WW #22: On Truth, Self-Understanding, and Pain
Hi, it’s me Waldi!
Here are five ideas, insights, and a bit of wisdom to help you live better.
I.
Every truth has an opposite truth that is just as true.
The environment keeps us alive and kills us. Culture restricts and frees us. Everyone is good and bad.
Futile discussions endlessly pitch one truth against the other. Worthwhile discussions focus on the nuances, differences, and similarities of both truths, with the goal of solving the resulting problems.
II.
Rereading the best books until you truly understand them is often a better use of your time than reading more books.
III.
Your ego has many benefits and detriments.
Only in mastering it, can you choose to avoid its detriments and utilize its benefits.
IV.
A reminder on the importance of self-understanding:
"The closer you are to someone, the more you may unknowingly treat them the way you treat yourself. If you are hard on yourself, you may unknowingly be hard on them. Observe and understand yourself, because your relationship with others is based on your relationship with yourself."
Source: Unknown*
V.
Kapil Gupta on the source of conflict and pain:
“‘There is no other’ means that there’s no problem outside of yourself and that all conflict is self-conflict. These things in which pain arises from a circumstance aren’t really caused by the circumstance. The circumstance does not cause pain, it reveals it.”
Source: Conquering the Mind
Until next week,
* If you know who said this, I’d appreciate it if you could let me know.