By: Madelaine Weiss

Madelaine Weiss — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 14:30:15 +0000

Well…2 things: First, there is a very good book by a buddhist psychoanalyst, Mark Epstein, “Desire,” helpful in clarifying that desire is normal, natural, more than okay. What is not okay is behaving badly when our desires are not met, which often enough they are not. The other point I would like to make is that living in an abundance mindset, as in cup runneth over, is more likely to bring with it a wish to contribute to others than a self centered, worried, scarcity mindset would. Agree?

By: Steven Nisenbaum

Steven Nisenbaum — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 14:18:49 +0000

As I understand it, the Buddhist premise is that one needs to rid oneself of material concerns and priorities of the ego in order to be immersed in the World fully undistracted and mindful. It seems like you are a mindfulness proponent, but you adopt a different strategy of mindfully choosing without need to empty the soul of want and need through determination and self-willing (perhaps sidestepping or sedtting aside the mindfulness vs. mindlessness distinction) and positivity rather than deprivation — which is perhaps “somethingness” instead of (in contrast to) “nothingness.” But aren’t you also assuming the possibility of realizing something by changing yourself instead of believing that real problems out there demand remedial change by taking control of the environs which has real-life deficits and inequities (Viva la Revolution! Workers Unite! Black Lives Matter!) ? I guess Freud also dealt with this as an “internal” mental process (i.e., via psychoanalytic techniques guided by a neutral who is not a “coach”) although boundaried by having to overcome the intruding unconscious by techniques of evading ego defenses in search of some sort of insight path to authenticity and shedding formative experience that creates both sublimiatory channels and neurises as “solutions” to dilemma? Or maybe you simply assume a “Just World” (“Just Deserts”?) Hypothesis that the proper rewards will always accrue to those who do Good and deserve, whereas punishment will always accrue to those who are blameful (at fault? evil?). But is the World so perfectly organized, systematic, and predictable, immune to randomness and fate (luck)?

Comments on: Abundance or Scarcity? Even the Rich Can Suffer Scarcity. Here’s How to Fix That in 3 Simple Steps.

By: Madelaine Weiss

By: Steven Nisenbaum