PureInsight | April 5, 2008
[PureInsight.org] Everyone will
gradually generate many attachments while living in the human world.
Among all of those attachments, selfishness is the biggest one. An
attachment is not a person's inborn nature. Therefore, pursuing
self-interest is indeed not a human's original character. Someone in
the society said: "Living creatures all have the nature of
selfishness." That is only a wild saying by the shortsighted people.
Let's think about that the great enlightened beings like Sakyamuni and
Jesus who came down to the human world to offer salvation to people.
Did they ever have a selfish heart? True cultivators can also slowly
eliminate self, the biggest attachment during cultivation.
If a person can reach a state of no self, no me, and live nobly and
naturally for others, it seems like as impossible a scenario as the
Arabian nights to a person who does not cultivate. However, it is a
must be reached as the spiritual state of a true and diligent
cultivator. When we have complaints or are angry at someone, it is
because we have not removed our selfishness. When we are lazy and seek
ease and comfort, we still have self-centeredness in our hearts. Every
time we feel sad and painful when our own interests are sacrificed, it
is a true reflection of self-attachment. When we do not consider others
before ourselves, it is selfishness still showing its effect.
Selfishness manifests in many aspects and in various forms. It
sometimes exists as very tiny elements and hides deeply in one's mind.
Cultivators need to be continuously diligent about the Fa and deny the
selfishness, get rid of it layer by layer in the process of
cultivation, so they can eventually elevated to the high noble
spiritual level of no self and no me. Selfishness is also the root of
many other attachments. Eliminating it completely is a path that every
enlightened being has to go through.
When a practitioner lets go of himself completely, his heart will be
fully filled with compassion and righteous thoughts. That is the
compassion and righteous thoughts that gods have. No matter where he
goes, it must be "the Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies
all abnormalities." Only this kind of enlightened being can fulfill the
responsibility of saving sentient beings.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2008/3/15/51670.html
