Chapter 12 ﹝12﹞ : Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult.

(Chapter 12 ﹝12﹞ ) A Brief Talk about The Scripture of Forty-Two Chapters Said by Buddha

Co-translators in the time of Eastern Han Dynasty, China(A.D. 25 - 200) : Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan (Who translated the said Scripture from Sanskrit into Chinese. )

Translator in modern time (A.D.2018: Tao Qing Hsu (Who translated the said Scripture from Chinese into English.)

Teacher and writer for explaining the said Scripture: Tao Qing Hsu 

Chapter 12: List the difficulties and exhort to practice   

The Buddha said,” There are twenty difficulties for people. Giving something to others is difficult when people are in poor. Learning the Dao is difficult when people are in the huge wealth and are the nobility. It is hard to the people when they must die because their lives have to be abandoned. Being able to see the scripture of Buddha is difficult. Being born in the time of Buddha is difficult. Enduring the erotic and desire is difficult. Seeing the self-interest and not to pursue it is difficult. No resentment when being humiliated is difficult. When having the authority and not to draw near to ordinary people is difficult. When contact with things and no heart  is difficult. Learning widely and researching extensively are difficult. Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult. Not to despise the un-learner is difficult. Practicing the equality in heart is difficult. Not saying its right or wrong is difficult. Meeting the good-knowledge person is difficult. Seeing the Nature and learning the Dao are difficult. According to conditions to reform people so as to save them is difficult. Seeing the circumstance and unmoved in heart are difficult. Good at understanding the convenience is difficult.

Chapter 12 ﹝12﹞ : Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult.

Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult. It is the twelfth difficulty in the twenty difficulties said by Buddha Shakyamuni in this Chapter.

Ego-arrogance is coming from the self-opinion and is the self-feeling of superiority by comparing to other people. 

What is the meaning of “ego”? According to the explanation by the dictionary, “ego” means that your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance and ability. So we could find out that “ego” is belonged to the subjectivity, and not belonged to the objectivity.

What is the meaning of “arrogance”? According to the explanation by the dictionary, “arrogance” means that being unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important, or know more than, other people. So we also could understand that “arrogance” is belonged to the subjectivity, and not belonged to the objectivity.

To combine these two words to be ego-arrogance, ego-arrogance is coming from the self-opinion and is the self-feeling of superiority by comparing to other people. Such subjectivity is the habit of most people, and which is since the ancient times. So the Buddha Sakyamuni profoundly perceived that removing the ego-arrogance is difficult.

Even today, a lot of people are suffering from or are depressed by the will of the ego-arrogant people. However, do you know? Even the ego-arrogant people, they are suffering in the affliction and problem by their own stupid ego-arrogance. Why?

Even the ego-arrogant people, they are suffering in the affliction and problem by their own stupid ego-arrogance. Why?

The Buddha had advised us that there are five negative psychological characteristics, which is like toxins would poison our physical and mental body. These five negative psychological characteristics are called as Five Poisons, which are the greedy, hatred(or as anger, resentment, grudge), infatuation(or as stupidity, obsession), arrogance (or as pride), and suspicion. The arrogance is one of the Five Poisons which are not only to harm ourselves but also would harm other people.

There is a famous novel as “Pride and Prejudice”. If we insight the characteristic of arrogance, we would find out that the ego-arrogance would bring the self-prejudice. Actually, both of them are formed at the same time.

Secondly, the ego-arrogance is always linked to the stubborn mind, even to purposely reverse the right and wrong, and to use such opinionated ability and concept to affect other people, even to bully them.

Therefore, the ego-arrogant people always want to hold the power of control other people, so they could not accept other people’s opinion or criticism.

After the carefully observation about the characteristic of ego-arrogance, we understand that the mind of ego-arrogance is actually the self-limited and self-imprisoned mind. Under the circumstance, how could it be possible for them to liberate themselves from the suffering in life?     

Unfortunately, the ego-arrogance is existed in most people, from the child to the elder, from the poor to the rich, from the illiterate to the elite of knowledge, from the employee to the boss, and from the masses to the politician. We could find the “ghost” of the ego-arrogance everywhere or in every person, even to find out that it is existed in our own body. Mostly, we could easily perceive the other people’s ego-arrogance. However, it is difficult for us to perceive our own ego-arrogance.

What is the difference between ego-arrogance and self-confidence? How to distinguish both of them?

