Helping people to help yourself. Saving people in the course of seeking your own salvation. Ending someone else' suffering to end yours.

Helping yourself at the expense of others. Saving yourself and leaving the rest. Ending your own suffering while watching the other die away.

Hm.

One can find no happiness in being completely selfless, nor in being completely selfish.

Duality would claim that there has to be a balance in everything, and in being selfless there is always a little selfishness, and vice versa.

Humans are born selfish. It's a universal, innate survival instinct that lives not only within us, but within almost all other species of life on the known planet. Our will to survive can sometimes drive us to do impossible things, or rather, things we would consider impossible until that moment in time arrives. The immense desire to preserve ourselves can be both a curse and a gift; depending on how we tap on that strength. The instinct of survival can give us fortitude, it can strip us of all morality; it can change us.

Selfish acts of humankind are everywhere. Education. Homicide. War. Oppression. Genocide. Medicine. Love.

I suppose selflessness and selfishness are also linked in a way. Think about it this way. It's the same concept as survival. One survives at the expense of another. There is no such thing as being totally selfless or selfish. There's a little of each other in both.

When you give, you lose. Don't give me that 'in giving we gain happiness' crap. Let's think about it on the basis of absolute practicality. When you give someone something, you have to lose it. Sure, you feel that warm fuzzy feeling inside when you give someone something; when you feel the joy emanating from that person. That's called reward. We do appreciate that. In fact, we've come to appreciate it so much since the beginning of time that we've formed the universal truth - that in giving, we do gain happiness. Being rewarded doesn't mean you haven't lost anything.

And I'm not just talking about tangible things, like money or some item. Even in love. When you give your love to someone, there's less of it to give to other people around you. Think about it. Can you confidently say that you are capable of showing everyone exactly the same amount of love as everyone else?

As much as we're born selfish, we're also born biased. It's human nature. But, as always, as human beings, we have a choice. There is always a choice. Bias, in this case, is something that can be controlled. Because bias is a choice. Don't tell me you can control love? Or hate, for that matter? Sure, we can forgive. We can let go; forget. Does it really erase all of the hate you once had?

Can we really be totally selfless or selfish?

Selflessness is a perception.

We look at Mother Teresa and can honestly, sincerely say that she was a person who was selfless beyond description, and no honor high enough could be bestowed upon her. I totally agree. The world needs more people like her.

But putting people ahead of you every single time, missing out on opportunities, on things you could have done...doing these things lets life pass you by, leaving you without the happiness you could have derived from them.

Then again, there is one thing I know for sure. The world isn't based on absolute practicality. In every single one of us who understands the importance and significance of love, kindness, and the peace that is a pure heart and soul...

It's always better to be selfish to yourself than to someone else. For in the happiness of others, we, those who have good hearts, may find our salvation.