Sep 8, 2026 · 49 min · 8 segments
 This Dhamma talk was offered on August 28, 2026 at Abhayagiri…
I mean, it's mentioned in many ways in other traditions, but maybe not quite so explicitly and definitively, often going just as far as teachings around a difference between a small self and a large self and the great self is what we're trying to develop an insight into that tends towards more of the oneness of all consciousness, a unified consciousness.
But the Buddha's teachings are quite unique in terms of offering the reflection that if there's any form of perception holding to a sense of self, no matter whether it's a small self or a large self or a self of unity with the all, expanded consciousness, that kind of a thing, if there is any kind of identification with that, then it's stopping short of what the potential for full realization is all about.
So there's a lot of different layers into what we regard as self, this self-perception that we have.
There's many, many different layers of that, all the way from the fairly coarse ways we operate with a sense of self up to the most refined, subtle manifestations of the sense of self.
And just beginning with the most coarse forms, we see it in society around us.
Certain individuals have a very strong, strong... sense of me and mine and self-obsession almost, in its coarsest, grossest form, a sense of self-obsession.
One could sometimes call it, in clinical terms, like the narcissistic personality which is evident in some of the people in high positions, whether it's in corporations or politics or religion even.
Sometimes there's this tendency for someone to become so self-absorbed that it becomes what? you know, psychology might call a narcissistic personality, someone who's completely oblivious to the existence of other people, almost, and very grandiose and very, much with a very strong sense of entitlement, self-entitlement, along with that disregard, this unawareness of other beings and how they operate in ways to constantly reinforce themselves as essentially the center of the universe.
This is probably the most extreme form of self-referencing.
And it can be very... alarming to see that in someone, particularly in people, whether they're in organizations or governments or any kind of structural setting in a position of power.
That becomes quite difficult to be with and to bear with because it's a very strong energy, a very powerful energy, and a very compelling energy.
can do a lot of damage.
So that's most extreme.
Kind of a step, maybe one step up from that is the kind of bog standard selfishness that many of us are conditioned into through our upbringing or through basic tendencies that we bring with us into this lifetime, of just that self-concern, what we use in the English language as selfishness, a kind of sense of wanting to preserve things for me, wanting to get things for myself, the acquisitional type of mind, seeking material comfort, seeking... praise and status, those kinds of things.
And ignoring, not necessarily completely ignoring other people, but placing oneself above others.
That's reinforced, particularly in Western culture.
I remember hearing the message so often as I was growing up, you've got to take care of yourself, you've got to look after yourself.
If you don't, nobody else will.
Which is a a shame because it doesn't have to be that way.
There's other ways of being brought up and you can see it in some more of the functional families and functional relationships.
And in other cultures it's emphasized much more than, say, in Western culture, the Western culture of individuality, where there's more of a sense of group responsibility, group responsiveness, that tendency to look out for each other, that encouragement to look out for each other as well as ourselves.
And so the stinginess that comes with that self-view, that get it for myself before somebody else gets it, isn't a very healthy, very comfortable view.
It isolates us, brings us into this sense of me alone rather than me as part of something, me as a part of a group.
And how...
I mean, it's mentioned in many ways in other traditions, but maybe not quite so explicitly and definitively, often going just as far as teachings around a difference between a small self and a large self and the great self is what we're trying to develop an insight into that tends towards more of the oneness of all consciousness, a unified consciousness.
But the Buddha's teachings are quite unique in terms of offering the reflection that if there's any form of perception holding to a sense of self, no matter whether it's a small self or a large self or a self of unity with the all, expanded consciousness, that kind of a thing, if there is any kind of identification with that, then it's stopping short of what the potential for full realization is all about.
So there's a lot of different layers into what we regard as self, this self-perception that we have.
There's many, many different layers of that, all the way from the fairly coarse ways we operate with a sense of self up to the most refined, subtle manifestations of the sense of self.
And just beginning with the most coarse forms, we see it in society around us.
Certain individuals have a very strong, strong... sense of me and mine and self-obsession almost, in its coarsest, grossest form, a sense of self-obsession.
One could sometimes call it, in clinical terms, like the narcissistic personality which is evident in some of the people in high positions, whether it's in corporations or politics or religion even.
Sometimes there's this tendency for someone to become so self-absorbed that it becomes what? you know, psychology might call a narcissistic personality, someone who's completely oblivious to the existence of other people, almost, and very grandiose and very, much with a very strong sense of entitlement, self-entitlement, along with that disregard, this unawareness of other beings and how they operate in ways to constantly reinforce themselves as essentially the center of the universe.
This is probably the most extreme form of self-referencing.
And it can be very... alarming to see that in someone, particularly in people, whether they're in organizations or governments or any kind of structural setting in a position of power.
That becomes quite difficult to be with and to bear with because it's a very strong energy, a very powerful energy, and a very compelling energy.
can do a lot of damage.
So that's most extreme.
Kind of a step, maybe one step up from that is the kind of bog standard selfishness that many of us are conditioned into through our upbringing or through basic tendencies that we bring with us into this lifetime, of just that self-concern, what we use in the English language as selfishness, a kind of sense of wanting to preserve things for me, wanting to get things for myself, the acquisitional type of mind, seeking material comfort, seeking... praise and status, those kinds of things.
And ignoring, not necessarily completely ignoring other people, but placing oneself above others.
That's reinforced, particularly in Western culture.
I remember hearing the message so often as I was growing up, you've got to take care of yourself, you've got to look after yourself.
If you don't, nobody else will.
Which is a a shame because it doesn't have to be that way.
There's other ways of being brought up and you can see it in some more of the functional families and functional relationships.
And in other cultures it's emphasized much more than, say, in Western culture, the Western culture of individuality, where there's more of a sense of group responsibility, group responsiveness, that tendency to look out for each other, that encouragement to look out for each other as well as ourselves.
And so the stinginess that comes with that self-view, that get it for myself before somebody else gets it, isn't a very healthy, very comfortable view.
It isolates us, brings us into this sense of me alone rather than me as part of something, me as a part of a group.
And how...
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