Altruism: Happiness in This Life and Blessings for a Thousand Lifetimes to Come

Have you ever felt the urge to keep something just for yourself, whether a comfortable seat, a delicious meal, or a good relationship? And then found that you could actually yield, give it away without needing anything in return? That is the inner battle between selfishness and altruism. In the dharma talk on the Psychology of Altruism, Thầy Thích Chân Quang helps us recognize these two tendencies and points the way toward living with true happiness.

Buddhist Psychology: Looking at the Root, Not the Branches

Western psychology often tries to relieve emotions through external activities: traveling, entertainment, or simply forgetting one's sadness. But Buddhism looks deeper. When someone is sad, Thầy Thích Chân Quang advises paying homage to the Buddha with repentance, going to build roads or release animals destined for slaughter, or embracing the sadness and living with it.

If I run from my sadness, it will chase me my whole life. But if I embrace my sadness and live with it, suddenly it becomes afraid and hides from me.

This is a way of facing suffering (dukkha) not through avoidance, but by looking at it directly and dissolving it at its cause.

Altruism: Happiness in This Life, Blessings in the Next

Living altruistically means living for others, thinking of others, yielding to others. Thầy Chân Quang says that a life lived this way creates immense blessings from merit. When such a person dies, they have only two paths: rising to the heavenly realms, or being reborn into a royal palace as a princess or prince.

What happens to a person who has lived an altruistic life, caring for others, thinking of others, looking after others, always yielding to others first? Where do they go after death? First, they must rise to the heavenly realms. Second, if they are reborn as a human, they are certain to enter a royal palace as a princess or prince.

But what is even more remarkable is that altruistic action itself brings happiness in the present moment. When we treat others kindly, we experience happiness, and from that we gain a firm confidence in what is right.

When we treat everyone with kindness, we feel happiness, and that deepens our confidence. Confidence that this is right, that this is truth.

Selfishness: The Natural Instinct of All Sentient Beings

Thầy Chân Quang teaches that selfishness is a natural instinct that everyone possesses. It arises from ignorance and self-grasping within the formations, the activity of consciousness. So when we see others acting selfishly, we should not rush to blame them.

The nature of sentient beings is selfishness. It is natural. It is natural. No one needs to teach that the nature of sentient beings is selfishness. That is what we call instinct.

This very instinct leads to greed, hatred and delusion. But if we understand its mechanism, we can transform it into an altruistic heart.

Cause and Effect (Karmic Law): A Gentle Veil over the Selfish Heart

In love, we often love someone because they are beautiful, because they can take care of us. Friendship, too, is often based on benefit. But fortunately, this world also has cause and effect (karmic law), the karmic bonds from the past that allow us to love others more selflessly.

If we set aside cause and effect (karmic law) entirely and go searching for so-called true love, it is really just one person seeking their own benefit from another.

Thanks to cause and effect (karmic law), we have close friends, loved ones, and kind teachers to guide us. But we must also be careful: if our karmic bond is with a false teacher, we may go astray. So the good fortune of our past lives matters greatly.

Sotapanna: When Selfishness Is Cut at the Root

The first of the four stages of noble attainment is the Sotapanna. One who attains this fruit has destroyed the view of self, the belief in a separate "I." Such a being lives entirely for others, with wisdom and virtue. They eat not for their own pleasure, but to maintain their health in service of sentient beings.

The altruistic heart of a noble Sotapanna is beautiful, truly beautiful. Beautiful like the light of the moon.

Such beings are deeply worthy of reverence. To insult them brings terrible karmic consequences. But we need not wait for noble attainment, because right here and now, each of us can begin practicing altruism.

Even without attaining Sotapanna, each of us can start living altruistically today. Every time we yield, every time we put others first, we taste a pure and simple joy. Let our hearts open wide like the full moon, so that love knows no boundaries.

A life of altruism is a life of blessings from merit. And that is the path of happiness that the Buddha taught.