Dear fellow practitioners, greetings to all!
Ignorance is like darkness, arrogance like a barrier—do you wish to shatter delusion and ignite the light of wisdom? Today, we explore the eleventh and twelfth of the sixteen aspects of great compassion: breaking arrogance and ignorance. Seeing beings lost in the delusion of self, Bodhisattvas, with great compassion, proclaim the true Dharma, guiding them out of the sea of suffering. Let us cultivate right view and step onto the path of purity!
The Harm of Arrogance: Deluded Suffering
Beings crave respect, yet often, driven by arrogance, they belittle others, undermining them to prove themselves right, creating fixed karma through body and speech. Arrogance repels others, distancing beings and thwarting all goals. This is delusion, profoundly realized! When arrogance taints academic or technical pursuits, one skims the surface, unable to ascend to mastery, with crude and disdainful conduct. Desiring respect, the heart is consumed by the pain of unattainability, tormented by the blazing five aggregates, pervaded by resentment and conflict, spiraling into anger, retaliation, and suspicion—suffering unbearable, with no moment of peace. This agony awakens clear insight: arrogance is futile, harming only body and mind.
Emulating the Sages to End Arrogance: Humility Yields Virtue
Bodhisattvas teach us to emulate the words and deeds of sages, persevering eternally until arrogance is forgotten. Constantly examine body, speech, and mind; if contempt arises, repent immediately and vow never to slight any being, like the Never Disparaging Bodhisattva. Humility, free of self-satisfaction, embodies the vastness of an ocean embracing all rivers, profound and boundless, mastering academia and technique, earning the following of the masses. Realize the mind is fundamental: what you value, you gain—humility brings respect, arrogance only suffering.
The Delusion of Ignorance: Bound by False Views
Beings cling to the body as self, believing death ends all. This false view leads them astray, like blind men groping an elephant, passing on rumors, conditioned by ignorance, stubbornly self-assured. Seeing this, Bodhisattvas, with great compassion, proclaim the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination and the wisdom thereof, revealing the wondrous principles, delights, and applications of its forward and reverse operations, bringing great joy to all beings. The seven elements and all phenomena arise from karma—mastering cause and effect precisely makes wishes come true.
Dear fellow practitioners, arrogance and ignorance are the roots of suffering; Bodhisattvas, with great compassion, reveal the true Dharma. Emulate the sages to end arrogance, rely on the wisdom of the Twelve Links, master cause and effect, and achieve the merit of wisdom. May we break ignorance, ignite the light of wisdom, and advance toward supreme enlightenment! Thank you all!
