If all we’ve managed to do in our brief life upon the earth is to lie and deceive ourselves, including others, how can our lives, eventually, not end up sad and unfulfilled?
Of course, the biggest personal lie is to believe that we have not lied and deceived ourselves; that we are basically honest and wouldn’t hurt a fly!
But if we cling to the five aggregates of physical form, feelings, perception, volitional formations (or choices) and, lastly, consciousness, all of which are the bait of Māra who is the Buddhist devil, how does this indubitable fact not make us deceivers and liars? Of course, to protect our fragile ego from this horrible verdict we deploy what is called “motivated reasoning” to prove that we are, underneath, basically honest and good. But hardly anyone is free from this bias.
Taking ourselves to a good teacher of Buddhism or a Zen master who knows their stuff, these teachers know that we are, profoundly, corrupt; that we do not even realize this despite evidence to the contrary. Teaching us, therefore, would be a waste of time without first getting us to see, for ourselves, what we really are, namely, liars and deceivers—bound to Māra. Didn’t the Buddha say to the monks that by clinging to the five aggregates one is bound by Māra (SN 22:63)? The purpose of monastic training, in one respect, is to first learn not to lie and deceive ourselves; to unbind ourselves from Māra.
Does this sound harsh and unfair? Well it’s not when what is at stake for us is either a downward sloping next rebirth or one much higher that will afford us badly needed wisdom about how the universe really works and what it is in essence. What this further implies, is that we are in no position to evaluate ourselves since we are bound down to these five aggregates; in fact, our entire social order rests upon them—not upon the truth. Thus far, we have only taken vows to Māra!
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