion Monday to Friday, 6:30-7:15 AM (CST). Whether you’re joining us online or sitting in the zendo, this is your opportunity to ground yourself, explore the dharma, and begin your day with presence and purpose.

We don’t have to walk far to encounter pain. It’s everywhere, isn’t it? It shows up in different forms. Sometimes it’s embarrassment. Sometimes it’s jealousy. Sometimes it’s disappointment. And then there’s the kind of pain that sits in the body—tight in the chest, heavy in the belly, sharp in the back—reminding us of its presence with every move.

What’s the first thing we do when this pain shows up? We resist. We long for something, anything, other than what we’re being presented with. And in that longing, we start to draw a boundary—a line between an “inside” and an “outside.” That boundary sets up the whole game of our lives, where we’re constantly trying to align the separate parts of what we call inside with the tide or collision of what we call outside.

Over time, that inside narrative becomes so sprawling that it’s impossible to keep track of. Confusion and delusion creep in, and the pain of holding together our fragmented identities becomes overwhelming. All of this begins with one simple refusal: the refusal to accept what is right in front of us.

What if, instead of resisting, we approached our experience with curiosity? What if we stopped building walls and started looking—really looking—at what life is offering in this moment? When we do that, something remarkable happens. We begin to see that there is nothing outside. Nothing. The boundaries dissolve, and we’re able to meet life’s challenges with a sense of wonder, even the ones that scare us.

Why are we scared? Because these challenges question the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. But here’s the truth: when we meet those challenges with curiosity and openness, we catch a glimpse of our true nature. And that nature—vast, boundless, and resilient—can encounter anything and remain completely intact.

To live this way, we have to do something that might seem counterintuitive: walk toward the things that challenge us. Look for those moments when you want to recoil, to retreat and regather your forces. Instead of retreating, step forward. Meet the challenge. Absorb it. Let it teach you. When you stop seeing it as outside, you’ll realize that you have all the resources of the vast universe at your disposal to transform that challenge into wisdom.

So today, look for those moments. Find the places where you’re tempted to retreat and ask yourself: What happens if I stay? What happens if I meet this fully, with curiosity and openness? You might find that the very thing you were afraid of contains the seed of your liberation. Because once you see there is nothing outside, you’ll realize there’s nothing you can’t face.