Be an Honest Human Being

2007/12/22 15:26:13

Just finished lunch—wine here, wine there, so very Chinese.

The most pitiable people in this world are not those clinking glasses amidst the wine, but those who fancy themselves transcendent and above it all, devoid of any human warmth.

A human being, first and foremost, must eat, drink, shit, and piss—that is what it means to be human. Yet people always crave inhuman pursuits, and behind every inhuman pursuit lies nothing but hypocrisy and deceit.

Humans, of course, can achieve extraordinary things, but never apart from eating, drinking, shitting, and pissing. Don't think that by pilfering a few Buddhist phrases, you've somehow transcended humanity. Since you manifest in human form, you are drawn by human karma—or perhaps you willingly threw yourself into it, to play within it.

Therefore, a human being is first and foremost human. Be an honest human being—that is true cultivation.

Manifesting through human karma, yet not being dragged along by it—like a goose passing over a lake, like wind moving across water.

Humanity—greed, anger, delusion, doubt, arrogance—how endearing it all is.