#254 From Self-Centeredness to Wisdom, Joy & Happiness

     "Meditative awareness is more akin to hearing well than seeing clearly. When looking intently at a visual object, we tend to aim a narrow beam of attention onto something outside of ourselves. But when we listen mindfully, we open our awareness in all directions in order to receive the sounds that pour in. Just as one develops a meditative ability to discern ever subtler tones and harmonies in this polyphony, so one can refine an empathic ability to detect ever finer nuances in the other's plea. As the deafening chatter of self-centeredness subsides, one recovers that silence wherein one hears more sharply the cries of the world."

        Batchelor S. “Living with the devil. A meditation on good and evil.” Riverhead Books, NY, 2004. www.stephenbatchelor.org

 

     Self-centeredness reliably generates suffering for self & others, while letting go of "self-clinging" and wisely opening up to caring for others and the environment generates joy for self & others. While inherently ethical, this is first & foremost an experiential fact of life. So if you take happiness seriously, you really should consciously experiment, moment-to-moment, with shifting your energies (thoughts, words & actions) from ego-centricity to allo- & ecocentricity. This is also happens to be the basic definition of wisdom.

 

Not one of these boxes contains happiness