I used the term ego in my last message and immediately thought of the story
below. it will make you laugh, and like me, I'm sure that it will aid you
enormously in over coming any problems you have with fighting. I
am thrilled with what it has done for me and sure you will be
saying/feeling the same way a month or two from now. Unlike my Pink Light,
no need of practicing this daily, or maybe you do, if you get the point.

LPL,
Joe

The Eight Winds

by Derek Lin

For me, one of the most difficult lessons to master is transcending the
ego. On an intellectual level, I can understand all the reasoning behind
the lesson, but when the time comes to walk the walk and not just talk the
talk, my actions often fall short of the ideals I envision.

In the past, my ego tended to manifest itself as a powerful urge to be
right. Its effect was insidious - I was usually unaware of it when it
exerted its influence over me. It was a negative force because it did not
compel me to seek deeper truths or further clarifications. Instead, it took
the shortcut of twisting my thoughts until I became convinced of my own
correctness.

Armed with this conviction, I would launch into a manic drive to prove my
point, to win at any cost. Sometimes my position matched objective reality;
other times it did not. Blinded by my ego, I could not see the difference
between the two. And even if I were ultimately proven correct, the victory
would feel hollow and empty, because it had been obtained at the expense of
harmony and compassion.

I reminded myself to keep my ego in check, but the moment someone attacked
my views, I immediately discarded the reminders and jumped right into the
fray. It felt as if I was not truly in charge, as if my actions and words
were under the control of my trigger-happy, contentious ego. I despaired of
ever getting rid of it. The situation seemed hopeless.

It occurred to me that stories could often succeed in making an impression
where doctrines and reasoning failed, so I delved into the treasure trove
of traditional teachings. What I came up with was a story about Su Dongpo,
one of the great Chinese poets who lived about a thousand years ago, in the
Song dynasty.

Su Dongpo was an avid student of Buddhist teachings, and often discussed
them with his good friend, the Zen master Foyin. The two lived across the
river from one another - Su Dongpo's residence on the north side and
Foyin's Gold Mountain Temple on the south side.

One day, Su Dongpo felt inspired and wrote the following poem:

I bow my head to the heaven within heaven
Hairline rays illuminating the universe
The eight winds cannot move me
Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus

Impressed by himself, Su Dongpo dispatched a servant to hand-carry this
poem to Foyin. He felt certain that his friend would be just as impressed.

When Foyin read the poem, he immediately saw that it was both a tribute to
the Buddha and a declaration of spiritual refinement. The "eight winds" in
the poem referred to praise, ridicule, honor, disgrace, gain, loss,
pleasure and misery - interpersonal forces of the material world that drove
and influenced the hearts of men. Su Dongpo was saying that he had attained
a higher level of spirituality, where these forces no longer affected him.

Smiling, the Zen master wrote "fart" on the manuscript and had it returned
to Su Dongpo.

Su Dongpo had been expecting compliments and a seal of approval, so he was
shocked when he saw what the Zen master had written. He hit the roof: "How
dare he insult me like this? Why that lousy old monk! He's got a lot of
explaining to do!"

Full of indignation, Su Dongpo ordered a boat to ferry him to the other
shore as quickly as possible. Once there, he jumped off and charged into
the temple. He wanted to find Foyin and demand an apology.

He found Foyin's door closed. On the door was a piece of paper, with the
following two lines:

The eight winds cannot move me
One fart blows me across the river

This stopped Su Dongpo cold. Foyin had anticipated this hotheaded visit. Su
Dongpo's anger suddenly drained away as he understood his friend's meaning.
If he really was a man of spiritual refinement, completely unaffected by
the eight winds, then how could he be so easily provoked?

With a few strokes of the pen and minimal effort, Foyin showed that Su
Dongpo was in fact not as spiritually advanced as he claimed to be. Ashamed
but wiser, Su Dongpo departed quietly.

This event proved to be a turning point in Su Dongpo's spiritual
development. From that point on, he became a man of humility, and not
merely someone who boasted of possessing the virtue.

After I read this story, I felt better about myself. Managing one's ego
seemed to be a perpetual human challenge, as tricky a thousand years ago as
it is today. If even the great Su Dongpo had trouble with it, then of
course mere mortals like myself would have at least some issues.

The story made a clear distinction between knowing a truth and living it.
Su Dongpo's mental brilliance was beyond question, noted by his
contemporaries and those of subsequent generations who studied his poems.
In all likelihood, he really did understand the eight winds very well.
Unfortunately, this was an intellectual understanding that did not
translate into correct action or appropriate inaction.

In the same way, my own understanding of the ego did not translate into the
ability to control it. Without true mastery, and merely knowing the
reasoning behind the lesson on a rational level, I continued to make the
same mistakes again and again. Being able to see a path was not the same as
walking it. Slowly, the truth began to sink in.

The ego operates within a social context. Su Dongpo sought peer approval
because he craved praise and admiration, which was in turn because the ego
is all about "looking good" to others. We can think of it as a mask that we
put on to play a certain role in life. This mask comes off when we are
alone - away from the social context - because then we don't have a need to
cut a dashing figure for the sake of appearance.

This means the total elimination of the ego may not be a realistic goal. As
social creatures, most of us will always need and seek out the company of
other human beings. Some measure of ego will always be present as long as
human interactions persist, no matter how saintly the participants of such
interactions may be.

Perhaps this is the key. I felt I had to "get rid of" the ego somehow.
Could it be that I gave myself an impossible task? What would happen if I
focus my goal on freedom instead of elimination?

Ego enslaves us by making us too dependent on what other people think. And
if we were to give in to its craving for attention, we would quickly find
that it can never be satisfied. An entertainer can be the idol of millions
and the center of adulation in a stadium full of fans, and still feel
utterly alone. Once the ego grows out of balance, it can easily become a
bottomless hole, forever wanting more.

Thus, by freedom from ego, I do not mean extinction of the ego in the
Buddhist sense, nor am I talking about suppressing it or denying its
existence. Suppression and denial are among the least effective ways of
dealing with the ego. To be free from the ego simply means breaking away
from its grip so we are not enslaved by its domination. We want to master
the ego, and not be its servants.

In my case, this means letting go of the need to defend my views. I
relinquish the desire to convince or persuade others. I can hold on to my
views without having to make any points, prove anything, or justify any
positions.

Like Su Dongpo, I became easily incensed when I did not get the approval or
concurrence I expected. It was easy for ego to enslave me because I had a
need to be seen by others as being correct.

When I free myself from this falsehood, I gain clarity. I begin to see that
being defensive is a tremendous waste of energy that achieves nothing
useful. My views do not gain any validity when I defend them, nor do they
lose any validity when I choose not to defend.

Dealing with the ego still isn't easy for me - and perhaps it never will be
- but thanks to Su Dongpo and the insights from his story, I now have a new
direction and some new ideas I can really apply. There's light at the end
of the tunnel. I guess the situation isn't so hopeless after all!