Recap
We have been going through our text, Wheel of Sharp Weapons or Throwing Star Weapon by Dharmarakshita, which is a text concerning the cleansing of attitudes, or attitude training, or mind training. We have discussed how we need to overcome the self-cherishing attitude with which we think only of ourselves and thinking only to benefit ourselves and we need to go deeper than that and overcome the grasping at ourselves as existing as some solid “me,” independent of everything else, who needs to get its own way. In order to smash through this concept, we are calling upon the strength of Yamantaka – that’s the forceful form of Manjushri, the embodiment of the wisdom and discriminating awareness of all the Buddhas – in order to forcefully cut through our confusion and ignorance and close-mindedness which cause us to act in selfish ways based on this grasping for a solid “me.” And the text is pointing out various problems that come up because of this grasping for this “true self,” the “true me.”
Boasting and Pretending We Understand the Teachings
We are up to verse 64 in the old translation – 63 in the new translation – and the text reads in the poetical translation:
We have read very little, heard only a few teachings, yet talk with authority expertly on voidness. Our knowledge of scriptures is pitifully lacking, yet glibly we make up and say what we like. Trample him, trample him, dance on the head of this treacherous concept of selfish concern. Tear out the heart of this self-centered butcher who slaughters our chance to gain final release.
Then in the literal translation:
The extent of our listening (to teachings) is miniscule, yet our bragging and showing off with empty words is huge. The extent of our scriptural knowledge is tiny, yet, understanding nothing, we (pretend that we) understand a lot. Crash, really crash down, right on the head of (this) ruinous concept! Deal the death blow to the heart of this butcher, a “true self,” our foe.
This is speaking about our attitude toward learning the teachings. Although this is referring to particularly to the teachings of the Dharma, I think that we can extend this to any type of learning. It says, “The extent of our listening to teachings is miniscule” – it means very small. So, we’ve studied very little, we’ve read very little, “yet our bragging and showing off with empty words is huge.” In other words, we pretend that we know a lot about Buddhism or about whatever it is that we might be studying, but actually we’ve read very little and “our extent of scriptural knowledge is tiny” – so our knowledge of the texts is very small. The first verse is talking about listening to actual teachings from teachers and then the second is referring to our knowledge of the texts themselves: “Yet understanding nothing we pretend that we understand a lot.”
This is a very common type of phenomenon that happens very often: when we have read very little or heard very few teachings, what happens is that we think that we have understood a lot and then we hear a slightly different explanation – particularly when we hear it from a different teacher, a different Buddhist school, a different tradition – and then we very close-mindedly and very arrogantly say, “No, they’re wrong, they don’t know what they’re talking about.” This is because the extent of our knowledge of the teachings is very small. The Buddhist teachings are extremely, extremely vast: there are so many different traditions and so many different ways of explaining things and of doing things, that we need to be very open-minded about it. I know sometimes it can be extremely confusing. I know when I try to explain something which is quite complicated and I explain it and then I say, “But this other school explains it this way and this other school explains it that way,” people get very frustrated and think that this is really so complicated and so ridiculous, and they want to know but what does it really say. However, there never is agreement on all these various points and so it’s important to realize that that is the case, that there’re many different ways of understanding things, many different ways of explaining things, many different ways to put things into practice and they’re all part of the Buddhist teachings, whether we like it or not. So, when we approach the teachings, it’s important to be very humble.
This is the problem that is being discussed here and what is the reason for our being close-minded and thinking that we know so much when we know actually very little; when we speak with authority as if we know a lot when actually we have just studied very little? That’s because of pride basically. What is pride based on? Pride is based on this concept of the “true self” – the solid “me” – that, “I’m so great and I have to show off how great I am even though what I actually know is very little.” That’s what we need to smash.
Even Buddha said to question and to search, but there are different ways of doing this. What I find very often occurs with some people is that, for instance, when they are reading one of my articles or translating one of my articles, they come to a sentence and they don’t understand it and rather than read on, because it’s explained in the very next sentence, they just stop, freak out and call me up or send me an email asking me to explain this sentence when it’s very clear in the next sentence what it’s talking about. When you’re listening to teachings, listen to the whole thing. It’s being impatient not to listen to the whole thing. So, yes, you have to examine, you have to question if it’s completely unclear but wait to see if it’s being explained in the teaching itself.
When we know very little, we shouldn’t brag and show off with empty words that we don’t really know what we’re talking about, and we shouldn’t pretend that we understand a lot when we don’t understand anything. We need to be humble about our understanding but not go to the other extreme, which is – it doesn’t say here – but the other extreme is when you say, “I don’t know anything” when actually you do know something. If somebody wants really to get some information, don’t be so humble that you don’t help them at all. You just qualify it; “I don’t know very much, but this is what I know.”
