Manifestations of Self-View (ātma-dṛṣṭi)

Some people, after doing a little good deed, publicize it everywhere, clucking and cackling all over the place like a rooster—what hidden virtue (invisible merit) can there be in this? What merit can be spoken of? If you can benefit others—even if it just makes someone smile, even if it brings them only a tiny bit of benefit—that is as it should be; there is nothing worth making public. Once it is made public, the wholesome retribution has been received and is gone, and the greater wholesome retribution of future lives can no longer be obtained. This is equivalent to hidden virtue being gone, for hidden virtue is the wholesome retribution received in future lives. Only if one wants to set an example for others, in order to influence and inspire them to also do good and practice virtue, should one make one's own good deeds known publicly.

Yet some people, before they have even begun to do something, broadcast it everywhere with loudspeakers, wanting to enjoy in advance others' envy, respect, praise, and adulation. This is like taking out a high-interest loan to consume in advance—very unwise. Why does this happen? It is because of severe self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) that there is severe vanity, wanting to attract others' attention, taking oneself, others, and the affairs and merits involved all as real, and grasping at them severely. By understanding what constitutes the self and the manifestations of self-view, as soon as someone starts posturing, as soon as their bodily, verbal, and mental actions appear, one can discern whether that person's self-view is severe or slight, whether they have eliminated self-view (ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-parityāga), and how far they are from eliminating it. In this way, those who masquerade as sages will have nowhere to hide—then who would dare come to the Sahā world to perpetrate fraud?