Various Manifestations of the View of Self and Attachment to Self

If a person is determined to be themselves, insists on being different from others, is unconventional and independent, refuses to be manipulated or arranged by anyone, and is unwilling to comply with anyone — is this a person who has eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and is without self, or a person with especially heavy grasping on self? A person who has a self in mind will emphasize their own feelings and sensations, care about their own privileges and attributes, care about their own uniqueness, and be unwilling to merge themselves into the crowd, unwilling to hide and extinguish the self, firmly grasping the self in mind and refusing to let it go. A person who is unwilling to comply with anyone's requests, unwilling to be managed or arranged, does not obey leadership, and cannot exercise self-discipline — such a person has a very heavy view of self; even if they can exercise self-discipline, they are still a person with a heavy view of self.

The great arhat Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who had completely eradicated grasping on self, after attaining realization had no sense of self-existence in his mind at all; he completely complied with the minds of sentient beings. If sentient beings wished him to do something, he did it; if they did not wish him to, he did not. Even when sentient beings made unreasonable and overbearing demands, he obeyed without any complaint, never going against them. After eradicating the view of self, one is a person without self; within, there is no self, nor any marks of a person, sentient beings, or a life span. And a person who is single-mindedly determined to be themselves — is this not running exactly counter to that? It is absolutely running counter to it. If there is no self, what "self" is there to be? This is increasing the view of self and grasping on self, and therefore the view of self and grasping on self lead to endless transmigration in birth and death; willful people are bound to suffer.

A person who strongly emphasizes their own sense of self-existence and is unwilling to comply with even the slightest wish of sentient beings is an intense egoist. A person who never yields or softens, never makes concessions, has a very strong self-nature; a person who sees everything as inferior to themselves and speaks sharply to others — such people grasp heavily at self. A person with heavy grasping on self finds it very difficult to eradicate the view of self. If a person always insists "I am right and you are wrong," draws sharp lines between right and wrong, does not know how to yield or comply, and does not display kindness and magnanimity, then they are a person with extremely severe view of self and grasping on self, lacking the bodhisattva's disposition of complying with sentient beings.

If a person lives caring only about their own feelings, focusing on their own sensations, pursuing inner comfort, being wild and unrestrained, regardless of the people and affairs around them, regardless of how the world is, subject to no constraints whatsoever — this person has a very heavy view of self and grasping on self, and is in fact a person of the utmost, utmost heaviness; for them, eradicating the view of self in this life is extremely difficult.

Everyone should frequently turn back and introspect on themselves, always examining and reflecting within. To achieve self-reflection and self-examination, one must pay more attention to one's own inner world. Every mental thought should be introspected upon and examined; upon discovering thoughts that do not accord with the Path, quickly turn them around and extinguish them, not letting them run rampant — this is cultivation. A true bodhisattva neither follows convention nor violates it. How to grasp the proper measure in between depends on the bodhisattva's cultivation and skillful wisdom. Ordinary bodhisattvas do not possess such skillful means and worldly wisdom, and so they encounter some obstacles in dealing with the world.