大心

It occurs to me that many times in the Zen tradition there's lots of people who speak of "Big Mind." Big Mind this, Big Mind that, my body was dead but Big Mind was there, yada yada yada.

It occurs to me that it might be better phrased as "Big Heart," because there's lots of snake oil salesmen that will attempt to sell you "Big Mind" as "Big Power," when in reality what is needed is a cure for a sickness, manifested in greed, hatred and ignorance.


This occurs to me because of what can only be called an extreme condition of intoxication by the 3 poisons:

Almost everyone has some narcissistic traits, but being conceited, argumentative, or selfish sometimes (or even all the time) doesn't amount to a personality disorder. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a long-term pattern of abnormal thinking, feeling, and behavior in many different situations. The traits on this page will seem peculiar or disturbing when someone acts this way -- i.e., you will know that something is not right, and contact with narcissists may make you feel bad about yourself. It's not unusual for narcissists to be outstanding in their field of work. But these are the successful people who have a history of alienating colleagues, co-workers, employees, students, clients, and customers -- people go away mad or sad after close contact with narcissists...

Narcissicism is a personality disorder and that means that narcissists' personalities aren't organized in a way that makes sense to most people, so the notes below do not necessarily go in the order I've listed them or in any order at all. Interaction with narcissists is confusing, even bewildering -- their reasons for what they do are not the same as normal reasons. In fact, treating them like normal people (e.g., appealing to their better nature, as in "Please have a heart," or giving them the chance to apologize and make amends) will make matters worse with a narcissist.

That's the issue: Please have a heart.

You look at plethoras of "gurus" and "teachers" on the net, and invariably - perhaps especially when the presence of "Big Mind" is touted, there is missing 大心, or any heart at all for that matter.

Please. Have a heart.