Dharma Talk Because of the Ego that suffers in the 99th Seven-Day Retreat

People are often affected by emotions of sadness, anger, love and hate in daily life... because of attachment to the concept of "me" and "mine". This concept is not completely negative because it is also the motivation for each person to strive in work and life. "Ego" is a factor that forms a person's personality and views to protect "me". The seventh of eight consciousnesses, which means calculating; self-grasping consciousness is often closely related to four kinds of afflictions: ego-infatuation, wrong view, pride of self, self-love.

- Self-infatuation is ignorance, delusion, and the belief that all things have self.

- Wrong view is always assuming that what you see, think, conceive, and believe is right; anything that is different from its own opinion is wrong even if it is a true statement.

- Pride of self is to always consider itself the best, not to respect anyone, dominate and despise others.

- Self-love is always clinging to the self, and generating a passion for me and my things, thinking only of myself, what belongs to me.

The ego leads beings to move in samsara, creating karma on top of karma. Therefore, practitioners are fortunate enough to meet a person who has wisdom to remind, listen to the Buddha's teachings, so they should try to transform, wear down the ego, reduce unwholesome karma; at the same time very carefully, we should not flatter the person's ego, make the person slide deeper, the ego grows it will harm that one.

Buddhist learners need to observe, think, and control the ego in four situations: ego-infatuation, wrong view, pride of self, and self-love. Control our behavior, language, thinking, and apply the best resolution methods, most mindfully without losing control due to the above. By the lecture, the mass had the opportunity to contemplate each area one by one to discover which karmas need to be corrected to focus on transforming and perfecting themselves, fully becoming a true Buddhist disciple.

The Dharma talk ended in the joy of the mass.

In the afternoon, there are group activities in the lecture halls. The monks in the management board answered the questions of Buddhists after a week of cultivation, connecting the members together in the spirit of co-cultivators.

Pictures recorded: