How to Observe Where the View of Self Falls

To locate where your view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) lies, you can observe it through your own greed and craving. Excessive demands are greed; unreasonable demands are greed; seeking what should not be sought is greed. Why are there so many cravings? Because there is a self in the mind—one sees the physical body as self, sees the aggregate of feeling as self, sees the aggregate of perception as self, sees the aggregate of volitional formations as self—and thus one craves and seeks for the sake of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha). If there were no self in the mind, one would have few desires and know contentment, stopping at what is appropriate, would not seek and grasp excessively, and certainly would not use unwholesome means, unreasonable methods, or even ways that harm others to pursue one's own benefit. 

A person with no self in the mind will not expend effort on seeking and grasping, but lives in accordance with conditions, and certainly will not seek gain by any means necessary. A person without self will handle matters from the standpoint of others, considering others' interests and being mindful of others' feelings. However, this consideration does not necessarily mean complying with others' unreasonable demands; rather, it takes others' long-term and ultimate benefit as the starting point, and one's intentions and actions may not necessarily be understood or approved of by others. 

A person with a self in the mind, a person with a heavy view of self, will inevitably have heavy grasping on self (ātma-grāha) as well. In dealing with people and matters, everything proceeds from one's own mind, placing the self first, taking one's own views and opinions as the standard, not soliciting others' opinions and views, not considering others' feelings—often acting according to one's own habits first and explaining later, beheading before announcing, regardless of whether others' interests have been infringed upon. If others do not comply, such a person becomes exasperated and resorts to retaliation to reclaim self-interest and vent the resentment in the heart, heedless of the consequences. In this way, in the course of struggling against self and others, each victory pushes one a step backward on the path of cultivating and realizing no-self, a step deeper into the pit of the suffering of birth and death, and the sufferings of this life and future lives will intensify accordingly. 

Skillful observation is a very important link in cultivation. With skillful observation, one can weigh the true advantages and disadvantages, gains and losses in all matters; long-term benefit is always more important than immediate benefit, and long-term effects far outweigh short-term effects. A person with a heavy view of self is short-sighted, often seeing only a tiny bit of what is right in front, with both eyes blinded by the extremely small immediate benefit—this is what is called karmic obstruction. 

What is karmic obstruction? The ignorant karmic causes of past lives intensify one's view of self and grasping on self, obstructing the arising of wisdom, so that one cannot see clearly the true nature of things, does not know what one's true benefit really is, and treats unprofitable things as great benefit to be pursued—the result is running in the opposite direction, where the losses outweigh the gains.

Sentient beings all feel that the term "ignorance" (avidyā) is rather subtle, while the term "foolish delusion" is rather crude. In fact, both terms have the same meaning. The Buddha used the term "foolish delusion" to summarize the mental nature of sentient beings, and that is already quite subtle. Sometimes the Buddha would even shout at his disciples: "Hey! You fool!" In fact, no matter what language is used, it cannot fully express the delusion and stupidity of sentient beings—nothing said is forceful enough, and no matter what is said, sentient beings remain unmoved, leaving one speechless. Even using Mount Sumeru as a crowbar could not pry loose the delusion, foolishness, and dullness in sentient beings' minds.