Our parents bring us into this world and raise us. No matter where we come from, as young children we were all cared for by someone – by parents or by other guardians. This is an experience we all share. We also share this planet. We have been living on it together since we were […]
Reducing our pride does not imply losing confidence — in fact, far from it. There is an important difference between confidence and pride. With pride, we look down on others. We need them to be less for ourselves to be more. Confidence is a virtuous form of pride. You feel able to do good things. […]
Cultivating humility as part of our efforts to live interdependence can be enhanced by a heartfelt awareness that we are always in a state of development. Because everything arises based upon the coming together of continually shifting conditions, however much or little of a certain positive quality we have, further growth is always possible. Moreover, […]
Our consumerist society thrives on competition and therefore encourages displays of strength. This inclines us to feel we must present ourselves as successful winners. But this not only makes it hard for us to connect authentically, it inclines us to seek positions of superiority over others and to conceal our weaknesses. This in turn makes […]
In Buddhism we say that each person must become his or her own protector. Learning to do this is extremely important. It is the basis for us to be able to extend care and protection to others. This second step is even more important. If our learning to protect ourselves does not contribute to our […]
This is an important tenet in modern science that would serve us well in life, too. Anyone who says they have reached the final end of knowledge is not a true scientist. When good scientists make an important discovery, they do not feel that this means an end to their experiments or exploration. You may […]
I hope it is clear that interdependence does not undermine your individuality but is what has enabled you to become the unique person you are today. Embracing your interdependence can give your individuality new meaning. The same is true of self-reliance. There are forms of self-reliance that works in harmony with interdependence, and it is […]
This may be helpful to keep in mind if at times we find ourselves progressing more slowly than we had hoped. Once we realize that our personalities are not fixed and that we can decide to actively change them, we might become inspired and expect to be able to push ourselves to change rapidly. But […]
It might help to understand the interdependence of our inner emotional or mental conditions through an analogy of how our internal organs work. Here, too, we see interdependence at work. Having two strong lungs is not sufficient. Our lungs must function in close connection with the rest of the respiratory system, our heart, our liver, […]
Interdependence means that change is always possible. This is a basic facet of causality: because all things are dependent on causes and conditions for their existence, all things are always open to change. In fact, they are always changing. Causes and conditions are constantly interacting in ways that affect the outcome. If we think of […]
Our life is like a vast net connecting us to all other lives on this planet, and each part of this net is linked to all of the rest. The essence of our life is not limited within the confines of our bodies but rather is distributed across all the people and things that we […]
In order to work with interdependence to bring about change, we must attend to both the inner and outer: both the experiences within us and all the interactions we have with our social or natural environment. Outer interdependence may be more tangible and thus easier to observe, but in actual fact, inner conditions of interdependence […]
The world today is sorely lacking in love, and that lack stems in large part from a failure to appreciate the contributions of others to our well-being. Others did not simply clothe and feed us; they made us who we are as individuals. By training ourselves to recognize the many ways others have contributed to […]
We need other possibilities for understanding who we are as individuals. On a personal level, exploring what it means to be an interdependent individual allows us to stop living at odds with reality. As we gain a more realistic understanding of who we are and how we are interconnected, our lives can become much more […]
The key thing is to enjoy the goodness of what you are doing and feeling. Enjoy the sensation of filling your own heart with love and then offer it to others. You begin by first savoring the warm-heartedness that you give rise to, and only then expressing and extending it toward others. If it is […]
The concept of interdependence may seem jarring when we first apply it to ourselves personally. Sometimes when people first hear the idea that they are interdependent, they think that this somehow negates their individuality. This is far from the case. Our individuality is not threatened by interdependence. On the contrary, it is interdependence that has […]
Viewing ourselves through the lens of interdependence brings certain qualities and values into focus. For example, when we hold to a sense of ourselves as utterly independent, we can come to believe and behave as if we were entirely self-made, as if our own individuality called together all the conditions needed to bring us into […]
The great compassion taught in Buddhism is not merely an emotional response tinged with sadness or fear that comes and goes in response to a temporary situation. It is not superficial in this way but deep and, therefore, stable as well. This profound stability is due to our compassion being based on wisdom and reasoning. […]
However autonomous we may feel ourselves to be, we could not even begin our lives without two specific people who therefore are not entirely distinct from or ‘other’ to us. Once born, we eat food from others, learn from others, and are clothed and cared for all our lives by others. Just a few steps […]
Nothing is intrinsically or ultimately bad. Any situation that arises is only relatively good or bad based on many factors, including — most significantly — how you perceive the situation and how you respond to it. 17th Karmapa
