I was having this argument about altruism the other night. Everyone I was arguing with said that it wasn`t possible, because everyone does something for some kind of reward, even if it`s just that they want to feel good about themselves. When I was studying Religion at Uni, my professor (who was really amazing in that she had the soul of a child and laughed at pretty much everything in and around her) said that a Buddhist in pursuit of enlightenment would somehow reject these feelings in favour of the higher spiritual goal. Anyway, I brought this up and then everyone said that altruism was still impossible because once you`ve achieved that enlightened state, then you are no longer an individual doing something selflessly good for another, you are actually one thing doing something good for itself. And before that, you are doing it to find enlightenment. But then again, from our own dualistic... ummm... no wait, maybe that should be `polyistic` perspective (concerning the world around us in terms of individuals who are for the most part able to relate to each other, as I believe most people see it) then, we would still perceive that as an individual doing something good for another individual, even though for them it is possibly something they are doing for themselves. I guess then there is no identity beyond enlightenment? Anyway, thanks for listening.
