THE DISADVANTAGES OF SELF CHERISHING
We do know that it’s important to have healthy self-esteem, dignity and self respect, but the very basis of such a healthy attitude is to not focus on one’s own needs at the expense of others, in other words not to be selfish and ego driven. Therefore it’s useful to return to the topic of mothers, recalling how we would have struggled to survive as infants without the loving care of our mothers. It’s also important to recall the topic of Death and Impermanence, that death is certain, but the time of death cannot be known. So, self-cherishing, is a mind focusing all energy on protecting itself, making plans, grasping at the pleasures and distractions of this life and therefore, wasting this precious human live.In the development of Great Compassion and pursuing a spiritual path towards Enlightenment, all suffering and obstacles are attributed to ego centered, self-cherishing, quoting from the Guru Puja: “This chronic disease of cherishing ourselves is the cause giving rise to our unsought suffering.” So, to change, we must contemplate the disadvantages of such an attitude and recalling the law of cause and effect, karma, is one way we can change our attitude, which will have benefits for ourselves as well as for those with whom we have contact.
