HUMAN CONCEITS – VEN. THAY THANH

Human Conceits:

Teaching at a retreat in Virginia Beach in 2017, Ven. Chuc Thanh shared this thought with the sangha: “Humans have three conceits:  I am worse than you; I am better than you; I am equal to you.”  In a later dharma talk at the same retreat he told us “If your mind is changing, your life is changing. How do you do that? Practice every day.  Let go of jealousy, ill will.”

In our culture, is it possible to train ourselves to live our lives without the three conceits?  Perhaps the second teaching is one way to start the practice of reducing or eliminating our conceits.

(Venerable Thich Chuc Thanh is the Dharma Master at Dong Hung Temple. These quotations were collected from 2015 through 2018 as he taught in Virginia Beach, VA and Southern Shores, NC.  The quotation titles and commentary are by temple member Mark Palamara.)