True Stature

By Category: Buddhist PhilosophyTags:

True stature is not created by form or ornament; words spoken out of jealousy and greed oppose it. Only when evil has been stopped at its roots, and when there is wisdom without anger is there true stature.

— Dharmapadavadana Sutra

The False Stature of This World

Everyone wants to be well regarded by others. However, in seeking true stature, people too often waste their time in the vain pursuit of its many imitations in this Saha world; they seek after forms of social status, not true stature of the heart. They buy expensive clothes, expensive homes and expensive cars in an effort to prove to others that they are worthy of respect. The truth, of course, is that no amount of money can buy true stature. True stature is an inner achievement; when a person has true stature it emanates from him without any effort on his part.

The False Stature of False Manners

All of us know that there are many people in the world who appear to be kind and friendly, but who have hearts that are full of jealousy and rage. They smile and say fine things to your face, but all the while they are only planning to bring you harm. People of this type have learned to act in such a way that they appear to be good when in fact they are not. They have confused the appearance of goodness with its essence. Their attempts to use this appearance for evil ends can never succeed in the long run.

True Stature Arises From Within

The ancients used to say, “Integrity is within, form is without.” If we want to achieve true stature, we must first look within. Within ourselves we will find the causes for all that happens to us. Every time we correct our mistaken thoughts, we raise ourselves to a higher stature. Every time we admit our own transgressions, we improve our chances to grow toward well-being. Every time we replace greed with non-attachment, we free ourselves of one more samsaric encumbrance.

Once we fully overcome attachment and all of its ways of thought, then we will clearly understand that all goodness and all defilement arise dependent on inner conditions.

— Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in Mahayana

The Highest Stature

The bodhi mind is like a beautiful flower and all sentient beings love to gaze upon it.

— Avatamsaka Sutra

The bodhi mind has no need of samsaric ostentation because it is completely beautiful in and of itself. The highest stature anyone can achieve is complete enlightenment within the fullness of the bodhi mind. This is the goal of all Buddhism.

The bodhi mind is the Buddha nature. The bodhi mind transcends all form, all attachment, and all temptation to believe in a false self. A mere glimpse of the bodhi mind is sufficient to destroy the very roots of vanity. True stature is found only in this truth.

The bodhi mind is like a magnificent sun for it shines on all things in the world. The bodhi mind is like a full moon for all dharmas find completion in it.

— Avatamsaka Sutra

From Being Good, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

Healing Afflictions
What are people supposed to do when they are troubled by afflictions? Some people are troubled by very specific things, others encounter poverty, and many have poor relations with other people. Some individuals are disturbed the moment they hear even the slightest comment they do not like, or they become angry when they see someone doing something they do not approve of. This sort of Read more
I Am Not a Monk “Sponging Off” Buddhism (II)
It is enough for most monks to only have the ability to chant and teach the Dharma, and of course I too can chant sutras and teach the Dharma. But only being this kind of monk was not something I was willing to do. I wanted to become a monk who was able to engage in propagating the Dharma in a multifaceted way: There is Read more
To Think Positively
Humans are thinking animals! Since the beginning of time, there have always been people who fantasize, who have delusions, who dream—and many who have ideals. When we lie in our beds at night, we should be free from worry. Yet thoughts about our lives often arise then; thoughts about family, country, or even the world. Everything is within our minds.The average person often tends to Read more
A Good Reputation
We should always try to see the good in others, not the bad. On the samsaric level of this saha world alone, back-biting and faultfinding are known by most people to be totally counter-productive. Not only does faultfinding produce nothing but anger and mistrust, but the effects of negative speech also create an environment in which it becomes difficult to do anything positive. Read more
The Unsurpassed Value of Impermanence
Birth and death are realities of life. Regardless of who we are, we cannot escape either one. While birth is celebrated, death is feared by most. In order to cope with our fear, we often seek comfort in religion. Although each of the world's major religious traditions has its own teaching concerning death, Buddhism is the only one that promotes the doctrine of impermanence as one Read more
The Significance of Breathing
In the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections, the Buddha asked his disciples, "How long is one's life?" One of the monks replied, "A few years." The next one answered, "A few days!" Another one said, "Less than one day!" Another responded, "Between meals!" Finally, the Buddha said, "Life lasts for the duration of one breath." Life is extraordinarily precious and yet it is based on a Read more
Walking, Standing, Sitting, and Resting
"Walk like the wind, stand like a pine, sit like a bell, and rest like a bow."This basic etiquette not only applies to Buddhists; everyone should practice it as well in daily living.When we first meet a person, we can tell the level of his/her education and cultivation by his/her manners. We know how refined a person is by the way he/she speaks and conducts Read more
Overcoming Greed
Greed is a basic disease of all sentient beings. In our realm, the desire realm (kamadhatu), the force and effects of greed can be felt especially strongly. Greed is based on ignorance and cannot function without it. The fundamental ignorance that enables greed to function is the belief in a self that exists separately and independently from other sentient beings. This belief leads to nothing Read more
Music and Buddhism
Music gives us the capacity to express deep emotions. Whether through holy hymns or chants of praise, music is capable of uplifting the mind to an almost sublime state. As such, it has a significant role in the promotion of religion.All Buddhas and bodhisattvas are very skilled in utilizing music to teach the Dharma and guide sentient beings to enlightenment.Music has a very important function Read more
I Am Not a Monk “Sponging Off” Buddhism (I)
At the many places I engaged in practice and study—at places such as Qixia in Nanjing, Jinshan and Jiaoshan in Zhenjiang, and Tianning in Changzhou, where I was brought up experiencing spring breezes, summer rains, autumn frosts, and winter snows—I studied silently and grew up quietly. I was always thinking as to how I could repay Buddhism’s kindness. I could not make a living by depending on Buddhism over Read more
Be Satisfied with What You Have
Greed narrows our vision as it obscures the wealth of wisdom contained in our inherent Buddha nature. Read more
The Way to Help Others
Compassion is the father, the bodhi mind the mother. Good methods are like friends because they save all sentient beings. — Great Collection of True Dharmas Sutra Compassion Is the Father Compassion removes suffering and creates joy. The sutra says, “The power of the Dharma is beyond expression. Nothing can obstruct compassion.” Compassion is the root source of all good. Compassion is the heart of Read more