323 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
323 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Pride and Egotism
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World Scripture
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PRIDE AND EGOTISM
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The correlate of ignorance about Absolute Reality is pride and the inordinate
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preoccupation with one's own self. Pride and egoism blind one to recognizing
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transcendent Reality, or even to taking an accurate measure of oneself.
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Because of pride, a person thinks he is independent and cannot recognize that
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his very existence is dependent upon Ultimate Reality. He is blind to his
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relationships to other people, and neither can he conceive that there is a
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Deity who cares for him. In Christianity, pride is often regarded as the first
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step to the fall and rebellion against God. In Buddhism, grasping after the
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self and the sense of ego is the chief of all cravings and the deepest root of
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ignorance. In the Indic religions pride, like ignorance, is a fetter that
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binds humans to the wheel of rebirth. The passages collected below discuss
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pride as the cause of rebellion against God, as a hindrance to knowledge of
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Ultimate Reality, and as leading to improper estimation of oneself.
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Pride goes before destruction,
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and a haughty spirit before a fall.
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1. Judaism and Christianity. Proverbs 16.18
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The mightily proud ultimately rot in their own arrogance.
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2. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5, p. 278
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Nay, but verily man is rebellious
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For he thinks himself independent.
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Lo! unto thy Lord is the return.
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3. Islam. Qur'an 96.6-8
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Proverbs 16.18: Cf. Matthew 23.12, p. 545; Erubin 13b, p. 545. Gauri Sukhmani
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12, M.5: For more of this passage, see pp. 546 and 950. Cf. Bhagavad Gita
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16.7-16, p. 397; 18.58, p. 685.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
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and shrewd in their own sight!
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4. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 5.21
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Selfishness may be sweet only for oneself, but no harmony of the whole can come
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from it.
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5. Tenrikyo. Osashizu
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We say that "Good" and "Harmony," and "Evil" and "Disharmony," are synonymous.
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Further we maintain that all pain and suffering are results of want of Harmony,
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and that the one terrible and only cause of the disturbance of Harmony is
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selfishness in some form or another.
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6. Theosophy. Helena Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy
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He who makes his thought better and worse, O Wise One,
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Better and worse his conscience, by deed and by word,
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He follows his leanings, his wishes, his likings.
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In thy mind's force, at the end of times, he shall be set apart.
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7. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 48.4
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Turn not your cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land.
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Lo! God loves not each braggart boaster. Be modest in your bearing and subdue
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your voice. Lo! the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.
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8. Islam. Qur'an 31.18-19
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But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked;
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you waxed fat, you grew thick, you became sleek;
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then he forsook God who made him, and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
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9. Judaism and Christianity. Deuteronomy 32.15
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I know that Western culture is characterized by individualism. However,
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selfish individualism is doomed. Sacrificial individualism will blossom.
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Individuality in itself is good. God gave each of us a unique way to serve.
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But individualism without God can only build castles on the sands of decay.
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10. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 10-20-73
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Isaiah 5.21: See Proverbs 3.5-6, p. 752; Luke 18.10-14, p. 902; cf. Bhagavad
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Gita 16.7-16, p. 397. Key to Theosophy: Cf. Sun Myung Moon,10-20-73, p. 467.
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Qur'an 31.18-19: Cf. Samanasuttam 135-36, p. 912; Doctrine of the Mean 33, p.
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912. Deuteronomy 32.15: Cf. 1 Timothy 6.10, p. 420; James 4.13-16, p. 913. Sun
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Myung Moon, 10-20-73: Cf. Philippians 2.3-4, p. 915.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Nzame [God] is on high, man is on the earth.
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Yeye O, Yalele, God is God, man is man.
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Everyone in his house, everyone for himself.
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11. African Traditional Religions. Fang Tradition (Gabon)
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Like a traveler on earth, overstuffed with pride,
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Committing innumerable sins, in maya-hues dyed, beings
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Sunk in avarice, attachment, and pride are ruined.
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Forgetful of death, involved with progeny, companions, worldly transactions,
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wife,
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Is their life passed.
