One way of having self-centred demands is to have one's consciousness full of voices that demand things. I want this. I want that. I want a Maserati. I want a trip to the Maldives. I want to date Meredith from Compliance. I want a chocolate bunny. I want. I want. I want. Maybe the demands are silent but they're not being met so there is frustration and fear. Or they're being met and there is disappointment and despair.
But another way of having self-centred demands is to arrange one's life to suit oneself and actually succeed for a while by generating a comfortable, complacent, self-satisfied numbness. The only reason the demands are not apparent is because they're being skillfully met. Why does this suggest a life of self-centred demands? Well, unless the individual's life is constructed out of intimacy with God plus vigorous work on behalf of God for others, the conduct of the individual's life is necessarily self-centred.
But another way of having self-centred demands is to arrange one's life to suit oneself and actually succeed for a while by generating a comfortable, complacent, self-satisfied numbness. The only reason the demands are not apparent is because they're being skillfully met. Why does this suggest a life of self-centred demands? Well, unless the individual's life is constructed out of intimacy with God plus vigorous work on behalf of God for others, the conduct of the individual's life is necessarily self-centred.