It might not sound very Zen to encourage people to be selfish. After all: selfishness is the root of all the terrible things people do. Or not? If you read on I'll explain what I mean by telling you to be selfish.
Ultimate goal
All the things we do, each action we perform has a goal. We think it will bring us something.The reason we do somethingor not, or the way we do something is considered against our ultimate objective. Will it bring us closer to this objective or not? If we think it will we will do it, if we think it won't we will find a reason not to do it. So the question is: what is this all-important goal that is directing our lives?
The answer is simple: we want to be happy. It is a system that's been build in us for millions of years. And it has proved to be very efficient. It has made us the most successful liveform on earth. When we do something 'good' we are rewarded by feeling 'good'. But obviously something is going wrong here. If something is making me feel 'good', it doesn't have to mean it will be good for someone else. Some people seem to feel good when they hurt others.
'Good' and good
The problem here is that there's two types of `good`. On the one hand we have satisfaction, which is a short-term type of happiness. If we get that promotion instead of somebody else it will give us satisfaction, but not happiness because inside we know we have hurt others. Satisfaction only gives our ego's a boost; our monkey-mind is happy because it only cares about the short-term.
On the other there's true happiness that will last and give real balance. A great way to know if something will bring you satisfaction or happiness is to imagine how you will think about it in your dying bed.
Nobody wishes at the end to have worked some more, or to have owned a bigger car. We wish to have spend more time with our familie or friends. So true happiness isn't just about ourselves, it is about how we are to others. We enjoy real happiness when we can make others happy, especially the ones we love.
Zen is right
For me it was one of those "aaaah, I get it" moments and why I think the Zen philosophy is correct. We can walk the Zen path, help others and as a bonus we will find happiness ourselves. We're talking about a true win-win situation here! The most important thing is to not let us be deluded by our monkey-mind.
Bring happiness to all,
That is the way
Shamon