There is a blind point in our own mind. That is, we usually mis-cognizant the ego-arrogance as self-confidence. What is the difference between ego-arrogance and self-confidence? How to distinguish both of them?

There is an easy way to distinguish the difference between ego-arrogance and self-confidence. A person with ego-arrogance would despise or purposely disturb other people by scolding, humiliating words, or by body language, or by body movement, even to use the way of rejection or isolation, intimidation and threaten. In other words, in mental and in physical body, they use the way to bully people so as to demonstrate their dominance, importance and superiority. So we could find out that the relationship of each other is unbalanced and unequal.

But, a person with self-confidence is a person with empathy and self-respect so could respect other people on the equal stance. Secondly, they would self-acknowledge that their knowledge is actually limited so they are really in the state of humble and would try to understand the knowledge what they don't know. They rationally talk about things. It is not necessary for them to attack people by any humiliating words or to despise other people by any body language or movement.

Why I am interested in learning Buddha? 

Why I am interested in learning Buddha? Because I have realized that the Buddha and I are equal in Buddha-nature. The relationship between us is balanced. From learning Buddha, I finally understand what is the really self-confidence. Such self-confidence is coming from what I have realized that all of us are equal in the Body of Emptiness, and that the causes what we have thought and what we have done are equal to the results which we have to bear. So, each thought, especially the first thought, is one cause which is very important and should be careful. The sixth founder of Zen, Master Hui Neng, said that each thought shall have no evil opinion.  

This self-confidence is not coming from the surface of phenomenon, intelligent, success or rich, because such things are impermanent and always changing. Success in fortune, career, even to overbearing in the politic, is that the worldly opinion about the self-confidence. But, eventually, such self-confidence is ego-arrogance. There is an ancient Chinese saying.” Once a General has success, ten-thousand human bones have been dried.”

The “ghost” of ego-arrogance is always in the body and most of people could not self-perceive that they might bully others because of their ego-arrogance.

In the world, most people is proud of their intelligent, abundant or professional knowledge which make their career smooth, make a lot of money, so they feel good in their life and have strong self-confidence. However, how many of them have found the “ghost” of ego-arrogance in their body and how many of them could self-perceive that they might bully others because of the ego-arrogance? 

We might have ever read an article about the unbalance of power. Such unbalanced power might be existed in family, school, company, group, society, or the country. No matter the unbalanced power exist in any places, where is exited the ego-arrogance. Do we have ever self-perceived that the ego-arrogance is harmful to us, to our family, and our society, even to our country? No, few people have such perception. The conscious of most people are concealed by the self-advantage from the self and the others.

Most people are following the outside success and obsessed with personal worldly achievement. So the heart is always flowing and tries to take hold in the competition with others. In the process, we have never thought that such mind and behavior would increase the ego-arrogance and make us have disease, such as depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, insomnia, cardiovascular diseases, even to cancer.    

 How to remove the ego-arrogance?

How to remove the ego-arrogance? It is easy to know, but it is hard to do. The way is non-ego, without the ego. The arrogance is caused by ego. Removing the ego is naturally eliminating the arrogance.

How to be without ego? All of the matters, phenomenon, appearances, sound, success, achievement, gain or lose, and things in outside and inside, are viewed as the emptiness-picture. If all things in outside and inside are emptiness-picture, what could we compare to? There is nothing which could be compared. If there is nothing to be compared, how could it be possible for us to think that we are more importance or superiority than other people? We then understand that there is no reason to cause the arrogance.

Without ego-arrogance, we would be more empathy to the all sentient beings.

Without ego-arrogance, we would be more empathy to the all sentient beings and could listen to any criticism, suggestion, opinions into our mind. We then could treat people more respectfully and equally. Meanwhile, we would be more willing to share any self-advantage based on the equal stance and absolutely would not dare to bully others.

You might have read a lot of news, stories or novels about the tragic end caused by ego-arrogance. And you might have ever encountered any one of the ego-arrogant in your life. Do you have ever thought how to get along with them? Complaining and anger is not a good ideal. To empathy them is a good way.

May we have removed the ego-arrogance someday and have the empathy for those persons who are suffering the pain caused by ego-arrogance.  

Supplementary note: Dao is transliterated from Chinese, meaning way and method, deeper meaning as a system of learning or religion. Dao is Tao, which is transliterated from Chinese. The original meaning of Dao is the way and path, and it is extended to be the truth of life that we can learn and practice in our lives.