Eudaimonia
‘Eudaimonia’ is a Greek word meaning the state or condition of a ‘Good Spirit’, otherwise known as the ‘Good life’ in common language.
The age-old question persists, what makes a good life? most of us ponder this question and hopefully make choices each day that inch us forward toward some semblance of what we assume is a good life, and away from suffering. Ancient wisdom has always taught us that the basic purpose of life lies in the simplicity of wholeness and contentedness. And that the basic source of wholeness and contentedness is a sense of kindness and warm-heartiness towards self and others, not things. If this holds true, what makes it so challenging to figure out how to feel whole, content and in turn live a good life? What makes the shiny mirages of wealth, fame and high achievement so seductive? Perhaps because each of them can be measured. We can see how much money we have in our bank account, we can count how many followers we have on social media and achievements often earn us several accolades. All of these are quantifiable and in turn allows us, for ‘better or worse’ to measure or compare ourselves to others. What about the things we can’t measure? Our sense of self isn’t measurable. In fact, if we sit down in meditation to search for the self, we can’t find ourselves. If we look closely, the person we call by our given names can’t really be found anywhere. Our sense of self is merely a construct of our own imagination and the perception of others.
David Loy, a zen teacher wrote about this. He suggests that when we actually try to locate the ‘Self’ that we think exists through time and has existed our whole lives, that person is nowhere to be found. That person changes from moment to moment depending on where you are, who you’re with and what you are doing. David Loy contends that our deepest fear is that there is no fixed separate self that persists through time, and that wealth, fame and badges of achievement help us feel more real. He argues that this sense of self that is constantly changing leaves us with the stack realisation of our fickleness and finitude. To alleviate this fear, we become preoccupied with things that don’t really matter, like fame, status and achievements. Things that are ultimately empty and ephemeral. This is why we pursue power to create a sense of permanence, and to stave off the nagging reality that nothing lasts forever.
Life is unsatisfactory and characterised by ceaseless change, and we are often resistant to change. We may be happy in one moment, and sad in the other. This life of ceaseless change troubles us because we become accustomed to only the good experiences and tend to avoid the not-so-good ones. In the words of another zen teacher Dōgen, "A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it”. He meant, things we love don’t last forever and things we don’t want eventually come to us including illness, old age and death. Society has taught of to rely on a set of fantasies about living well. Firstly, the fantasy that we can be happy all the time. Secondly, the fantasy that if we own the right things, we will be happy and that the hard times will no longer come along. And thirdly, the fantasy that some people have life all figured out, and are enlightened, rich or famous enough that life is no longer hard for them. We are tricked into believing that if we can become like the aforementioned people, our lives will be good forever. Rather, if we can truly embrace the reality of ceaseless change, then we are able to comprehend that there is no permanent state of happiness in life. Furthermore, if we are able to rid ourselves of the said fantasies and see through them, then we are well on our way to understanding the truth of how we can live well, and in a state of Eudaimonia.
Remember - “Comparison is the thief of joy.” ―Theodore Roosevelt
Peace, Love & Light.