Wisdom replaces ignorance in our minds when we realize that happiness
does not lie in the accumulation of more and more pleasant feelings,
that gratifying craving does not bring us a feeling of wholeness or
completeness. It simply leads to more craving and more aversion. When we
realize in our own experience that happiness comes not from reaching out
but from letting go, not from seeking pleasurable experience but from
opening in the moment to what is true, this transformation of
understanding then frees the energy of compassion within us. Our minds
are no longer bound up in pushing away pain or holding on to pleasure.
Compassion becomes the natural response of an open heart.
--Joseph Goldstein, in /Seeking the Heart of Wisdom/
from /Everyday Mind,/ edited by Jean Smith, a /Tricycle/ book
