This talk was given during the Autumn 2018 retreat which included Peter Joshu Thompson as a guest teacher. This talk, in contrast to classical Zen teaching, discusses the importance of the inherent value of the personal self and the capacity for intimacy – to awaken the vulnerable open-heart-centred self. It is important that we don’t interpret Buddhist no-self to mean our personal self has no intrinsic value. It asks the question, what is it that makes us uniquely human?