The Fierce Race: Do You Know You Are Losing Every Day?

Have you ever felt that despite practicing and doing good deeds, you still feel restless, still feel superior to others? There is a race taking place right within our own mind/heart, a race that most of us are completely unaware of, and it determines our next life as well. It is the race between the ego and non-self (anatta).

The Ego and Non-Self: Who Is Winning?

Venerable Thích Chân Quang opens his dharma talk with the story of the tortoise and the hare. Everyone knows the lesson about complacency. But he points out a painful truth: in the race between the ego and non-self (anatta), we are usually the tortoise—slow, and complacent on top of that, distracted by worldly pleasures. Meanwhile, the ego is the hare, running very fast and never complacent. It quietly grows every day, fed by factors that seem harmless.

"We are in a fierce race without knowing it—a race between the ego and non-self (anatta)."

The Secret Ingredients That Feed the Ego

Did you know that even time itself is an enemy? The older you grow, the higher your position, the more you feel superior to others. That is the ego. A good environment, good upbringing, studying many teachings, performing much merit—all these good things, without awareness, become a "murderous knife" silently feeding the self.

"The good things we receive suddenly become harmful things that make our ego grow."

The teacher emphasizes that even meditating incorrectly can increase the ego. If we control the breath instead of simply knowing it clearly, we are using the will of the ego. After ten years of practice, our meditative concentration may be deep, but the ego remains fully intact—perhaps even larger.

The Ego Runs Deeper Than Concentration

This is a very subtle point. Some people sit in meditation and experience body and mind as empty, and believe they have attained the way. In truth, the ego still remains very large behind it all, deeper than that very layer of concentration.

"Our ego runs deeper than our concentration. So the person who sits in meditation, whose mind becomes concentrated, and who then sees body and mind as completely empty... that person is a person of great ego."

So how can we win? The teacher points out the path: we must meditate correctly, contemplating the body's impermanence (anicca)—that is the first hammer striking at the root of self-grasping. From correct meditative concentration, we will see that wealth, reputation, praise and blame are not us. And from there, virtue and merit naturally arise in our lives.

The Second Race: Economics and Morality

The race takes place not only within the mind/heart but across all of society. Everyone chases material things and economic success. But if a person has much money without morality, they will indulge in pleasure, become selfish, and fall into degradation. That is a certain formula.

"A person with great wealth but no morality will surely indulge in pleasure, fall into selfishness and degradation, and create wrongdoing."

How to Win the Race?

Begin with correct meditative concentration—contemplating the body's impermanence (anicca). That is the foundation. From there, live in harmony, respect, and love everyone without discrimination. When we no longer see anything as "mine," we can accomplish both great and small tasks, unafraid of hardship or lowliness. That is when the Dharma and daily life become one.

"The Dharma becomes life. Life itself is the Dharma—the Dharma is no longer separate from life."

Ask yourself: with each passing day, is my ego growing or shrinking? Without awareness, we are losing every day. But now that we know the race is on, let us begin today. Sit in meditation, contemplate the body's impermanence (anicca), and live with humility and love. That is the only way to avoid becoming the dog in the teacher's story—or worse, a human life filled with suffering (dukkha).