I don’t know if you’ve ever stood in a busy city train station at rush hour and watched the people running around. They’re very much in their own worlds, with their own hopes and fears, busy, busy, and so fixed in that independent, permanent identity that we learn about in the Joy of Living Level 3: Awakening Wisdom teachings. 

When I first heard the teachings of Joy of Living Level 3, the reality that everything changes, and with the breakdown of time and singularity, this was so stimulating and made so much sense to me. I could see that unhealthy sense of me, the labels I identified with, were so strong and felt so important. I very much was a daughter and a “wife” and a “surgeon” and a “meditator.” Certainly, as a surgeon, I have been driven. I am driven by achievements, goals, deadlines, and competition. And I kept saying to myself — and still do — “If I just get that one more title, if I just do this one more thing…” but at least now I know this is insatiable. I will never be satisfied with that “one little bit more.” And so now, every so often, I can catch myself in the throes of identifying really strongly with a situation or really strongly with who I am, and I do manage to have just that little quiet chuckle to myself, and it’s like, ”Gotcha! I gotcha right there!”

So now, looking again at that busy train station, I can recognize that just like me, everyone who’s running around is identifying with this solid sense of self, and they’re also saying, “If I just get this one thing!”

Seeing others so deeply stuck in this unhealthy sense of self brings a wish for me and for others, for all of us together to understand how things are. This recognition of how things really are brings out compassion. It’s not a feeling for others like “Poor you,” but instead, it’s seeing that we’re all the same. We’re all looking for the same thing!

Developing our compassion through wisdom is not an “I’m here” and “you’re there” but an understanding of this reality. We’re all in this circle. We all have this true nature and a way to find this true freedom, but we just don’t see it because we’re in our boxes. We’re in our labels. We’re all looking for something, but in most cases, we’ve been looking in the wrong place.

This piece was excerpted from an online Joy of Living webinar.

September 2024