Releasing the Ego, Liberation and Freedom

Worldly conflicts exhaust everyone both physically and mentally. Cease such struggles and relinquish the self! When you are well, I am well, and all are well—is this not joyful? Why insist on personal gain at others' expense? Why? The "self" within each person's heart weighs like a massive boulder, pressing down so heavily that one gasps for breath. Day after day, month after month, year after year, life after life, existence becomes arduous, exhausting, and burdensome. From now on, we must learn to use the tool of selflessness to gradually chip away at this boulder of selfhood—reducing the great stone to a small one, the small stone to gravel, and letting the gravel gradually disperse and vanish from the heart. Thus, the heart becomes light and free from heaviness; the heart attains liberation and ease; the heart experiences joy, happiness, and serenity.

So many speak daily of how "the Great Way is supremely simple." Where does this simplicity lie? It lies here: simply relinquish the self, eliminate the self, and selflessness is attained. Yet putting this into practice is far from simple. Why? Habitual tendencies are deeply entrenched, and the obscurations of the mind are too severe, making it exceedingly difficult to let go of the self. Merely seeing through the illusion of self is challenging enough—let alone relinquishing it entirely.

The aim of studying and practicing Buddhism is to realize selflessness and liberation. Why, then, do we still pursue personal, self-centered interests? Does this not contradict our original intention? The reason practitioners fail to attain the fruit of selflessness is that the "self" remains within the heart, failing to align with selflessness. The presence of self is an obstacle and a stumbling block—why not remove it swiftly?

Those with wisdom should not chase the fruit of selflessness while simultaneously centering on the self, protecting and indulging various forms of "I," and pursuing the petty gains of the ego. To act contrary to the Path in this way is unwise. Why such contradiction? Is it not due to the afflictive habit of self-attachment accumulated since beginningless kalpas? If one remains unaware and fails to observe this defiled affliction within the mind, making no effort to counteract it but always yielding to self-centered thoughts and tendencies, when will selfless liberation ever be attained? Which brings greater ease and comfort: liberation or self-imprisonment? Between the two, which will you choose? So many understand this intellectually yet act confusedly. This is why they fail to realize the truth of selflessness and cannot attain the fruit of liberation.