Verse 14 tells us to let go of our reputation. The verse reads, “If someone broadcasts to the whole universe slanderous and ugly rumors about you, again and again, with an open and caring heart, praise his or her abilities– this is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
Again this week we have a difficult teaching. So here’s another story: years ago, I was maligned on the internet. The post went viral and spun out of control. It directly affected my reputation for years…and I imagine it still does. If you haven’t had this particular experience of strangers lying about you on the internet, it’s a doozy. It feels violating and wrong and a bit like being caught in a terrible hurricane. The loss of reputation, at least for me, feels the hardest. Despite all the ways the truth may come out over time (and it did), the damage is done, and it is permanent.
It’s really hard not to feel violent rage about something so unfair and out of your control. I confess that most days I’m not at the point of praising the person that started these rumors, or of the person who willingly spread them on a blog and delighted in the traffic. What I can say is that it taught me the impermanence of reputations. Ken McLeod says when we realize this, “Something in you lets go. You realize you cannot control the world.” Oof, there it is again. Reputation is a form of attempting to control the world, and particularly how people perceive us. And that’s a fool’s errand.
To that end, Thubten Chodron writes, “Ask yourself, ‘What happiness does reputation actually bring? What good do others’ changeable opinions about me do for me? Do they prevent me from getting sick? Do they stop me from dying? Or do they make me any closer to enlightenment?”
Well, when we see it that way, a reputation doesn’t seem worth losing our kind heart, does it?
Let go of your reputation. It is a form of false control. Focus those energies on your essence instead, your very being. Spend your time cultivating a kind heart, especially when you experience something that reminds you how precious kindness feels…and how awful and soul-draining slander and rumor-mongering feels.
