Good morning, everyone.  This is Dharma Expresso.
Last week in our Bodhisattva training, we discussed a very difficult part, which was the practice. Therefore, we focused on the practice of The Six Hands of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and did not elaborate on the theory. 160 participants stayed in class and practiced diligently.

The focus of our practice was how to transform ourselves from a worldly person to a transformation body of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. That focus seems easy, but actually it will take a long time to accomplish.

Once somebody asked me whether I could predict how many days, months, or years that (s)he needed to practice to become the transformation body of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. That person asked jokingly, but I responded seriously. My response was that, the most difficult step to do was to change our daily habits, and then our prejudices, and our points of view. Bodhisattva practice is to change our viewpoints and way of life. We cannot change our way of life without changing our points of view. Therefore, when we study the practice of SixHands, or today, when we start our practice program in Santa Barbara, we have to change our points of view first, and then change our habits.

I want you to remember this: “Prejudice lives longer than Right View”. Prejudice is spontaneous ideas, thoughts, or viewpoints formed in our mind and it is very difficult for us to eliminate them. Prejudice is the eyes through which we see things; therefore, we will never see our own prejudices. We act and think according to our prejudices. Similar to a car on the road, the road is our prejudice. We look at the road and continue our path; we cannot destroy the road. Prejudice is the foundation on which we look at the world. We often say that “we have blind spots”. Prejudice is our great blind spot.

What is Right View? Right View is the new point of view that follows the teachings of the Buddha, of those who have been enlightened. Right View is the view of the Dharma. It is very important to follow them and evolve so that our viewpoints get better with time.  Right View is the first of the Noble Eightfold Path, followed by Right Thoughts…. Right View is very important, but not easy for us to see. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of it, but it was overpowered by our prejudice. Some prejudice is very long-lasting. For example, when we hate someone, it is not easy for us to change our perception about that person if we do not have any contact and know nothing about his/her life. I used to hate a bulldog because it killed a chicken with its bite in the Hoa Nghiem garden where I spent my retreat. I also disliked its ugly face. But a few years ago, I saw an injured bulldog with tears coming out of its eyes, looking so pitiful. This made me understand that dogs were not different from humans. In order to change our viewpoints, we need to understand that not all dogs are the same. Some of us are afraid of dogs; we are scared by just their bark and would not think of touching them. I was one of those; I never dared to pet a dog. Gradually, I realized that it was only my prejudice. When I pet a dog and it licked my hand, I felt a sense of closeness that erased my prejudice against dogs. Similarly, for humans, sometimes we have a strong prejudice against somebody that we would not change until we are in contact with that person. What would we think if that person would later become our savior?

Being a bodhisattva is to help awaken people. Sometimes those we hate the most might be the transformation body of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva! This means that perhaps the person we hate the most could be ourselves and we have to accept ourselves to transform into a kind person like Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.

The process of transforming ourselves into the transformation body of Kwan Yin Bodhisattva is the process of changing our behavior from disagreeable to lovable. Instead of making others feel uneasy and uncomfortable, using obnoxious, hurtful words, we use kind and pleasant words to make people feel accepted.

That change is an important step. Some people are very close-minded, get offended and upset easily, but we should become more open and accepting. We should forgive easily when people apologize. We don’t even need to receive apologies; we can change our viewpoint overnight and become open and accepting. We can become humble. Don’t be arrogant, do not think too much of our status in the society.

Therefore, we have to change-- but what do we change? We need to change our perception about ourselves. The self-perception is called prejudice: the prejudice that we are always better than others…. This is the task not only of one person but of the whole community. Our community should also change. We should endlessly embrace new views and be humble. The best thing in life is to always recognize our blind spots and prejudices. The process to achieve this task is called the practice of following the Right View.

Thank you for listening to today's Dharma Espresso. I wish you a peaceful day!

Dharma Master Heng Chang

(Translated and transcribed by Compassionate Service Society)