The Idea of "Be Yourself" is Nonsense

Xuefeng

March 23, 2021

There are a lot of expressions of "be yourself" on the Internet and in WeChat groups, which means not to compare yourself with others, not to listen to others' opinions about yourself, and not to imitate others, but to live as who you are and live your life yourself.

The thought is good, and the purpose is right, but it's an unattainable aspiration.

First, "you" is difficult to determine. This is an ambiguous concept that can neither be quantified nor clearly defined. "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" "Where will I go?" Without solving these three problems, how can I find "myself"?

From the perspective of reincarnation, some people may be reincarnated from pigs. "Being yourself" and "be yourself" means continuing to live as a pig. Some people may be reincarnated from rats, and "being yourself" means to be a rat. So, where are you from? "Being yourself" means "go back to where you came from".

People are the products of society, and social changes will lead to changes in people. For example, with communication, people used to send letters delivered by people or delivered on horseback. Later, it was conducted by the post office and then by telephone. Today, communication depends on the Internet, WeChat, and video channels. I wonder what kind of communication does "become yourself" use? Can you not change with the changes in society? How can you "be yourself"?

People are malleable and flexible. No one knows what kind of person he will become in his lifetime. Ask the prisoners in a prison if they had planned to be prisoners before they were imprisoned? Ask Hitler if he had made the choice to become the culprit of World War II? Are they trying to "be themselves"? Or haven’t they "become themselves"?

"Being yourself" has a terrible consequence, that is, to isolate oneself from society, to live in the state of “beauty" that you have imagined, entertaining yourself without knowing that danger is approaching you, to feel that you have become a buddha or a celestial, indulging in self-intoxication and self-delusion, but the actual situation is that you have been abandoned by society.

The reality is, "I cannot become myself", I must abide by the laws that control society, I must abide by the current social operating rules, I can't lose my temper and kill people if I wish to. I must compromise when I should, retreat when it's time to retreat, I cannot just go my own way. I cannot help but consider the feelings of people around me. If people around me hate me and I still stubbornly choose to "be myself", then am I a granite-headed walking dead?

Other things that cannot be quantified and clearly defined are "conscience", "mind", " self-nature", "love" and so on. These are deceptive concepts. Such as "conscience". Who can quantify and define conscience? Who knows whether someone’s conscience is red or black? The best way is not to talk about good or bad conscience, but deal with each other in accordance with the contractual relationship. For example, with "self-nature", what is self-nature? In the so-called perfect self-nature, all things are the manifestation of our nature, these all cannot be quantified and clearly defined. How do we perfect our nature? Can our nature produce ten thousand kinds of dharma or not? If yes, please show it to everyone. Another example is "love". Originally, love is just a state of LIFE. Once love is spoken from the mouth, it is no longer love. When you say "I love you", how do you love? Is it that you will give me 10 million dollars or a bouquet of roses? Or will you wash my feet? Or cook me a potato to eat? Words that sound beautiful may just be deceptive tricks.

In western society, there is no Buddhism, no Wang Yangming, no Rinpoche, no Karmapa, but there are many Nobel Prize winners. It is easy to be a master in the East, but it is not easy to be a Nobel Prize winner, because the former can play with concepts. Whoever plays with the concept well enough can be a master, but the latter must be rigorous, meticulous, and must work hard.

"Being yourself" can go to hell! Abandoning yourself is the correct path.

We welcome the birth of craftsmen, scientists, sages, and people who are unselfish and selfless to work for the happiness of the working people.