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12. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Jaitsari Chhant, M.5, p. 705
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The pride of your heart has deceived you,
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you who live in the clefts of the rock,
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whose dwelling is high,
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who say in your heart,
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"Who will bring me down to the ground?"
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Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
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though your nest is set among the stars,
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thence I will bring you down, says the Lord.
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13. Judaism and Christianity. Obadiah 3-4
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For the Lord of hosts has a day
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against all that is proud and lofty,
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against all that is lifted up and high;
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against all the cedars of Lebanon
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lofty and lifted up;
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and against all the oaks of Bashan;
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against all the high mountains
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and against all the lofty hills;
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against every high tower,
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and against every fortified wall;
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against all the ships of Tarshish,
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and against all the beautiful craft.
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And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
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and the pride of men shall be brought low;
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and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
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14. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 2.12-17
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Fang Tradition: This selection is taken from a creation story, and describes
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the rebellion of primal man as springing from a false sense of of God's
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remoteness and man's independence. Jaitsari Chhant M.5: Cf. Shalok, M.9, p.
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390. Obadiah 3-4: This passage is an indictment of the Edomites, who thought
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their fortresses in the high cliffs were impenetrable. Cf. 1 Samuel 2.4-9, pp.
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545f.; Qur'an 89.6-14, p. 1086. Isaiah 2.12-17: Cf. 1 Samuel 2.4-9, pp. 545f.;
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Matthew 3.12, p. 545; Erubin 13b, p. 545; Isaiah 24.18-23, p. 1098.
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All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
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15. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 64.6
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If you desire to obtain help, put away pride. Even a hair of pride shuts you
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off, as if by a great cloud.
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16. Shinto. Oracle of Kasuga
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The Buddha restrained Shariputra, "If I preach this matter [the Lotus Sutra],
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all the gods, men, and asuras in all the worlds shall be alarmed, and the
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arrogant monks shall fall into a great trap. Indeed...
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My dharma is subtle and hard to imagine.
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Those of overweening pride,
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If they hear it, shall surely neither revere it nor
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believe in it."
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Yet Shariputra again addressed the Buddha, "I beseech you to preach, I beseech
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you to preach!..." [The Buddha, prevailed upon by Shariputra, began to teach,
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but as he began,] in the assembly monks, nuns, lay brothers, and lay sisters to
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the number of five thousand straightway rose from their seats and, doing
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obeisance to the Buddha, withdrew. For what reason? This group had deep and
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grave roots of sin and overweening pride, imagining themselves to have attained
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and to have borne witness to what in fact they had not. Having such faults as
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these, therefore they did not stay. The World-honored One, silent, did not
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restrain them.
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The Buddha declared to Shariputra, "My assembly has no more branches and
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leaves, it has only firm fruit. It is just as well that such arrogant ones as
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these have withdrawn. Now listen well, for I will preach to you."
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17. Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 2
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"Subhuti, what do you think? Does a holy one say within himself, 'I have
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obtained Perfective Enlightenment?'" Subhuti replied, "No, World-honored
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One... If a holy one of Perfective Enlightenment said to himself, 'Such am I,'
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he would necessarily partake of the idea of an ego-identity, a personality, a
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being, a separated individuality."
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18. Buddhism. Diamond Sutra 9
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Isaiah 64.6: This passage was originally a complaint by certain Israelites that
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they were being shunned by society despite their faithfulness to God. But in
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the Christian tradition, it been understood as an exclamation of the
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worthlessness of worldly fame or knowledge as mere pretense in the presence of
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the divine majesty. Oracle of Kasuga: Cf. Sutta Nipata 798, p. 65; Sutra of
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Hui Neng 6, p. 399. The grand shrine of Kasuga, in Nara prefecture, is one of
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Japan's oldest Shinto shrines. Lotus Sutra 2: The Buddha seeks to weed out the
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prideful and retain only sincere disciples before he begins to preach the
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wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra. Cf. Sutta Nipata 798, p. 65. Diamond
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Sutra 9: Cf. Dhammapada 63, p. 915; Tao Te Ching 71, p. 915; Shinran, pp. 913f.
