Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

proclaim their Buddhahood. 'Look, so many
disciples follow me; look, so many lay-people
worship me; look at all these books and holy
treasures, and look at the wealth I possess!' In their
pride, they may even say: 'Look at this or that mark
of Buddhahood!'"
"But then," said Mr. Chen, relaxing, "one may look
at their way of life, the way they treat people—then
it becomes obvious whether or not they are really
Buddhas. Such teachers are neither Buddhas nor
have they understood at all what is meant by a
Buddha's Holy Pride. Such teachers have even
rebuked me, telling me that I lack bodhicitta
because I have remained a hermit so long. 'What
are you doing for such a long time?' they say. 'You
should come out and proudly show the
Buddha-attainment.' All such talk," Mr. Chen said
gravely, "is a sorrow for those teachers."
The Buddhas' Pride is not like this: Holy Pride causes
progress and cannot lead to any sort of spiritual fall. It is
not the same as human pride, for Buddhas have long
since rid themselves of the defilements on which
ordinary conceit depends. In this respect, it seems to me
that this practice is correct: Whatever happens, we
should immediately ask ourselves, "What would be a
Buddha's action in this circumstance?" If all the
meditations so far described here have been practiced
and realized, then we should have a clear answer to this
460