Releasing our Masterpiece
When Michelangelo was asked how he created his masterpiece, the statue of David, he replied that he did not create David — he simply chipped away everything that was not David. David, he said, was already there, hidden within the stone.
As with Michelangelo releasing David from the stone, meditation practice is not about constructing a better version of ourselves. It is about releasing what is already present at the core of our being — our essential self.
To begin, it’s helpful to understand what we mean by the essential self and the neurotic self. Our essential self is our natural state: open, aware, present, and unburdened. Some traditions refer to this as Buddha Nature — an innate, luminous quality that exists prior to confusion, striving, or self-doubt. In the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, it is called Basic Goodness: the fundamental purity at the core of all beings and phenomena. This goodness is obscured by habitual patterns — strategies meant to protect or enhance us but which often end up distorting us. As these patterns are outdated and ineffective, they fit the classic definition of neurosis.
Our neurotic self is the conditioned tangle of habits, fears, fixations, and narratives that we mistake for who we are. It’s the overthinking, the self-judgment, the endless loops of anxiety or anger — the static that clouds our innate clarity.
In everyday life, these two aspects feel fused together. We reflexively believe our neurotic thoughts and emotions are who we are — like a fish that unquestioningly accepts the water it swims in, even as it grows murky and toxic. The neurotic self and the essential self seem to form one seamless identity.
We identify with the rock — heavy and protective — that encases the true being within.
Yet, because our neuroses were originally defensive strategies, they can be met with kindness. They were formed to protect us, and even now, they carry a trace of basic goodness. As we become aware of them, we can acknowledge them with warmth and gradually release them. This doesn’t happen all at once. It requires patience — and acceptance — because these patterns can be embarrassing or even infuriating when they arise. Antagonism only entrenches them. What’s needed is a smile, a light touch.
I call this the “Brittany Spears effect,” as in: “Oops, I did it again.”
Releasing David is an act of love that requires grace, humor, and respect for the raw material.
Consistent meditation practice creates space between our neurotic and essential selves. Each time we sit and bring awareness to the present moment, we’re invited to notice when we become distracted — caught in thought, feeling, fantasy, or worry.
The simple act of recognizing distraction and returning to the immediacy of our breath or body is not just a mechanical exercise. It is a profound act of dislodging the fusion between our essential and neurotic selves.
We don’t have to fight or fix anything — struggle only adds another layer of stone. By naively doing the practice, simply noticing and returning without elaboration, distance happens naturally. And with that distance, we begin to see.
Each recognition of distraction, each gentle return, chips away at the stone encasing David. We practice the art of liberation. We realize we are not our passing thoughts or emotional storms.
There is something beautiful inside — something primordial that has always been present.
Gradually, our allegiance shifts: we stop reflexively believing we are the rock, and we rest more and more in our true nature.
We cultivate intimacy with our true being — an awareness that is steady, unshakable, and kind. We begin to see the masterpiece that was always waiting beneath the surface.
Uncovering Buddha Nature
Over time, something miraculous unfolds.
The essential self — the one that was always there — begins to shine more clearly.
Our basic sanity, kindness, courage, and clarity come forward not because we manufactured them, but because we stopped covering them up.
We find ourselves less trapped by compulsive patterns. Life evokes a more spontaneous, wise response. Our neurotic habits may still arise, but now they arise in a vast space of awareness, no longer mistaken for the whole of who we are.
Meditation, then, is not about adding something new to ourselves.
It is about letting go of what was never truly us to begin with.
It is about trusting that, like David within the marble, our Buddha Nature is already complete. It always was. It always will be.
And the emerging truth is this: David is not only beautiful but stronger than the stone that encased him. Yet that raw material had to be loved as it was, until the sculptor could begin to feel the essence within.
The act of chipping at the stone must be an act of kindness and respect for the raw material.
And as you can see from the illustration, size does not matter. David is not ashamed. David is a work of art that stands for the immense strength of acceptance, diligence, and love.
All we have to do is patiently, lovingly, chip away what obscures our masterpiece.
And maybe, you know, polish it now and then.
