GREAT COMPASSION ARISES IN THE ABSENCE OF THE NOTION OF ‘SELF’
Master Jun Hong Lu: Without the notion of ‘self’, one stands to reap all virtuous rewards. If you are able to completely do away with the notion of ‘self’, you will not contend with others, hate others or commit foolish acts.
As Buddhist practitioners, especially those who wish to emulate the Bodhisattva, you must aspire to cultivate all virtues and the basis for achieving this is having no notion of ‘self’.
For example, if you aspire to be extremely compassionate and grateful towards others, it is in the spirit where your notion of ‘self’ is absent, that you give rise to a Bodhi mind.
How do you become compassionate? When you are able to feel the suffering and trouble of others and you feel pity for them.
How are you capable of this emotion? It is because your mind is not thinking about yourself, you have totally forgotten about yourself, which allows you to feel for that person. Hence, it is in the absence of the notion of ‘self’ that compassion arises.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 9 Chapter 26