Am I Broken? – Part One

It is not uncommon on the spiritual path for seekers to ask themselves: “Am I broken?” The experience of inner conflict, confusion, emotional turbulence, or deep existential questioning can give rise to the painful sense that something is fundamentally wrong inside — that one is somehow flawed at the core.

But this very question arises from a misconception. The human mind, shaped by conditioning, culture, and egoic structures, naturally oscillates between states of hope and despair, clarity and confusion. These fluctuations are not evidence of brokenness; they are inherent features of conditioned existence.

The spiritual path does not require that we become perfect or that all discomfort vanish. Instead, it invites us to see the nature of these experiences with increasing clarity. Suffering arises not because the mind is broken, but because it is grasping, resisting, or identifying with transient phenomena as if they were permanent and personal.

When we view our inner life through the lens of non-self, impermanence, and dependent origination, we see that what appears broken is simply the ceaseless movement of causes and conditions playing themselves out. The ‘I’ who feels broken is itself part of the illusion.

This realisation does not deny pain, but places it in a new context. Pain becomes part of the unfolding process, not a defect to be fixed, but material for insight and compassion. The question shifts from “Am I broken?” to “Who is it that feels broken?”

“There is no need to repair that which was never broken.”
— Buddhist Insight