Is meditation primarily a selfish endeavor?
Would the time spent in meditation be better spent helping others and doing good actions?
Of course,
It's a good thing that you do good things.
But you should also do good things for yourself,
Not just for others,
Right?
So if you get angry,
If you suffer,
If you experience any of those emotional turmoil,
You're kind of attacking yourself.
Because a lot of us,
Many of us are experiencing a lot of stress,
Elevated level of stress today.
And stress is a way of you kind of attacking yourself.
The reason we engage in spiritual practice is for us to develop the capacity or the skills to not make ourselves suffer.
So first and foremost,
I think it's good for you to be good to yourself.
Because we usually make ourselves,
Our own selves suffer,
When we are in this depth of suffering,
We ask for others to help us.
And even more,
That itself is not enough,
So we reach out to the supernatural,
The gods and others to help us.
Spiritual practice is a path forward for you to get at that state where you don't suffer anymore.
And if you don't waste your own energy in trying to make yourself suffer,
You can actually reallocate that energy to helping others.
As you said,
You actually create that reservoir of energy,
Extra bandwidth for you to help others.
Just an example.
Say you're carrying this heavy load.
And you're carrying it on top of your head,
On your shoulders,
On both arms,
You're carrying heavy things.
And as you go and walk on this path,
There's no other bandwidth for you to look at others or look at the surroundings,
Because you're really focused on being able to bear your own burden.
And as you walk,
You're constantly kind of wanting to be helped.
You're thinking that can these others kind of help me unload or take some of my burdens away.
However,
If I were to let go of this and I'm no longer burdened by this heavy weight,
Then I can actually walk in a much more light-footed way.
And now I have the wherewithal to look around as I walk.
And if somebody else I see is walking with a heavy burden,
I can go ahead and help them.
So just kind of in other way,
In other words,
If my burden is too heavy,
I don't even have the wherewithal to recognize that others' burdens are also heavy.
And if I were to recognize,
Then I don't have the extra strength to actually help them.
However,
If I'm unburdened,
Then I'm able to see my surroundings.
And if I see somebody carrying a heavy burden,
I have the wherewithal and the strength to go ahead and help them.
So we don't have to teach ourselves to help others.
It's something that happens automatically if we are unburdened and we have the extra strength to do so.
다른 사람에게 관심 없이 자기 문제만 관심이 있다 하는 것은 아직도 자기 짐이 무겁다는 것을 말합니다.
And if you don't have the wherewithal to kind of see others' needs but can only focus on your needs,
On your own weight and the burdens,
That means you're still carrying a heavy burden yourself.
우리는 남을 돕는다고 하지만은 괴로워하면서 돕는다면 자기 인생에 있어서 의미가 없습니다.
그래서 수행은 잘이 있다,
나를 이롭게 하고 남도 이롭게 한다 이렇게 말합니다.
You have to be good to yourself at the same time being good to others.
