Without sentient beings, a bodhisattva cannot attain Buddhahood. For this reason, we should be grateful to everyone. If we have not helped them, we should make it a point to do so; if we feel we have done something for them, we should be thankful for such opportunities. In any case, we should be grateful. Such an attitude will help prevent a great deal of pride and arrogance.

It is easy for greed, anger, arrogance and hatred to arise in us. Greed arises from wanting more of what one already has and wanting what other people have. To be miserly is a product of greed: what is my own I am unwilling to give away.

Anger comes from not having things the way we want them to be; it can arise when something or someone blocks our way. Envy and hate come when we cannot get what we want. Hatred can also arise when someone is different from us, or too much like us. Arrogance, which grows out of pride, can arise if we think we have some kind of spiritual attainment or other ability.

These feelings come up because our self-centeredness causes vexation after vexation to come into our lives. If we let them happen without check or awareness, then we are not practicing. If we can put sentient beings before ourselves, our self-centeredness will lessen.