#kiag

In short, attempts to nail down “who we really are” most often serve as rhetorical pawns in unwinnable arguments fueled by competing agendas (i.e., humans are “really” self-interested first and foremost, therefore a self-serving capitalism is the system most suitable for us; humans are “hard-wired” for aggression and conflict, therefore some form of warfare will always be with us; or, conversely, “the kind life—the life lived in instinctive sympathy with the vulnerabilities and attractions of others—is the life we are more inclined to live,” as argued by Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor in On Kindness ). In light of this situation, Sayadaw U Pandita’s advice to “stop thinking about it”—or, perhaps, to stop talking about it—can start to seem like the best advice indeed. At the very least, following such advice makes space for different conversations, different questions.