Virtue in the present

Liberation is the same as no-self. No-self and liberation are one. So to attain the karmic result of liberation, we must sow the cause of no-self. What is the cause of no-self? It is a moral life of giving up self and forgetting oneself, living wholly for those around us.

"I came to be and grew up in the midst of humankind

So human love covers my heart.

So my life has already vowed to be offered

For the happiness of beloved humankind"... (age 20)

A life of giving up self and living for others is regarded as the noblest virtue of a human being. Even if we have not yet realised the true state of no-self, in every moment and every thought, when we know how to give up our own interests to care for the interests of everyone, the attachment to self inside is being fiercely cut down. It prepares for the genuine realisation of no-self in the future.

Until now we have thought only of our own needs, such as that we still lack a nice pair of sandals, still lack a good car, have not yet built another storey... and have forgotten the needs of those around us. Today, to sow the cause of liberation, we learn to reverse that tendency: think first of the needs of those around us and take our own demands lightly. A friend's sandals are old, a younger sibling's pen is broken, the parents' faces look unhappy, a neighbour's health seems to be failing... We quickly notice all these signs. Before, caught up in caring for ourselves, countless needs of those around us faded away. Today, when we manage to forget ourselves, the situation of those around us naturally comes clearly into view. And when we see it, we try to respond to them and help them through their time of difficulty and sorrow.

Another virtue mentioned is to put ourselves in another's situation so as to empathise deeply with them. Most of us only know how to stand in our own position to judge others, and do not know how to put ourselves in their circumstances to understand them. To stay fixed in our own subjective position is to strengthen attachment to self, whereas to forget our own position and put ourselves in others' circumstances is to gradually break down attachment to self.

A police officer questioned a young man caught red-handed pickpocketing at a bus station. Ordinarily, standing fixed in the position of one who protects public security, faced with undeniable evidence, the officer could have prosecuted the young man for a few months' imprisonment. But the officer calmly went looking into the circumstances and the motive for the crime. It turned out the young man was a good person who had fallen into unlucky family circumstances: returning from visiting his father far away, he had run out of money and, not wanting to sell his trousers to buy a ticket, he had reluctantly resorted to pickpocketing. The officer let him go. A few months later he received a thank-you letter from the young man, reporting that in this season's harvest he had gathered three tonnes of maize. The officer thought quietly that had he not been understanding and had locked that young man up, society would have lost three tonnes of food.

There are very, very many faults in others that we know only to blame and criticise. If we calmly put ourselves in their circumstances, sometimes it turns out the other way round: that person acted rightly and was not wrong as we thought. Or sometimes little of the fault remains theirs, since other factors forced them to act that way. By learning to put ourselves in others' circumstances, our heart feels more tolerant and generous.

Another virtue that also weakens attachment to self is rejoicing in others' success: knowing how to be glad when others succeed. The self-centred nature always produces envy. We feel uncomfortable at the glory of others. Their success makes us seem dimmer. That discomfort is called jealousy. When jealousy is too strong, we may look for ways to harm them or slander them, to destroy their success and lower their reputation. Envy makes attachment to self grow and makes the road to liberation lose its way. By contrast, rejoicing in others' merit is knowing how to forget ourselves and make others' joy our own. It helps dissolve attachment to self.

In fact, living in this world, each person's joy is very scant and rare. Joy from our own joy alone is not worth much. If we know how to rejoice in everyone's joy, making everyone's joy our own, then suddenly our whole life overflows with happiness.

Besides this, the Buddha said that if we know how to rejoice in the meritorious deeds of others, we receive equivalent merit. Seeing someone build up a stretch of road, give alms to the poor, support full-time practitioners... our heart is glad as if we ourselves did these things, glad because the poor are freed from suffering, the practitioners are supported and the roads are repaired. The merit arising from this rejoicing is also very great.

In an earlier part we spoke of the causes of humility that lead to the karmic result of a lofty position. That was said in terms of worldly merit. In addition, humility is a clear expression of no-self. A person with little attachment to self always sees themselves as unimportant, though without a sense of inferiority. Humility and an inferiority complex are different. An inferiority complex is the feeling of recognising one's own poor standing while secretly wishing to rise to a high position. Humility, on the other hand, is not seeing oneself as important, with no smouldering sadness and no ambition for high status. Because one does not see oneself as important, a new frame of mind appears: respect for everyone. Indeed, humility and courtesy always go together. A humble person always knows how to respect everyone, and that respect is shown through gestures and words and becomes courtesy.

We also notice that in societies with culture, courtesy is never lacking. People express respect for one another through their local customs. In Buddhism, pressing the palms together to greet and bowing are forms of expressing courtesy.

Some people have a superficial understanding of Zen and maintain that everyone is equal in Buddha-nature. Because they are equal, everyone is the same as everyone else, and there is no need to behave courteously toward anyone. With such reasoning they become wildly arrogant, look down on everyone and lose the precious courtesy of a human being.

In fact, the reason Buddha-nature is equal is that it is without self. If there were a self, Buddha-nature would become differentiated. Because it is without self, the more someone enters Buddha-nature, the more humble and courteous they become compared with before. The further they advance in practice, the gentler and softer they become. The pride of former days gradually disappears.

Another virtue that deserves to be raised high is non-attachment. Non-attachment means not sinking into the temporary amusements of the world, so as to keep the heart calm and devote it wholly to the practice of meditation. Every day, in every age, people go on inventing one pleasure after another to enjoy. From a soothing song to a beautiful painting, and on to fierce pleasures such as strong liquor and drugs... The computer age has also produced other games to stir up people in a world full of invitations to indulgence.

Few can keep non-attachment so as to reserve the mind for the practice of liberation. The allure of earthly pleasure sets traps everywhere. Even those who sincerely want to avoid them sometimes stumble, let alone those who do not avoid them at all. They throw themselves into earthly pleasure and sink into it for ever, to be tormented, racked, agitated and uneasy. The medal of pleasure, in the end, has suffering and bondage on its reverse side.

Precisely because they see the nature of worldly amusements, religions with spiritual depth all give many precepts to keep monastics from indulgence so as to preserve the precious non-attachment. Each of us must examine ourselves and keep ourselves pure, because in today's age there are too many temptations and the old standards of precepts are no longer enough to forbid them. We must set up for ourselves a new standard, a new system, to complete our moral conduct, the main point being to escape the temptations around us.

There are countless virtues that serve as the CAUSE of no-self and as supporting conditions for the process of practice in the present, with which all who aim at liberation must equip themselves. The few virtues mentioned here are only a small suggestion. Each person must light the torch of wisdom for themselves in order to create from every moment a myriad of fine practices. And it is precisely these virtues of the present that are the important factor lifting the practitioner high into the sky of liberation in the future.