301. Our Best Interest

We live in a world of structures, institutions, and systems. These entities exercise authority over us by imposing rules that they also enforce. Often their authority is legitimized by the claim that we have granted it, and that it is only our endorsement that allows these rules to exist, even though we usually have not given our explicit endorsement to anything.

If we challenge the rules, we are told they are necessary to maintain an orderly society. And it is true that rules help to create order, which often convinces us that the authorities are acting in our best interest. But it is also often the case that these very same rules are used to further the interests of a select few to the detriment of all others.

To see what is truly in our best interest requires an almost impossible breadth of awareness. We must see not only what we personally need but also the needs of all others, as individuals and as a whole. But what frequently happens is that we do not consider need at all, and instead concentrate on our ability to satisfy our desires. We are told that it is by satisfying our freely-chosen desires that we will become more happy. Consequently, we allow the needs of the many to go unmet, while permitting the desires of the most privileged, lucky, and able to be fulfilled.

Compassion is always concerned with need and need alone. To act from compassion is to do whatever is necessary to meet need in the present moment. As our awareness grows, our compassion also grows. Some of that compassion will be self-compassion, which helps us liberate ourselves from the suffering that arises from obsessive attachment to our desires, aversions, and beliefs.

When we are liberated from attachment, we discover that we possess so much energy that was once wasted on our obsessions. At the same time, our compassion shifts towards the needs of others. We begin to make creative efforts to help meet their needs and expand their awareness. This means we also turn our attention to the structures, institutions, and systems that actively prevent needs from being met. It is by deploying our new-found energy towards creating real change that we can start to build a more harmonious and joyful order for everyone.