Shed selfishness through meditation

Lama Chuck Stanford, Rime Buddist Center, Kansas City, Mo.:

From the Buddhist perspective, selfishness is often referred to as ego clinging. When we cling to ego or to self we are more concerned with our own interests, needs and wishes than those of others. We falsely believe that our own needs and wishes are more important than those of others.

The great Buddhist teacher of the 20th century, Buddhadasa, said, “Selfishness is a terrible burden for the entire world. You can see that all the problems, all the conflict, all the crises, are the result of selfishness. All crises, wars, exploitation, destruction of the environment, pollution, population growth that is still out of hand in much of the world, the piling up of food by certain countries, other countries starving — all of this can be traced back to selfishness.”

Through the practice of meditation we begin to cultivate selflessness and the letting go of ego clinging that is the very opposite of selfishness.

This letting go of ego clinging promotes qualities such as loving kindness, compassion and generosity. This results in our genuine concern for other people more than for our self.

In Buddhism it is taught that all those who suffer in the world do so because of concern only for themselves, while genuine happiness comes from our concern for others.