So, the verse again:
The extent of our listening (to teachings) is miniscule, yet our bragging and showing off with empty words is huge. The extent of our scriptural knowledge is tiny, yet, understanding nothing, we (pretend that we) understand a lot. Crash, really crash down, right on the head of (this) ruinous concept! Deal the death blow to the heart of this butcher, a “true self,” our foe.
Let’s think about this for a minute.
I’m reminded here, when I think about this, of young students at these top universities – like I went to Princeton and Harvard – that can be very arrogant. They’re very smart, but they are unbelievably arrogant and proud and then they want to show off and they argue with the professors, or they argue with people trying to show that they’re smarter than the old professors. Not only is that a childish attitude but, looking at it from the other side of going and meeting some of these people now when I’m a much older person, it doesn’t really help with them to get into an argument about what they’re talking about – that I can cite this author and that author and I read it in this language, in that language and whatever – but that’s not really what you have address. But you need to go and not be intimidated by them, not be frightened by them, not feel self-defensive from their arrogant attack and just then address them on a very personal level of, “Why are you so arrogant about this; what’s your problem?” You address them on a totally different human level rather than playing the other side of their arrogant attack game – this is much more helpful. This intellectual arrogance can be a big problem even if it’s based on knowing a lot. Here the text is saying that when it’s based on knowing nothing. They don’t have the experience so it’s a bit childish, but sometimes they’re very smart.
Being Ignored by Our Friends and Patrons
Let’s continue with the next verse. The poetical version, verse 65:
We have many attendants and people around us, yet no one obeys us nor heeds what we say. We feel we have friends in positions of power, yet should we need help, we are left on our own. Trample him, trample him, dance on the head of this treacherous concept of selfish concern. Tear out the heart of this self-centered butcher who slaughters our chance to gain final release.
The literal version, verse 64:
Our circle (of followers) and attendants is vast, yet those who bear (in mind what we say) include none. The officials (we know) are plentiful, yet when we need backing and support, we’re bereft of protectors. Crash, really crash down, right on the head of (this) ruinous concept! Deal the death blow to the heart of this butcher, a “true self,” our foe.
The point here is that we have many so-called people who follow us and attendants, people around us and so on and we build up more and more of these people thinking that we have certain pride that is there, but nobody actually pays attention to what we say. “Those who bear in mind what we say include none” – so they’re there, they’re around us, but we don’t take us seriously, we don’t make a deep impression on them. Why? Because this concept of a “true self,” of “me” – it’s is a bit of an ego trip. We’re not really speaking sincerely to them or communicating to them. So, although we have a lot of people around us, we don’t really have any strong positive influence on them. “The officials we know are plentiful” – so we know a lot of people in great position, but again they don’t take us seriously, so when we actually need their help, they ignore us. When we need their backing and support, then we don’t have anybody to protect us. Again, it’s because we are on our silly little ego trip and so they don’t take us terrible seriously and that, I think, is an important point.
There are a lot of people who go on a little act – sort of an ego act – when they are with people, to try to be like this or like that, very trendy or very whatever. They make funny expressions, they make funny faces, they do weird things – it’s not natural; they’re putting on a show. Although many people might be attracted to the show, nobody really takes us seriously, because we’re not really being sincere with them. It’s just a surface act that we’re putting on – to be very cool, to be very whatever it might be – and so they don’t bear in mind anything that we say; it’s just blah blah blah, some sort of superficial type of thing. Why do we put on acts with people and we’re not sincere? It’s because we’re thinking of this solid “me” and that, “They have to like me so I have to put on this show, I have to make funny expressions, etc.” It’s hard to be just very natural and sincere for many people.
So, this is the verse:
Our circle (of followers) and attendants is vast, yet those who bear (in mind what we say) include none. The officials (we know) are plentiful, yet when we need backing and support, we’re bereft of protectors. Crash, really crash down, right on the head of (this) ruinous concept! Deal the death blow to the heart of this butcher, a “true self,” our foe.
Let’s think about that for a moment.
I think the point of this is not to run around trying to get more friends and followers and people that we know in high positions and so on, just to make us feel important. It’s an ego trip, that I have all these friends, all these people who follow me, I know all these [big people], name dropping these big officials. But if we’re going to have contact with a lot of people, make it meaningful.
Dedication
Let’s end here with the dedication. We think whatever understanding we’ve gained, whatever positive force has come from this may it go deeper and deeper and act as a cause for reaching enlightenment for the benefit of all.