..續本文上一頁gs are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things." We as Buddhists have the Buddha Dhamma to think about — "lovely in the beginning, lovely in the middle, lovely in the ending." This as Dr. Henn Collins has pointed out is the true philosopher”s stone whose alchemy will transmute the base metal of our ordinary consciousness into the gold of Enlightenment.

　　The Mastery of Pride

　　by Brian Fawcett

　　(From "The Sangha," The Journal of the English Sangha Association, V.1)

　　Few of us are free from Pride in one form or another. We know that in the interests of spiritual development it must be killed out. We are taught as much, and accept the teaching without question. But the method by which Pride may be eliminated is a problem not easy to solve, and the indirect, sweeping precepts of the sages are of little practical help to us. It is all very well saying: "Kill out this, and kill out that," but what we want to know is, how may we go about it

　　In the first place: what is Pride

　　Let us call analogy to our aid. Regard pride as a weed, propagating itself with alarming fecundity in the garden of the mind. Its root is not visible, but the flowering shoots are in plain view. Cut down these shoots and either they grow again or the roots puts out new ones. The only way to destroy it is to dig it up altogether. That root is Self-Esteem. From it grow the roots of Conceit, Boastfulness, Ambition, Jealousy, Envy and Intolerance. There are others, but let us take these six manifestations for the sake of discussions. Unbiased, detached self-scrutiny will disclose what others may exist in one”s own character, and it is unlikely that all will be found equally developed. There is cause for alarm when we discover them in ourselves. Pride is invariably despised when observed in others, yet we sometimes boast of possessing it. "I have my pride, you know," is a common assertion.

　　Beneath every manifestation of Pride, lies Self-Esteem. It is the conviction of superiority over others — the feeling that we are what they are not, or that we can do what they cannot do. Successes in early childhood may sow the seeds of it. The praise of relatives fosters it. Once planted, it grows, and not even the flattening criticism by one”s own contemporaries in adolescence can stop it. By and by it becomes a habit to compare oneself with the people one meets or passes in the street, generally to their disadvantage. What we know of our own accomplishments is measured by what we presume they lack. We think we know our friends inside and out, and our judgments are based on a firm belief in the infallibility of our perception. There is a tendency to group those who are not obviously outstanding under the heading of "Ordinary People," and sometimes to place them in the inferior category for no more reason than that they look as if they belong there. How often we hear the remark: "He seems so ordinary, but when you get to know him there”s a lot in him!" We are surprised to see our spot judgment wrong — that there really is something in that very ordinary-looking person. Can we honestly claim to be free of this habit of automatically comparing others with our own ideas of ourselves

　　 If so, then Self-Esteem is not present.

　　It would be bad enough if Pride flourished in no more then Self-Esteem, but it must manifest itself in every way it can. It strives to show on the surface, which is perhaps just as well, for then it becomes obvious. Conceit, first shoot of the weed Pride, is Self-Esteem manifesting in visible form. Not content with merely feeling superior to the people around us, we show it in our bearing. A glance from some passer-by of the opposite sex may be interpreted as a look of approval. The fine …

《What Can be Done About Conceit

　　》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…