Verse 33 of the 37 Verses of a Bodhisattva teaches us: don’t believe the hype. It reads,

Reward and respect cause us to quarrel
And make hearing, thinking and meditation decline.
For this reason give up attachment to
The households of friends, relations and benefactors—
This is the practice of bodhisattvas.

Verse 33

Here’s the problem: when everyone sings your praises, you lose sight of what’s real. You start to believe your own hype, and you know what they say. Pride comes before the fall. So get ready and watch out.

Nobody can live on a cloud of praise. It’s unsure footing. It’s cotton candy. Praise is fickle, and it fades. So don’t believe the hype. Stay grounded in your purpose. That’s where the solidity resides.

Here’s what else happens when we get high on the praise of others: we become competitive, jealous, and petty. That’s when we know we’ve let all of this go to our head, because we feel like we have something at stake, something to protect. A vanishing cloud of human attention. This is why Carl Jung suggested shoveling poop after you receive a lot of praise or attention. It prevents inflation because it grounds you right back into the everyday mess of things. There are plenty of ways we can do that, and all of them work.

It feels important to mention that this verse also carries some political history with it. Benefactors and patrons have always been part of how bodhisattvas and monastics have lived. But sometimes, the loyalty that comes with the paycheck also comes with an expectation of political allegiance. It’s not unlike lobbyists today, who pour tons of cash into political campaigns and then expect legislation to go their way. Obviously, there’s not a lot of moral high ground to this. Our hearing, thinking, and meditation decline because we’re too preoccupied with keeping up appearances. When this happens, consider finding the shovel. 🙂 As Thubten Chodron says, “We cannot become a real spiritual practitioner if we rely on these wrong ways of earning our livelihood that seek material possessions, honor and reputation.”

Ken McLeod says it so clearly when he writes, “Wealth, status, recognition and influence- these are what drive you in your life. All of these, in one way or another, are driven by a fear of death. Yet when you actually come face to face with death, these are the very things that fall away.”

Consider what matters to you beyond the passing cloud of human attention and praise. Set your feet on solid ground, and work for the kind of treasure that doesn’t rot or fade. This is the work of a bodhisattva.