Americano, latte, cappuccino—which kind of coffee person are you? Do you like it straightforward, like an Americano; mild, like a latte; or artful, like a cappuccino? Can we decide which coffee has the best flavor or is the most original? I don’t think we can. It depends on the person drinking it.

Something similar can happen on our path of practice. What kind of tradition do you practice? Or do you find it difficult to settle on one, trying this and that? Perhaps you have your own “personalized mixture” of practice.

We all have different personalities and tendencies. We are shaped by many things: our culture, family circumstances, and natural inclinations, among others. In that sense, each of us carries a mixture of many flavors. We each have our own distinct flavor.

It is similar with coffee. Its flavor depends on where the beans come from, how they are roasted and brewed, and what is added to them. Can we say that one coffee is better than another? Perhaps one suits us better, but that does not mean it will suit someone else. And the one that suits someone else may not be right for us.

Coffee has names and labels, and perhaps even a “coffee identity.” So, what about our practice? Does it have an identity? Can you name one—or several?

It is okay to have a name for your practice. It can make things easier when someone asks. But I don’t mean, “Who are you?” I mean, “How do you describe your practice?”

Honestly, this is a question I cannot answer easily. I feel confused when I am told to choose just one. So I let it be. What is here is already good as it is. I feel happy, and my practice has helped me feel more at ease. For now, that is enough.

A name can help us describe a practice, but it does not have to become something fixed that we identify with. When we hold tightly to a practice identity, it can lead us to judge and separate: this is better, that is worse; this is real, that is not. From there, friction can grow, and it does not feel good.

So let it be. Keep practicing in a way that helps lessen the defilements, brings more spaciousness, and opens the heart to kindness.

It is like drinking coffee. An Americano is not purer, and a cappuccino is not less authentic. They are simply different ways of enjoying coffee.

Just the way it is.

By the way, I prefer cappuccino.