Part #1: You Already Have Everything
The delusion in wanting more is that–in this moment–there can be no more. Just now is just as it is. And since–in this moment–there can be no more, everything that can possibly be is already here. Don’t make up anything in your mind and you already have everything.
Part #2: So Why Do Anything?
Knowing that you already “have everything” can bring peace and stillness. So why do anything? Why not just relax and do nothing? Enjoy “Heaven.” Enjoy “Nirvana.”
The thing is, wanting to relax and do nothing is just another form of “wanting more.” Except now it is “wanting more” peace. “Wanting more” peace is not peaceful. It is another kind of suffering.
True peace and stillness cannot be found in inaction. To be still and peaceful does not mean to try to be dead to life and the world around you. In fact, it means–without the distraction of “wanting more”–to be even more alive to the the world.
But, without chasing desires, what is the reason to do things? What is the real reason to act? What is the important thing to do? What is the function of that peace you’ve found–even if it stays only fleetingly?
Part #3: The Function of Peace
In Buddhism, you might hear, “Get enlightenment [meaning find peace through Truth], then help all beings.” In the Abrahamic traditions, you might be told “Love the Lord, your God with all your body, all your heart and all your soul [also, meaning find peace through Truth]; love your neighbor as yourself.” (If you know a corresponding saying from another tradition, please leave it in the comments).
Both sayings point in the same direction: When we cut through our “wanting more” and realize we “have everything,” then our personal sources of suffering subside–peace. There remains only one great source of suffering for us–the suffering of others. Not *my* suffering but *our* suffering. At this point, the real reason to act and the important thing to do become very clear.
This is why it is our great responsibility to really pay attention in order to see the Truth of our lives in each moment. Because when we see the Truth–that wanting more is delusion and that we already have everything–we can, in that peace, see and hear the suffering of the world around us. That is the true function of peace.
In those moments, we are free to relieve the last of our sufferings by asking one simple question that spontaneously arrises without even trying:
How may I help?
PS Learning to answer this question–how may I help?–for yourself is, in part, the subject of my new book How to Be Alive: A Guide to the Kind of Happiness that Helps the World. You can learn about it and order it here.