Manifestations of Self-View (ātma-dṛṣṭi)

Which aspects of worldly life can increase the view of the body through their conditioning influence? What is the reason the view of the body is so hard to eliminate? Why is it that those who eliminated the view of the body in a past life can eliminate it again very quickly when they encounter the Buddha's teachings in this life? Find out all these phenomena, and then little by little subdue your treasuring of the physical body; then eliminating the view of the body will come faster. All the ways of protecting the physical body are due to the view of the body. In what ways do we protect and treasure the physical body?

If we take a look at the precepts for monastics, we will understand why the Buddha established so many precepts, and in such detail—they were all established for the purpose of subduing the view of the body and the view of self. Monastics do not understand this and complain that the precepts are too restrictive of themselves. If one keeps well the precepts established by the Buddha, one can attain liberation. The precepts of the Small Vehicle are also called the precepts of individual liberation: if you can keep one precept, you attain the liberation corresponding to that one precept. Therefore, as long as one leaves home to cultivate, one will certainly be able to realize the fourth fruit of arhatship in the future; there will always come a day of attaining liberation. There are many benefits to leaving home: liberation and freedom.

The modern way of life makes it very hard for people to eliminate the view of the body—people are too fastidious and picky, too indulgent in enjoyment, heedless of everything else, caring only about comfort and pleasure. Observe your own view of the body: observe it from all aspects and angles of daily eating, clothing, dwelling, using, and traveling; observe it from the aspects of wealth, sensuality, fame, food, and sleep; start observing from the aspects of seeing forms, hearing sounds, feeling touch, smelling scents, and tasting flavors. If you find that you especially value these aspects, especially care about the physical body, especially attend to and look after the physical body, and are especially particular about the enjoyments of the physical body, then your view of the body is rather heavy, and you should find ways to subdue it.

For modern people, a life that feels rather dull and tedious is actually nourishing to the mind, and makes it easier to eliminate the view of the body and the view of self. Because such a life does not easily lead to craving and attachment, the mind is relatively simple and pure, not paying much attention to or caring much about the physical body, so the view of the body is easy to eliminate, and the view of self is also slight, making the view of self easy to eliminate. Moreover, such a life does not waste merit; with merit supporting it, progress on the path is very fast. A true bodhisattva should cherish his own merit very much and not casually consume it away; therefore he does not indulge in enjoyments. When a bodhisattva is born into this world, he does not choose a wealthy and noble family, lest his merit be squandered away in childhood under his parents' control. People nowadays do not understand and do not care about these matters of merit, and unknowingly, very casually, consume it away through enjoyment—what a pity. Yet they themselves do not know it, and even take pride in enjoying wealth and splendor. Parents must be responsible toward their children and must not casually make decisions on their children's behalf that consume their merit. If that merit is consumed away in childhood, then when they grow up their merit will be scant, and some will suffer: when they study Buddhism, the merit available for their cultivation of the path will be insufficient, and their cultivation will be difficult to accomplish.

In bygone eras, there were no ornaments for the body, no home decorations, no all manner of fancy clothing and food. Back then people did not apply anything to their bodies, did not spray anything indoors, and did not use excessive decoration—everything was simple—so it was not easy to become attached to form, sound, scent, taste, and touch, and people rarely pampered the physical body. Their thinking was simple, and the view of the body was easy to eliminate. For the wealthy, cultivating the path is difficult because the habit of craving is too heavy; for the poor, generosity is difficult because their merit is meager (alpa-puṇya). Therefore, cultivating the path starts from bit by bit, accumulating small into great and little into much, developing a good habit of practice—then there is no worry of failing to attain the Way.