We’ve probably heard or used phrases like, “that’s just who they are, it’s their personality”. As if personality were some kind of fixed package of behavioural traits we were born with. What if we did the same for ourselves? “I’m British, French, American, Latino, Mediterranean, a man, a woman, tall, short; it’s just how we all behave”.
It’s an easy trap to fall into and behavioural patterns can become deeply ingrained as we go through life. However, under close examination, it becomes apparent that our traits are not a set menu we will repeatedly act out during for our entire existence. We certainly adopt many traits from the people we spend time with; our parents, friends, social groups and even nations but we’re under no obligation to behave as others around us do.
Awakening the understanding that all phenomena are in fact empty of any solidity or everlasting nature is the essence of Prajñāpāramitā, the ‘perfection of wisdom’ in Mahayana Buddhism. This emptiness or ‘sunyata’, doesn’t mean that nothing exists but that no ‘thing’ has any kind of fixed essence or unchanging self-nature. Looking deeply we see that in fact, everything in the universe is interdependent - things come together and things fall apart, again and again, and again.
A sign that we’re cultivating prajna (wisdom) and understanding is a decrease in the frequency of our afflictive emotions and misperceptions and the power they have over us. We become more able to respond positively to challenging or stressful situations and will feel more in control and peaceful. If we choose to we can certainly change our traits and the way we respond to what’s going on around us - in their book The Science of Meditation: How to Change Your Brain, Mind and Body, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson explain how this happens.
It takes effort and concentration but when it comes to the nature of our minds, like everything else, nothing is fixed or unchangeable.
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