The Manifestation of the Self-Mark Produced by the View of Self

A person's sense of achievement, sense of pride, arrogance, and feelings of inferiority—these feelings, sensations, and perceptions all belong to the feeling aggregate (vedanā-skandha); they exist in dependence on the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). If the view of self is absent, these feelings will disappear, and the self is emptied. These feelings also all belong to the mark of self, and they also involve the mark of person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of life span. Therefore, whether a person has eradicated the view of self can be judged entirely from these marks. To one who has eradicated the view of self, these phenomena are very obvious and easy to judge. For one who has not eradicated the view of self, by understanding the meaning and manifestations of the view of self and the mark of self, one can also roughly judge whether that person has eradicated the view of self.

The mark of self and the view of self are both manifested through a person's bodily, verbal, and mental actions; this cannot be hidden, and there is no way to hide it—how can the deeply rooted self be hidden? Unless there are no bodily, verbal, and mental actions, but that is impossible. Everyone who considers themselves to have already realized no-self and eradicated the view of self can examine their own mark of self accordingly—whether it exists or not, whether it is light or heavy; even if very slight, it is still a mark of self. My feelings and perceptions are divided into those of the physical body and those of the mind—bodily awareness and mental awareness—and all are marks of self. Whether there is self or no-self can be judged from these marks. A person with subtle marks of self is not far from eradicating the view of self; for a person with coarse and heavy marks of self, eradicating the view of self is very difficult. Everyone should frequently examine the self in their own mind—is it light or heavy, and has it changed through cultivation?

If a person has not even eradicated the view of self that should be eradicated at the first fruit (srotāpanna), and their mark of self is so severe, then it is impossible for them to attain the Mahāyāna fruit of seeing the mind and seeing one's nature, and even more impossible for them to have the realization and fruit-virtue of the three stages of wise faith and the bhūmi bodhisattvas—none of these virtues will be present. Do not look at what a person says or teaches; look at their actual behavior in daily life, at how they concretely respond to people and situations. A person's bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the most real and best reflect a person's virtue and character. Even if what is said verbally sounds perfectly reasonable, it can all be faked and deceptive, and cannot be fully trusted.

For one who has eradicated the view of self, the mark of self will certainly diminish and disappear accordingly. In dealing with people and affairs, there is no self—such a person is low-key, sincere, and treats others with equality, regarding all people as equal, neither looking down on anyone nor looking up to anyone, never thinking oneself nobler or more special than others, never considering others inferior or lowly. This mind of equality is based on the emptiness of the mark of self and the mark of person, and is not yet ultimate. For bodhisattvas at the first bhūmi and above, the manas transforms consciousness into wisdom, attaining the equality wisdom (samatā-jñāna); that mind of equality is purer and more surpassing than the equality of the Small Vehicle. One who has eradicated the view of self and is already without self has no mark of self, mark of person, or mark of sentient beings; their mind is empty, and in dealing with people and affairs they are reserved, low-key, and modest, not outwardly expansive, not fond of self-display, without a sense of pride or achievement, not needing others' flattery, praise, or worship. Whether others regard them highly or lowly makes no difference to them, and they absolutely do not act in a high-profile manner. All who act in a high-profile manner and love to boast about themselves have the view of self and the mark of self.

Many people have a very heavy view of self and fear being without a self; they are very afraid that the self will disappear, so they go to great lengths to seek a sense of existence and constantly establish the value of the self. These are all very obvious marks of self. For such people, eradicating the view of self is very difficult, and the hope in this life is slim. Some people who contemplate no-self, when their contemplation reveals some initial signs of no-self, become afraid that the self will disappear. In their hearts they think: if there is no self, how terrible! If I disappear, how terrible! Then how could I continue to grasp at this world? So they dare not continue contemplating no-self.

At this time one needs patience, and must slowly, in a roundabout and winding way, immerse and persuade oneself (the manas). Since beginningless kalpas, one has become extremely accustomed to relying on and clinging to this self. If the manas suddenly feels it can no longer rely on and grasp at it, fear will arise. One must take it slowly; eradicating the view of self requires the manas to have a process of acceptance, a buffer, before it can accept no-self. Cultivation has a transition period that can be long or short; the length of the transition period depends on one's own effort of immersion. To quickly cross over the transition period, one should repent of the karmic offenses created since beginningless kalpas through clinging to self, recite the Śūraṅgama Mantra frequently, or perform prostration repentance and pray for the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Study the theory of emptiness more, contemplate the principle of emptiness more, and slowly immerse oneself in it.