Have you ever noticed that many times we live very exhausted, always feeling restricted everywhere? Especially in career pursuits, investments, or any competitive fields, the more fiercely you want to win, the more likely you are to distort your actions, ending up falling hard and suffering a heavy loss.

In fact, what truly blocks us is not the external opponents, but something you can perceive every day yet is actually an illusion: the self.
Zen philosophy has long seen through this: the self does not truly exist.
The so-called self is just a shameless lie we keep telling ourselves every day. We cling to this illusion as if we are caught in a passionate dream. This not only wastes our enormous energy, causing endless internal conflict, but can also harm our health and shorten our lives.
The first step to genuine happiness and awakening of consciousness is to forget the self, so you can truly see yourself clearly.
Everyone can ponder this carefully.
Many people, when they sit at the table, are full of thoughts about winning, how the opponent will act, whether their moves are correct.
But true top experts are never troubled by these low-level concerns. They understand a truth: when you completely forget the self and also forget the opponent in that moment, victory will happen naturally. Because at a higher dimension, you and your opponent are never truly opposed; you are just two halves of the entire system or situation.
This state, in our current terms, is called a state of ultimate flow, a divine state stripped of human low-level emotions. Why does CZ always seem relaxed and detached from the world when facing extreme competition, negative articles, or various criticisms? Because he has long eradicated that anxious, self-doubting self.
When you stop trying to prove how smart you are, and stop obsessing over that false self-worth, your intuition and sensitivity will exponentially amplify. You are no longer that tense swordsman swinging wildly; you become the battlefield itself. Every move you make is no longer to defeat someone but simply to follow the natural laws of this world.
So next time you feel overwhelmed by pressure, fall into frantic self-doubt, or feel suffocated in any competition, stop.
Try to loosen that tightly held "I." Don’t fixate on the enemy, nor focus solely on yourself. Melt all your attention into the present moment you are experiencing. Don’t fear losing the self, because the moment you truly forget yourself is the beginning of your limitless power.