Basic Goodness

There is something about you that does not change no matter what you do, say, or think. It does not depend on your accomplishments. It does not depend on whether you meditated this morning or ate well or did your meaningful work. It does not go away when you fail, and it does not increase when you succeed. This is your Basic Goodness -- a fundamental quality that you, and every being, possess simply because you exist.

Basic does not mean simple or elementary. It means primordial, foundational -- the real underlying nature of everything. And Goodness here does not mean good as opposed to bad or evil. It is not in opposition to anything. It means having the full right to exist, with nothing to prove to anyone and nothing to hide from anyone. You are here. You are alive. That is enough. There is nothing more needed.

You can get a direct taste of this when you look at nature. Imagine sitting in a field on a summer day and noticing a daisy. You delight in its daisy-ness -- the white petals arranged around the yellow center, growing out of the ground at a jaunty angle. You are not sitting there thinking, 'I really wish this daisy would buck up and turn itself into an oak tree already.' You simply enjoy the unconditional perfection of the daisy without needing it to be any other way. That is you having a direct experience of Basic Goodness. But when it comes to yourself -- or to other people, especially ones you disagree with -- suddenly this becomes very difficult to access.

The reason it is difficult is that most of us have adopted a deep belief that we are basically bad, not basically good. We believe we must do good things constantly -- meditate, exercise, achieve, diet -- otherwise we are fundamentally defective people. We must, we must, we must, we should, we should, we should. This conditional thinking drives us to look outside ourselves for validation, because we do not trust our own nature. When we do not do our meaningful work, we spiral into self-hatred. When someone rejects us, we conclude we are unlovable. Each of these is fear arising because we are disconnected from our own Basic Goodness.

When you deeply feel and know your Basic Goodness, all of these situations play out differently. Not doing your meaningful work this morning says absolutely nothing about your fundamental nature. Saying no to someone does not make you bad. Someone saying no to you is merely a choice they are making, not a verdict on your worth. You slow down your busyness because you no longer need to do things for others in order to be lovable. You already are.

The practice is beautifully simple: develop your eyes to see Basic Goodness everywhere. Notice all the little moments -- how the water feels cascading over your head in the shower, the way sunlight comes through a window, a breeze on your face. Let these soak into you. Write down five things you noticed today that you appreciate, and as you recall them, let the feeling of their unconditional goodness flow through you. Extend this to other people -- in traffic, in line at the store, with a difficult colleague. Say to yourself, 'Just like me, they are basically good. Just like me, they wish to be happy. Just like me, they do not wish to suffer.' And if everyone else is basically good, you must be included.

Discovering Basic Goodness has been described as the most fundamental transformation there is. It changes everything about how you experience yourself and your world. It is not an understanding you arrive at once and keep -- it is a living, felt experience you cultivate through practice. When you know it, truly know it in your body, you gain the freedom to be fearless. You no longer need to prove anything to anyone. You can simply be, fully taking your place in this world, like that daisy in the field.