WSW 48: Discussion of Smothering Self-Grasping through Tonglen

Verse 93

Recap

In our discussion of this text Wheel of Sharp Weapons or Throwing Star Weapons by Dharmarakshita, we have been looking at the whole method that is explained here of lojong, of attitude training. This is a Mahayana training with which we try to change our negative attitudes and difficult circumstances into positive ones, for overcoming all the obscurations and hindrances that prevent us from reaching enlightenment and being of greatest help to everyone. We saw that one of the main focuses here is overcoming the self-cherishing attitude. Self-cherishing attitude is the attitude with which we consider ourselves the most important one in the world and we’re only concerned about our own happiness and welfare, and we don’t care at all about others. We ignore others and their needs; we come first. With this self-centered, self-cherishing attitude, we then engage in all sorts of destructive types of behavior, because it is fed by our disturbing attitudes or emotions of greed and attachment and anger and so on – arrogance, jealousy. Through our destructive behavior we cause ourselves a tremendous number of problems and suffering and often we cause others suffering and problems as well. But within this context of Mahayana practice, we disable ourselves from being able to benefit others as a result of this type of destructive behavior and this is a result of our self-cherishing attitude. 

We really need to overcome that, and the text has spoken about all the negative karmic consequences or suffering consequences that come upon us from acting in a destructive way based on the self-cherishing attitude. Then the text offers us a different way of acting, which will stop being so destructive and stop being based so much on self-cherishing. We go through with many verses all sorts of different variations here, of different types of sufferings that we experience and their karmic causes and how we can change that. We practice this change not simply in terms of ourselves, but we take it as a way to overcome our self-cherishing. The strongest way to overcome the self-cherishing is the tonglen practice. Tonglen practice is taking on the sufferings of others and giving them the solution that will bring them happiness. It’s proper for us to be concerned about everybody’s problems because the type of karmic problems that we have and self-cherishing, are not exclusively our own problem. Everybody has the same problem. Therefore, whatever solution that we have for that is for everybody and, in this way, we think in terms of taking on and dealing with everybody’s problems and giving them the solution. 

But then we go deeper, and we see what’s behind the self-cherishing attitude and what’s behind it is a false concept: a misconception about how we ourselves exist. We think that we exist as some sort of solid, independent entity that can function all by itself and get its own way independently of anybody else, independently of circumstances and causes and not caring about the consequences. So, this is a false concept – there is no such thing. But we believe that this is our true self and the misconception here is called the “misconception of a ‘true self.’” This is obviously false. It’s not referring to anything real. We need to understand the voidness of it, which means its absence of existing in this way – there is just no such thing; never existed that way, never will. We, of course, exist – that’s the conventional “me” – but we don’t exist in this way, as if there were a big solid line around us or we were encapsulated in plastic and there we are – independently all by ourselves, trying to get our own way.

Now, the text goes through many different verses concerning how, when we have this false concept of a “true me,” we jeopardize the wonderful plans that we have. It shows us how this false concept causes so many troubles and difficulties. We want to smash this false concept and smash our belief in this false concept, and we invoke the strength and power that we all have, which is represented by Yamantaka. Yamantaka is a Buddha figure representing the strong aspect of discriminating awareness or wisdom. This is the awareness to discriminate between what’s true and what’s false; what is reality, what is fantasy; what is helpful, what is harmful. It’s necessary to cut through and smash this false concept and belief that it’s true with great strength. This is because it’s so deeply embedded and we’re so accustomed to it and we don’t want to give it up because, obviously, “me first” – this attitude – is something that seems to us as the best strategy to play in order to succeed in life. But, in fact, it doesn’t work. 

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