Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Harmonious Minds, Harmonious Society (社會祥和人心和)
When we are peaceful at every moment, we lead very fortunate lives. To live in simplicity and harmony is a blessing. How can we lead simple and harmonious lives? There is only one way. We must adjust our mindset.
If we are kind-hearted, the world is like Heaven, like a Pure Land, where we live among Bodhisattvas. If we can get along with and love each other, the world will be like one big family. We treat each other as close friends or loved ones. Wouldn’t a world like this always be peaceful? This arises from kind and loving thoughts. A world like this would be like Heaven, like a Pure Land.
So we must always foster thoughts of kindness. This section of the text says, “From Beginningless Time until now, we may have called people to arms and crossed swords on the battlefield.”
Those conditions are very different from the ones I just mentioned. The conditions described by this passage remind us that since Beginningless Time, from some unknown date until now, we may have issued “calls to arms” or “crossed swords on the battlefield.” Perhaps in past lives we had this mentality. Small disputes occur between individuals. When people do not get along, they form groups to fight each other. Big disputes are between factions in society. Even bigger disputes are between larger factions within the nation.
What happens when they fight? They create open conflict and war. Even worse than that is war between countries. I often say, “Pray for a world free of disasters. Pray that society can be peaceful.” How can there be peace when there are factions? If people are in conflict, society will be in chaos. If countries remain in conflict, it will lead to war between those countries. At that level, manmade disasters will continuously arise.
So, since Beginningless Time, in who knows which lifetimes, we created this kind of karma, a tendency to cause problems for ourselves and others. This passage tells us about the origin of anger and hatred in our minds. That is why we always say we must take good care of our minds and never let greed, anger and ignorance arise.
The next part of the text says, “We may have led two forces to oppose, harm and kill each other. We may have killed or led others to kill and were happy to hear of the killings.”
These are manmade disasters. Consider the modern era. Look at how many countries in this world have created floods of refugees. What did those refugees ever do? They were innocent. They were good and honest citizens. But political ambitions led to war between countries or struggles between factions. When different factions fight within a country, the citizens become refugees.
Consider the Middle East, Afghanistan, and the many countries with wave after wave of refugees. How many people have suffered these disasters? This is leading two forces to oppose each other. Whether one country is invading another or dealing with internal unrest, when a country is in chaos, many innocent people suffer. They “harm and kill each other.”
Whether they are doing the killing themselves, or commanding others to kill, they are “happy to hear of the deaths.” These mindsets are truly poisonous. They cause tragedies to proliferate ceaselessly. So how do we subdue the chaos in these degenerate times? It depends on our minds. If we can foster love and harmony in our minds, society will be peaceful and trouble-free. If we have negative or evil thoughts, there will be chaos in our relationships, chaos in our families, and then chaos in society, followed by chaos throughout the country. This all begins with a single thought. If we have unkind thoughts, there will be chaos.
In the Era of Degeneracy, the world will be in chaos.If we can nurture the love in our hearts with harmony and unity, society will be at peace.
Sages think about the big picture, about how to stop all the conflicts. How can we judge everything fairly? Honestly, if everyone fights until he is proven right, there will be a long series of battles. What kind of logic will prove both parties right? It is difficult.
One day, in Confucius’s time, Yan-Hui wanted to buy something on the street. He passed the market and saw people surrounding a cloth vendor’s stand and arguing. Yan-Hui approached them “Why are you arguing so angrily?”
The person selling cloth said, “There are three yards of fabric, each yard costs eight coins, so three yards cost 24 coins.”
But the buyer said, “You’re wrong, Three times eight is 23.”
The seller said, “No. Three times eight is clearly24.”
But the buyer kept saying, “It’s 23.”
They looked for someone to render a judgment. Does three times eight equal 24 or 23?
Yan-Hui was taught by Confucius so he bravely came forward. He said, “Mr. Buyer, the seller’s calculation is correct. Three times eight is 24.”
But the buyer was firm, “It is definitely 23.” He kept arguing and could not accept otherwise.
Then he said, “You are Confucius’ disciple. You keep saying it’s 24. I say it’s 23. Let’s ask Confucius to settle this. If I lose, I’ll cut off my head and give it to you.”
Yan-Hui said, “Fine, Let’s ask Confucius. If I lose, I’ll give you my hat.”
So they went to Confucius and told him the story.
Confucius listened and said, “I understand.” He told Yan-Hui, “Three times eight is 23. You lose. Take off your hat and give it to him.”
Yan-Hui could not accept this. “Clearly the answer is 24, why did he say it’s 23? But Confucius is my teacher, and he hold me to hand over my hat.”
So he took it off and gave it to the man. The buyer felt he was vindicated, so he was happy. He left very proudly.
After he left, Yan-Hui asked Confucius, “Why did you keep saying that I lost? I clearly won. It’s 24. Why did you say that I lost?”
Confucius said, “You lost. Three time eight equals 24 is correct. But if you lost, you would only lose a hat. If the other man lost, he would lose his life. In the grand scheme of things, we must not harm life. This way we can all be happy. Doesn’t this resolve the issue?”
Yes, how do we judge in a way that makes everyone happy? The truth is clear, but people still want to debate forcefully even though they clearly know they are wrong. Everyone knows that three times eight is 24, but he stubbornly argued about it. With such an unreasonable person, if you insist on being right you will create conflict. The dispute would continue unceasingly.
Some people cannot tell right from wrong. Not only that, even if they know they are wrong, they still want to fight about it. So in life, winning or losing is nothing to fight over, but we have to teach people to be reasonable and have a conscience. That is very important. If they lose their conscience, they use intelligence to satisfy their greed. In a transaction, the calculations are clear. But they crave an advantage, a small amount of money, so they behave unreasonably toward reasonable people.
So what do you do with someone like this? They already have greedy and evil thoughts. They already have those bad habits. In this instance, do not argue with them.
When the Buddha was about to enter Nirvana, Ananda asked Him, “Even while You are alive, there are these six undisciplined monks who do not accept Your teachings. How can we train them after You enter Parinirvana?”
The Buddha said, “Use compassion to guide them. If that does not work, let them be.” That means ignore them.
When the Buddha was alive and teaching, He was also helpless with these stubborn monks. He could not control them, so He just ignored them. Among His disciples was Devadatta. He tried to incite people in the Sangha and invited them to join his faction. They rebelled against the Buddha. How could anyone make them see reason?
So, the Buddha just sighed. Parasites in a lion will kill it, no matter ferocious the lion is. Many beasts run away when they hear a lion’s roar. When a lion comes, many beasts avoid it. But on the body of this lion, there are fleas and lice. These kinds of bugs live on other animals. They live on the lion and eat its flesh.
Think about it, the world is also like this. We always try to do our best, because the Buddha said that human minds have a nature equal to the Buddha’s intrinsic nature. But since Beginningless Time, our habitual tendencies have not been subdued. So, we must pass [the teachings] down through the generations. We must continue to spread and share this truth, so it will enter people’s minds. This is the only way to help stubborn sentient beings.
People who understand the truth will follow the principles. Those people can tame their minds and will naturally develop kind hearts. If many people are kind, society will be like Heaven, like a Pure Land. With kindness, people can get along and be harmonious and loving. This can happen in our world. Then people will treat each other like family, like very close friends. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
The truth can teach people to be good. If we are all good, aren’t we all Bodhisattvas? So with this goodness we must practice and teach others to practice. This is our responsibility, our mission. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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