The Manifestation of the View of Self

Some people, after doing a little good deed, go around proclaiming it everywhere, clucking and cackling all over the place like a rooster—what hidden virtue is there left to speak of in such a case? What merit can still be said to exist? If one can benefit others—even if it merely makes someone smile, even if it brings others just a tiny bit of benefit—that is as it should be, and there is nothing worth making public. Once it is made public, the wholesome retribution has already been received and is gone, and the greater wholesome retribution of future lives can no longer be obtained. This is equivalent to the hidden virtue being gone, for hidden virtue is the wholesome retribution received in future lives. Only if one wishes to set an example for others, so as to subtly influence and inspire them to also do good and practice wholesome deeds, should one make one's wholesome deeds known publicly.

Yet some people, before they have even begun to do something, broadcast it everywhere with loudspeakers, wanting to enjoy in advance others' envy, respect, praise, and admiration. This is like taking out a high-interest loan to spend in advance—a very unwise thing to do. Why does this happen? Because only when there is a severe view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is there severe vanity, wanting to attract others' attention, taking oneself, others, and the affairs and merits involved as all real, and grasping at them severely. Once you understand what constitutes the self and the manifestations of the view of self, then as soon as someone starts acting up, as soon as their bodily, verbal, and mental actions appear, you can discern whether that person's view of self is severe or mild, whether they have achieved the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), and how far they still are from eradicating the view of self. In this way, those who pose as sages will have nowhere to hide—and then who would still dare to come to the Sahā world to perpetrate fraud?