In Eight Steps to Happiness Geshe-la says "'Self' and 'other' are relative terms, rather like 'this mountain' and 'that mountain ... 'This' and 'that' therefore depend upon our point of reference. This is also true of self and other. By climbing down the mountain of self, it is possible to ascend the mountain of other, and thereby cherish others as much as we presently cherish ourself."

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Cherishing Others -> Less Grasping

Hello. Yes, it has been a while - but except for a week in January when I was sick, not because of any health problems - just been busy with other projects. There's no shortage of material. So I will wade back in again, with a short post.

This is probably perfectly obvious to all of you, and I knew it to a small degree, but the connection between cherishing others and grasping less struck me strongly last night. I was reflecting on how I'd spent my day and trying to assess what was beneficial, what was less so. There was a situation where I'd talked to a friend to gain wisdom about an area I didn't know much about, so that I could pass it along to another friend (as she knew I was going to do). Had there been tension in my mind? Unhappiness? Frustration? etc. I couldn't detect very much, and it occurred to me that I was more relaxed about it than I might have been if the conversation had been about me. Of course, there's still grasping - at my friends, at the situation, and so so. But because I'd largely taken myself out of the picture, there was less grasping.

What a relief! I look forward to experiencing more and more of that in the future, until I am completely released and then can release others.

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