What is the Most Important Thing?

Over 33 years ago, a friend of mine asked our Zen master, What is the most important question? Our teacher very calmly and, with a sweet smile, slowly said, “The most important thing is…to find out what is the most important thing!”

Can the most important thing be found by separating different areas of our life and asking what is the most important thing here and there? For example, what is the most important thing in a hypnotherapy practice? Is it technique? Many people have excellent technique, and end up offending clients because the client feels manipulated.
Is it rapport then? Many people get into such deep rapport they loose their recognition of whose feelings are whose, or they are so accepting that they don’t take opportunities to offer an appropriate intervention.

Is it your outer activity at all? Or is it your inner state that is important? Once a famous comedian came before one of my teachers and confided that, though he made people laugh for a living, he felt dry and sad inside. My teacher asked, “What makes you think you give people anything of lasting value if you cannot feel true joy yourself? Make yourself happy, then you won’t have to do anything to make others happy. They will be happy just to see you.” Is this a relevant challenge only to comedians?

Another friend of mine gave a great talk to a large group of people. They felt very inspired and uplifted and many pursued him to tell him so. This, naturally, was extremely gratifying to him. Our teacher walked by and handed him a small peace of paper as she walked on. When he had a quiet moment to himself, he opened it. It read, “Do you love to talk, or do you love the people you talk to?”

Has the most important thing been found if there is stress and a lack of lightness and humor. Is it important to acquire success even if success is defined as helping others?
Is it important to keep track of your efforts, treating them as intangible property? My current teacher has said, “ If you do something as an offering, it stops being a burden.”

What is the most important thing?

Jack Elias
Author, Finding True Magic: Transpersonal Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy/NLP
American Institute for Transpersonal Hypnotherapy/NLP
www.FindingTrueMagic.com

Jack Elias, a Clinical Hypnotherapist in private practice, is founder and director of The Institute for Therapeutic Learning, a licensed Vocational School in Seattle that trains and certifies Transpersonal Clinical Hypnotherapists. Jack presents a unique synthesis of Eastern and Western perspectives on the nature of consciousness and communication, teaching simple yet powerful techniques for achieving one’s highest personal and
professional goals. Since 1967, Jack has studied Eastern meditation, philosophy and psychology with masters such as Shunryo Suzuki Roshi and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Before beginning his teaching and counseling career, Jack worked for 20 years in sales, marketing and financial planning.
Jack offers dynamic experiential workshops and seminars, and his Finding True Magic courses are eligible for credit at various universities.

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