Being A Jerk

There is no being-a-jerk apart from what you actually do. Being-a-jerk doesn't vanish as if it were a thing in and of itself. You just stop doing jerk-type things.

Some people think being-a-jerk arises out of past causes and conditions but don't see how they themselves are those causes and conditions. Those guys are pretty sad cases. The seeds of Buddhahood also come from causes and conditions. Jerk-type actions neither exist nor don't exist. evil doesn't exist or not exist. It is either done or not done.

---Master Dogen, as paraphrased by Brad Warner---