“Anxiety and desire are two, often conflicting, orientations to the unknown. Both are tilted toward the future. Desire implies a willingness, or a need, to engage this unknown, while anxiety suggests a fear of it. Desire takes one out of oneself, into the possibility or relationship, but it also takes one deeper into oneself. Anxiety turns one back on oneself, but only onto the self that is already known.” NeedsTwoSelfDesireTurnsKnownPossibilityAnxietyOneselfDeeperWillingnessOrientation Book:Open to Desire: The Truth About What the Buddha Taught Source: Open to Desire: The Truth About What the Buddha Taught
“Buddhism teaches us that happiness does not come from any kind of acquisitiveness, be it material or psychological. Happiness comes from letting go. In Buddhism, the impenetrable, separate, and individuated self is more of the problem than the solution.” KindDoeSelfProblemHappinessTeachMaterialsBuddhismLetting GoSolutionsPsychological Author:Mark Epstein
“When we seek happiness through accumulation, either outside of ourselves-from other people, relationships, or material goods-or from our own self-development, we are missing the essential point. In either case we are trying to find completion. But according to Buddhism, such a strategy is doomed. Completion comes not from adding another piece to ourselves but from surrendering our ideas of perfection.” PeopleTryingIdeasSelfHappinessCasesPiecesMissingMaterialsBuddhismDevelopmentLetting GoEssentialsPerfectionStrategyGoodsDoomedSelf DevelopmentAccumulationCompletion Author:Mark Epstein
“In building a path through the self to the far shore of awareness, we have to carefully pick our way through our own wilderness. If we can put our minds into a place of surrender, we will have an easier time feeling the contours of the land. We do not have to break our way through as much as we have to find our way around the major obstacles. We do not have to cure every neurosis, we just have to learn how not to be caught by them.” IfsWayMindSelfFeelingsBreakPathLandAwarenessBuildingEasierMajorsPicksCaughtObstaclesSurrenderCuresWildernessShoreNeurosisEasier Times Author:Mark Epstein
“The central premise of this book is that the Western psychological notion of what it means to have a self is flawed.” MeanBookSelfWesternNotionPsychologicalFlawedPremises Author:Mark Epstein
