Good morning everyone! Welcome to today's Dharma Espresso.

Yesterday we said, "Prejudice lives longer than right view.”  

In other words, right view dies faster than prejudice. Prejudice is a viewpoint. In the beginning, it uses much of our energy. But once a prejudice is formed, we keep repeating that view or that thought, so it no longer requires much energy from us.  

In the beginning, right view is also difficult to build. For a right view to arise, much energy is required. First, the energy of the right view must overcome the power of the prejudice. Secondly, once it has transcended, it has to stand firmly on its own. Thus, a right view oftentimes requires much more energy than a prejudice does. For example, someone made us lose face, so we get angry. Once we get hurt, we treat that person like an enemy we have to retaliate. We begin to form other biases about that person: He's not good; he badmouthed me; he wants to ruin me, etc.  

Those thoughts are gradually built up into prejudices which were built on our hurt feeling, anger, and resentment. In the beginning, we didn't pay attention to these prejudices which entered us quietly and stayed inside us. When we met that person again, we easily saw him as a wicked or bad person. Later on, after a few more unexpected encounters, our view about him got clearer and clearer. He is indeed a wicked person. He hasn't changed a bit. We begin to see wickedness in his habits and in everything he does.  

Those biases, perceptions, and thoughts were formed from our acute hurt feelings from the time he criticized us or scolded us. Those biases gradually turn into prejudices. We start to gossip about that person, whom he went with, whom he talked to, etc. We do that for venting and for self-justifying. That is when we get stuck in our prejudice. No matter how much that person improves, or even if he asks for forgiveness, it is still difficult for us to form a new view about him.  

Months and years may pass, that person may change, may have done good things for society, and may have even asked forgiveness, we still cannot easily change our view about him to a right view. If someone says something good about him, we would only agree reluctantly and still feel uncomfortable deep inside us, still think bad about him. We then try to contradict the good story about our enemy. Hence, it is very difficult to raise energy for the right view. Once the energy of prejudice is well-established deep inside us, it is indestructible. Gradually and unknowingly, we become a person full of prejudices.  

When the Buddha talked about liberation, we should not think about faraway places like Nirvana or the pure land of boundless light. No, we are liberated only when we have eliminated our prejudices and destroyed our own boundaries that we have built for ourselves. Our house is always empty and large. Now if we put a pile of things there, they stay put there. Once we invite a guest to our house, give him a bedroom, and feed him, he wouldn't want to go anywhere else. Whatever stuff we purchased, do we realize they are only for temporary use? -No! When we acquire things, we think they are ours for good. And they are not just prejudices but also things that burden our life and keep us from being free. Our house, our rooms should be empty and clear; instead, they are full of garbage. After a while, we are so used to it and don't even think that we have to throw it out. No, we are so accustomed to keeping it. There are prejudices we can see clearly in front of us, and there are people who told us about our wrong views regarding that person, but we ignore them all. The prejudices keep staying with us through the years, and like wrinkles on our face, impossible to erase. Consequently, our life gets heavier and more burdened. Prejudices are heavy burdens. Therefore, we should find a way to gradually recognize our prejudices and our wrong views to let go of them one by one, not all at once. The act of gradually letting go is tremendous. It is the act of liberation. To let go is to be liberated.  

Forming right view also takes a lot of energy. We can do it eventually, but we should begin some place. Maybe we should begin with our feeling of acute pain when we talk about a certain person. That acute pain should be our beginning place. We know we should change our viewpoint about that person. As living beings, we can all change. If others don't change, we should accept them. That acceptance leads us to embrace and accept the fact that we also make mistakes, that we are not always right.  

Thank you all for listening to today's Dharma Espresso. I wish you a happy day.

Dharma Master Heng Chang
(Translated and transcribed by Compassionate Service Society)