Compassion is also helpful—sometime visualising the suffering of the world and trying to identify with it in a cleaner way than involving guilt can generate some really powerful energy in the right direction. Doing this is the only way I can keep going while recognising that I’m a bottom 1-10% performer of the people that I’ve met in the movement—which is quite ego-depleting!!
Tonglen is a Tibetan buddhist practice that seeks to build compassion in this way.
Yeah, I’ve been hard pressed to find any use for guilt. There is this justice-related defense against helping (“Why am I supposed to help if [random other person] doesn’t!”), and showing someone how they profit from a system of exploitation can break thought that. But otherwise empathy/compassion is my central motivation. I know that this unbearable suffering exists. I just don’t let it take the emotional shape that overwhelms and paralyzes me with its sheer intensity.
I hope the ego depletion doesn’t keep you from aspiring to become a top 1–10% performer in the movement?
other things stop that, like raw ability, health, resource and availability of time due to prior commitments, but thanks for the encouragement!
Now its been written about I can see the comparison between these feelings and the feelings people often have of ‘oh, well, there’s no way I can compete with Bill Gates so why bother’. I haven’t let them affect me that much but now I can see that they shouldn’t affect me at all / even come in to play quite clearly. Thank you Telofy! :)
Compassion is also helpful—sometime visualising the suffering of the world and trying to identify with it in a cleaner way than involving guilt can generate some really powerful energy in the right direction. Doing this is the only way I can keep going while recognising that I’m a bottom 1-10% performer of the people that I’ve met in the movement—which is quite ego-depleting!!
Tonglen is a Tibetan buddhist practice that seeks to build compassion in this way.
Yeah, I’ve been hard pressed to find any use for guilt. There is this justice-related defense against helping (“Why am I supposed to help if [random other person] doesn’t!”), and showing someone how they profit from a system of exploitation can break thought that. But otherwise empathy/compassion is my central motivation. I know that this unbearable suffering exists. I just don’t let it take the emotional shape that overwhelms and paralyzes me with its sheer intensity.
I hope the ego depletion doesn’t keep you from aspiring to become a top 1–10% performer in the movement?
other things stop that, like raw ability, health, resource and availability of time due to prior commitments, but thanks for the encouragement!
Now its been written about I can see the comparison between these feelings and the feelings people often have of ‘oh, well, there’s no way I can compete with Bill Gates so why bother’. I haven’t let them affect me that much but now I can see that they shouldn’t affect me at all / even come in to play quite clearly. Thank you Telofy! :)