We Are Precious
I never heard of Elizabeth Gilbert before. But I had a flight to endure in the middle seat, and I liked finding one's "deep inner voice" as the podcast title.
Around minute 36 she tells this incredible story about the Dalai Lama's first visit to the West. Someone asked how Tibetan Buddhism addresses self-hatred.
The Dalai Lama was confused for a long time. He conversed at length with his translator, thinking he misheard the question. Who was the enemy, exactly?
Once he grasped that everyone in the room struggled with this problem, the Dalai Lama was deeply disturbed. This is not OK, he said. This is where we start. This is now my mission in the western world.
In the East, he often focused on teaching folks to be less precious to themselves. But here in the West—as Elizabeth tells us—perhaps we have to find our preciousness first, in order to then appreciate it within others, and to let it go.
What will you do today in service of being a friend, to others or yourself? Where are you on your journey of self-love and self-abnegation? Under what circumstances might they actually become one and the same?
Tim Ferriss
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