Be Nobody

The solution I’m offering may seem radical, even foolish: encouraging you to give things away (not just material things but control, status, adoration, etc.) to serve a Higher World that you can’t see.

In the course of everyday life we are bombarded in a thousand ways with messages to the effect that “service” is the highest mark of virtue, that morality consists of living for others. We are told that personal happiness, self-interest, and the profit motive are ignoble. We are told that the enlightened, the able, the competent, the strong must ex

he emphasized the themes of lojong and tonglen: letting go of self-importance and developing altruism.

with everyone. Therefore they never shy away from manifesting their full potential. The more our orientation shifts toward the well-being of others—and away from catering to the persistent but stupid rascal in our heart—the more we will experience the deep peace and joy of the Buddha’s wisdom.