If we really look, so often what trips us up in our sincere quest for the Dharma and for meaning in our lives is simply attachment to the happiness of this life and the eight worldly concerns, particularly reputation. “What are people going to think of me?” If I go on a retreat and come back to work and people say, “What did you do on your vacation time?” and I say, “I went on a retreat.” They say, “You sat in a retreat for two weeks looking at your belly button? Why don’t you get a life?” Suddenly, we feel, “Uh oh, I did something wrong. Other people do not approve of what I did. They do not respect me for what I did. I have got to change my behaviour and become what they expect me to be so that I will have a good reputation. No more meditation retreats. I am going to Bali next year. Then when I come back to work after vacation and say I have gone to Bali, they will say, “Mmm, very good.” Then they will know that I am kind of rich. They will also know that I am really cultured because Bali has many different cultures and different kinds of people. They will know I am sophisticated, and blah blah blah… I will have a very good reputation in my workplace. That is much more important than my future life.”

In the mind, what are they working for? The reputation of this life. Future life? It is like, out of the picture. Future life is too abstract. Liberation and awakening are too abstract. The reputation of this life is so real. Isn’t it? What other people think of me is so real. It is so important. All this awakening business, working for the benefit of sentient beings business, is airy-fairy. It does not benefit anybody. But a good reputation… “Then my colleagues will appreciate me, they’ll respect me. My boss will too. Maybe I’ll get a good promotion, or whatever…”

All the advantages that people see in having a good reputation, how do they benefit you? A good reputation does not increase your lifespan or virtue. It does not get you closer to awakening, does not get you closer to liberation, and does not help you generate bodhicitta. So, what use is it?

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