EQ

“When we help others we should be tactful and sensitive.  We should try to understand the other person’s experience and point of view and then offer to help that is relevant to them, and in such a way that they can accept it.  We cannot help others if we attack their values and beliefs, or if we ignore their temperament and their personal circumstances.  We have to adapt our own behaviour so that it suits the other person and makes them feel at ease.  Instead of imposing our own moral standards on others and passing judgement on them if they do not comply, we should simply act in the way that will have the most positive effect.  We need both flexibility of mind and flexibility of behaviour.”

- Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

This is a perfect summary of EQ in my mind.  Having read all the western EQ books, and done an EQ course, Geshe sums it up in one paragraph.  Legend!  This weekend I’m combining both science and Buddhism at a retreat in Scotland at the oldest Buddhist centre in the UK, the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre.  Really looking forward to it.