The Anxious Buddhist

When we can recognise this narcissism, then we take a step toward happiness. As we have learnt, only when we recognise our suffering as suffering can we awaken to happiness. Like two sides of a coin, happiness and suffering are non-dual – they are merely two subjective experiences of the same objective reality.

We become a stranger to ourselves, unable to display the tenderness or genuine compassion that would enable our recovery.

Like an enemy, our anxieties can only continue to exist while we remain at odds with them through anger and hatred.

We persist in delving into the past to predict the future without ever really living in the present moment. Our conscious mind meanders this way and that, looking for reasons to explain how we came to feel as we do.

An enemy can only be transformed into a friend through deep listening and compassionate understanding.

Anxieties arise whenever we experience a loss of control over the ability to satisfy our many attachments or aversions.

elimination of wrong views and ignorance. To do this we should cultivate the virtues of patience and compassion.

Personal liberation and compassion for all living beings are two sides of the same coin, you simply cannot experience one without the other.

One of the key foundations of anxious behaviour is the distorted view of our physical feelings.