So in this session,
We'll do a meditation on arrogance.
We'll do a meditation on the antidotes to arrogance to see how we could work on overcoming decreasing our arrogance.
So begin by sitting in a comfortable position and let your mind settle down in the present,
The here and now.
Spend a few minutes observing the breath flowing in and flowing out and letting go of any other thoughts there may be in your mind.
Really try to have the intention to keep your mind focused on this meditation that we're doing and bring your mind back in case it wanders away to anything else like thoughts of the past or the future and so on.
So let it go for now.
And then take a few more moments to generate a positive,
Altruistic intention for doing the meditation.
For example,
Having the wish to work on your own mind,
Recognize and decrease the wholesome disturbing aspects of your own mind so that you can better help others to do the same.
Now,
Bring to mind an experience of your own mind.
For example,
There may have been a time when you were with another person or you just noticed another person and your mind determined that in some way you were superior to that person and they were inferior to you.
And it could have been with regard to your physical attractiveness or physical features,
Your youth or skills,
Things you can do with your body.
It could have been more about your mental traits,
Your intelligence,
Your knowledge,
Your level of education,
Or your status,
Your class,
The type of job you have,
Type of title you have,
And so on.
Try to recall a time when a feeling of arrogance arose in your mind in relation to someone else.
Then find your MILLER CH blue You know you can feel the stretch of the rug 2008.
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So one thing that's helpful is to recognize the faults or shortcomings of this state of mind.
One thing is it can cause us to treat others in a condescending way or even in a kind of unkind,
Hurtful way.
People we think who are inferior to us,
The way we treat them may not be very nice or respectful.
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And if other people notice that we are arrogant,
They may lose respect for us.
You might think about how you yourself feel towards someone that you recognize as arrogant.
Do you like that person?
Do you admire them?
Or do you dislike their way of being?
And so if we are arrogant,
Then others may feel the same way towards us.
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It's also helpful just to look at that state of mind of feeling pride or arrogance.
Is that a really positive,
Calm,
Peaceful state of mind?
Or is it agitated,
Unpeaceful,
Unhappy?
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And in terms of our spiritual practice,
Following a spiritual path,
Arrogance is an obstacle.
Because it can cause us to feel we're perfect just as we are.
We don't need to learn anymore.
We don't need to develop ourselves anymore.
So it can cause us to be closed to learning from teachers or from fellow practitioners.
We might even feel arrogant towards them.
If we have a habit of being arrogant,
Then we might feel I'm superior even to my teachers.
I know more than them.
I'm better than them.
I might even look down on them.
So with that kind of attitude,
We close ourselves to really learning and growing and improving ourselves.
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So if you can see that having arrogance is not a healthy state of mind,
It's unwholesome,
It's disturbing,
It's a hindrance to spiritual growth,
Psychological growth.
And you would like to work on decreasing it,
We'll look at some methods for how we can do that.
And you may not be feeling arrogance at this very moment,
But it could arise in the future.
So it's good to learn the methods for dealing with it so that you will have them at hand if and when you notice arrogance arising in your mind.
So one thing that is helpful is to contemplate the ways in which we are dependent on others for whatever good qualities,
Abilities,
And so on we have.
So when we are first born,
When we come into this world,
Our body is very,
Very small and helpless.
We can't do anything except lie on our back and cry and maybe move our arms and legs in the air.
But that's about all we can do.
We can't even move ourselves around,
We can't feed ourselves,
We can't do anything for ourselves.
We're completely dependent on others.
And also,
Our mind is completely undeveloped.
We have no knowledge at all.
We don't know how to speak,
We don't know how to use a computer,
And so on and so forth.
So that's how we started off in our life.
And whatever knowledge we have now,
Whatever abilities we have now,
We learned from other people.
So there were people like our parents to begin with,
And grandparents,
Other people who took care of us,
Who taught us the most basic things like how to walk and talk and dress ourselves and eat and so on.
And then teachers,
When we started going to school,
We gained knowledge from our teachers and so on.
So during our life,
Independence on other people,
We learned all the things we have now,
Developed all the knowledge and skills that we have now.
So that's helpful to remember.
To decrease a sense of arrogance and pride,
Just realizing how much others have done for us,
How much we are dependent on others.
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So we had those kind of natural skills and abilities.
Again,
This isn't something that is inherently ours,
But is a carryover from who we were and what we did in past lives.
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Another thing that can help decrease our pride or arrogance is to contemplate the things we don't know,
The things we can't do,
The things we're not good at.
So there's probably things we are very good at,
But then other things we can't do,
Like maybe you can fix a car,
But you don't know how to sew,
Or vice versa,
You know how to sew,
But you don't know how to fix a car.
We can also compare ourselves with those who are more intelligent than we are,
Have more knowledge than we do,
Have better qualities than we do,
More generous,
For example,
More patient.
So contemplating the things we're not good at can also cool down a strong sense of pride and arrogance and help us be more humble.
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It's also helpful to contemplate impermanence,
The changing nature of things.
At this point in time,
We might be healthy and physically able to do many things,
And also mentally,
Our mind or brain may be working quite well,
So we're able to remember things and think about things and accomplish things on the mental level.
But there's no guarantee that these abilities will be with us forever.
Things could happen.
We might get into an accident,
For example,
Or develop some illness,
And then find ourselves unable or less able to do things on the physical level,
Physical things we can do now.
It's not definite we will be able to do them for the remainder of our life.
And the same with our mental abilities,
Again,
Due to illness or accidents or maybe getting dementia,
Or just the process of getting old,
Which does affect our memory and our mental faculties.
So some of the things we're able to do now,
We may find ourselves unable to do or less able to do in the future.
So if we have a strong sense of pride attached to those abilities and proud of those abilities,
Then when we find them declining or disappearing,
We could feel very,
Very unhappy,
Depressed,
Grieving.
So that can be helpful to decrease pride and increase a sense of humility and also be less attached to our physical and mental abilities.
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But remember,
There is a difference between pride and self-confidence.
Pride or arrogance is an afflicted state of mind that has the faults,
The shortcomings mentioned earlier.
But on the other hand,
Self-confidence is a positive state of mind,
And we do need to have that in our work and in our relationships and in our spiritual practice.
We need to feel capable of practicing,
Accomplishing things,
Transforming ourselves and progressing along the path.
Especially if we want to become a Buddha,
Fully enlightened being,
We have to have the confidence that we can do that.
So that's a positive state of mind,
But it's not the same as pride or arrogance.
So see if you can conclude the meditation by feeling the wish to work on decreasing any sense of pride or arrogance,
While still maintaining self-confidence.
And a good way to do that is to just keep an altruistic intention and altruistic motivation focused on doing what is beneficial for others.
And finally,
Let's mentally dedicate the positive energy of doing this meditation.
Whatever insights we've gained,
Whatever positive energy we've created,
May this be shared by others,
Helping others to also recognize and overcome the arrogance and all the other delusions,
Afflicted state of mind,
States of mind that are the cause of suffering and problems for oneself and others.
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