PRIDE AND CRITICISM. Pride is viewed in Buddhism as being one of the five Poisons, those emotions that keep us trapped on the Wheel of Becoming the source of all of our suffering. Pride has many shortcomings. Each time it arises within us, it leaves a mark, an imprint. This imprint becomes stronger and stronger, until it becomes very hard to free the mind from the delusions. Gautama Buddha was direct in his teaching about pride, saying that ignorant ones, who are under the control of pride will suffer endlessly. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, There is a saying that praise inflates the mind and causes greater pride to develop. Whilst being criticised, instantly destroys our faults. Developing our mind in the path towards enlightenment comes through recognising and eliminating our faults; only then can the actions of body, speech and mind become the constant cause of happiness. One of the benefits of criticism is that it can help us to rid ourselves of our faults. When someone praises us, it gives us a boost for a while, later if someone criticises us, we will feel deflated again. So, can we break out of this endless cycle of feeling up and down, dependent on how others treat us? Well, we can look at how praise can cause us many problems and realise that our attachment to it, is one of the causes of our continues belief in the delusion of a solid and continuous self, Praise cements this notion of I in our minds, If we could overcome the dualities of praise and blame, we are no longer dependent upon it for our happiness. Our minds then can rest in the natural state of awareness and we will be at peace. Praising Our Enemies. Yet this doesnt mean though that we should not praise others. This is a positive action we can carry out and it does contribute to the well being, not only of the other person, but ourselves too. Praising someone we dont like, is especially beneficial, as it directly counters our self- cherishing and our pride. and is a wonderful way to develop our awareness. Praising someone we dont like, especially in front of others, is a direct challenge to our pride, because we are letting go of our desire to prove something, to be top dog. The icy grip of conflict dissolves in the warmth of our acknowledgement towards the other person. We are dissolving too the duality of me and other. Although we have to be sure, what we are doing is genuine, and not another strategy on the part of ego. The Dalai Lama points out that this is merely false action, if our words are really meant to hurt another person.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 13:52:26 +0000
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