Sangha of Auspicious Companions

The Story of Change

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August 3, 2012

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Why Creative Thinking is Inclusive Thinking

“Albert Einstein was once asked what the difference was between him and the average person. He said that if you asked the average person to find a needle in the haystack, the person would stop when he or she found a needle. He, on the other hand, would tear through the entire haystack looking for all the possible needles. With creative thinking, one generates as many alternative approaches as one can. Creative thinking is inclusive thinking. You consider the least obvious as well as the most likely approaches, and you look for different ways to look at the problem. It is the willingness to explore all approaches that is important, even after one has found a promising one.” Author Michael Michalko explores further. { read more }

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Working on a problem? Explore options, make new connections, engage in inclusive thinking.

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ALTRUISM AND INNER PEACE

We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives in which we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. Nor is it so remarkable that our greatest joy should come when we are motivated by concern for others. But that is not all. We find that not only do altruistic actions bring about happiness, but they also lessen our experience of suffering. Here I am not suggesting that the individual whose actions are motivated by the wish to bring others happiness necessarily meets with less misfortune than the one who does not. Sickness, old age, mishaps of one sort or another are the same for us all. But the sufferings which undermine our internal peace—anxiety, doubt, disappointment—these are definitely less.

Of Interest to Readers

If you enjoy receiving weekly quotes from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, you may also enjoy one or more of the other weekly quotes we offer:

• Tibetan Dharma Quotes of the Week
• Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chögyam Trungpa
• Heart Advice from Pema Chödrön.