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Shun all pride and jealousy. Give up all idea of "me" and "mine".... As long
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as there is consciousness of diversity and not of unity in the Self, a man
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ignorantly thinks of himself is a separate being, as the "doer" of actions and
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the "experiencer" of effects. He remains subject to birth and death, knows
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happiness and misery, is bound by his own deeds, good or bad.
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19. Hinduism. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.4
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He who has in his heart faith equal to a single grain of mustard seed will not
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enter hell, and he who has in his heart as much pride as a grain of mustard
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seed will not enter paradise.
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20. Islam. Hadith of Muslim
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Where egoism exists, Thou are not experienced,
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Where Thou art, is not egoism.
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You who are learned, expound in your mind
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this inexpressible proposition.
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21. Sikhism. Maru-ki-Var, M.1, p. 1092
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In thinking, "This is I" and "That is mine," he binds himself with his self, as
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does a bird with a snare.
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22. Hinduism. Maitri Upanishad 3.2
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Travelling powerless, like a bucket traveling in a well:
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First with the thought "I," misconceiving the self,
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Then, arising attachment to things with the thought "mine."
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23. Buddhism. Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara 3
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Not knowing the consequence of good and evil karmas, he is afflicted and hurt.
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Nevertheless, he, due to his egotism, piles up [more] karmas and undergoes
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births and deaths again and again.
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24. Jainism. Acarangasutra 2.55-56
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The fool who thinks he is wise is called a fool indeed.
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25. Buddhism. Dhammapada 63
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Hadith of Muslim: Cf. Hadith of Bukhari, p. 911; Bhagavad Gita 18.58, p. 685.
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Maitri Upanishad 3.2: Cf. Digha Nikaya ii.276, p. 390; Bhagavad Gita 2.71, p.
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896. Madhyamakavatara 3: Candrakirti (ca. 560-640) wrote the Madhyamakavatara
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to explain Nagarjuna's view of sunyata. It consists of twelve chapters.
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Following the Dashabhumi Sutra, the first ten chapters explain the ten stages
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of perfections leading to the Buddha-wisdom, and the final two chapters explain
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the stages of Bodhisattva and of Buddha. Cf. Sutta Nipata 205-6, p. 914.
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If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me:
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If I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
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26. Judaism and Christianity. Job 9.20
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Whoever proclaims himself good,
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know, goodness approaches him not.
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27. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5, p. 278
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Confucius said, A faultless man I cannot hope ever to meet; the most I can hope
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for is to meet a man of fixed principles. Yet where all around I see Nothing
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pretending to be Something, Emptiness pretending to be Fullness, Penury
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pretending to be Affluence, even a man of fixed principles will be none too
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easy to find.
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28. Confucianism. Analects 7.25
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He who tiptoes cannot stand;
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He who strides cannot walk.
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He who shows himself is not conspicuous;
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He who considers himself right is not illustrious;
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He who brags will have no merit;
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He who boasts will not endure.
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From the point of view of the Way, these are like "excessive food and useless
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excrescences"
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Which all creatures detest.
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He who has the Way does not abide in them.
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29. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 24
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Pride has seven forms:
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Boasting that one is lower than the lowly,
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Or equal with the equal, or greater than
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Or equal to the lowly
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Is called the pride of selfhood.
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Boasting that one is equal to those
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Who by some quality are better than oneself
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Is the pride of being superior. Thinking
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That one is higher than the extremely high,
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Who fancy themselves to be superior,
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Is pride greater than pride;
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Like an abscess in a tumor
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It is very vicious.
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Conceiving an "I" through ignorance
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In the five empty [aggregates]
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Which are called the appropriation
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Is said to be the pride of thinking "I."
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Thinking one has won fruits not yet
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Attained is pride of conceit.
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Praising oneself for faulty deeds
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Is known by the wise as wrongful pride.
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Deriding oneself, thinking
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"I am senseless," is called
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The pride of lowliness.
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Such briefly are the seven prides.
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30. Buddhism. Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 406-12
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Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5: See Gauri Sukhmani, M.5, p. 950. Analects 7.25: Cf.
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Chuang Tzu 1, p. 916. Tao Te Ching 24: Cf. Tao Te Ching 71, p. 915.
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