It Is None of My Concern

Master Yangshan Huiji asked Master Weishan Lingyou, “When a hundred thousand, a million phenomena arise all at once, what should be done?” “Blue is not yellow, long is not short,” said Weishan. “All dharmas abide in their own places; it is none of my concern.” Most problems arise from the self. Ordinary worldly beings can't escape the self. Everything we do is for the self. “I want this, I don’t want that, I like this, I hate that…” No matter how big or small, internal or external, things only matter once they are tied to us. If they have nothing to do with us, they are irrelevant. But while our own affairs are the most pressing to us, they are also our greatest source of distress. As long as the self exists, we treat others as objects, relate to everyone from our own standpoint, and bring distress to others in turn. When we encounter someone we like, we want to possess them, use them for our own gain. When we meet someone we don’t like, we want to push them away, resist them, cut ties with them. All of these are physical and mental behavioral reactions that arise from the self.