Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Deviant Thinking Gives Rise to Greed, Anger and Ignorance(貪瞋癡邪妄思惟)
In learning Buddhism, we need to learn to tame our mind, and eliminate even the slightest afflictions. We have already spoken much about afflictions. They all arise from the Threefold Karma created through acts of body, speech and mind. However, the ultimate source is the mind, our state of mind or inner world.
If our state of mind is evil, then evil thought will continuously replicate and create enmities and disasters so we become more entrenched in evil. This is how ordinary people behave. We have afflictions because we have not tamed our minds. The mind comes in contact with external conditions, thus we create defiled attachments. Defiled attachments are truly a cause for concern.
Look at a piece of white cloth. If we accidentally stain it with another color, it is difficult to wash so as to make it completely white again. This is called a deep penetration. We are so immersed in evil that eradicating it from our minds will be difficult. This is called defiled attachment.
Defiled attachment leads to Threefold Karma. The ignorant karma of the Three Poisons leads to the deep penetration of evil.
Defiled attachment arises when our thoughts or mindsets are not upright. That leads to deviant and false thinking. When the mind is deviant, false thoughts will continuously arise. Therefore, our thinking can truly become a seed of karma. Deviant thinking is the cause. Defiled attachments are the conditions.
When there are causes, there are conditions. Wealth, lust, fame, profit are conditions that tempt our minds. If we are seduced by them, we will dwell in them and become more deeply penetrated by them. Defiled attachments create those conditions. Therefore when we are presented with wealth, beauty, fame and food, a state of greed arises in our minds.
Once we are greedy, be it for money or beauty, the body can easily create karma by killing. This is especially true with our greed for food. It is for this physical body. Under unfavorable circumstances, when things do not go our way, we may give rise to anger. This happens when our thinking comes in contact with conditions. So under unfavorable conditions, the mind gives rise to evil and angry thoughts.
I once saw a news report about a man who loaded 15 tanks of gasoline onto his vehicle and rammed it into the Ministry of Transportation. An explosion erupted at the building entrance and fire engulfed the courtyard. This was close to the Office of the President, so everyone was very nervous. Around 200 policemen, military police and firefighters rushed to the scene. This seems like a form of suicidal violence.
It appears that this man had a history of being on the wrong side of the law. At that time he felt he should leave that environment, that way of life. He was willing to change, so he took a job as a truck driver. But he still could not control those bad habits, his anger, his bad temper. He was also impetuous. Thus, his behaviors tended to be very extreme. He drove quickly so he often got ticketed by the police from the Ministry of Transportation. Perhaps this led to his pent-up anger and hatred.
This is how unfavorable circumstances can stir up inner anger and rage. When these thoughts arise, people are apt to be impulsive. Once there is impulsive behavior, it may result in very regrettable actions.
I have often said, and this is recorded in the Jing Si Aphorisms, “Losing our temper is a temporary insanity”. When we lose our temper, our minds are covered by ignorance so we are lost internally and externally. Angry thoughts are truly worrisome. Anger is a habitual tendency.
Human nature is innately good. Although this man led an errant life in his youth, later in life, he wanted to reform, to turn away from evil toward good. He wanted to settle down with a proper job. Yet his habitual tendency took control. To subdue a habit can relatively difficult. If he was in an environment where he was surrounded by good people, I believe he would have had many opportunities to reform himself.
So if we do not take good care of the mind, when we are faced with evil or unfavorable circumstances, we will give rise to anger. Or we may encounter neutral circumstances which are not particularly good or enticing. There is no fame or wealth to gain. These are everyday circumstances that are neutral, not particularly good or bad. Our state of mind at this time is very much characterized by ignorance.
This means we are deluded, do not understand the Truth, and cannot discern good from bad. Though things are neutral, ignorance is still present. And once external conditions appear, we will be easily drawn toward them. This is called ignorance.
Ignorance causes us to not understand the Truth and lose our ability to discern good from evil. It leads us toward deviant behavior.
During the outbreak of SARS, many people were in a panic. People feared for their safety. When they heard a rumor that SARS patients were at a particular hospital, they become fearful and passed on false rumors. Those rumors spread widely and consumed everyone with fear. Some people dared not go to hospital. Not daring to go to the hospital when ill is also a form of ignorance.
At the Tzu Chi hospital in Hualien, there was a patient who came in for Emergency care. The diagnostic X-ray revealed nothing. He went home and returned the next day for another X-ray. Again, they found nothing wrong. But he was feverish his body twitched, and he felt a slight chill. These symptoms resembled those of SARS. When the X-ray was taken, nothing was there. But after a few hours, his symptoms did not improve so another X-ray was taken. The image of his lungs was completely opaque. So doctors immediately treated him.
Throughout the process, the staff constantly reported that they kept everyone sate. Our medical staff took very strict precautions. Though this person passed away the following day, people in Haulien were shocked. Everyone was in fear. Not only were they afraid of the hospital, parents were even scared of sending their children to our schools. I was baffled. The patient was in the hospital. The children were in the school. What were they afraid of?
Then I realized that they feared the other students who were the children of our Hospital staff. These parents were afraid to have their children at the same school as children of our hospital staff. Once something like this happens, fear colors their thoughts. They focused only on their own children. They didn’t think that when these things happen in Hualien, we should be more aware more aware, and think of how to remain calm and take preventive measures. This is what they needed to do.
On a lighter note, there was a 66-year-old man. Who we a rushed to our Emergency Room with a serious heart attack Asst. Superintendent Dr. Wang Zhi-hong performed a catheterization to put a stent in his heart. He recovered well and was discharged. He was scheduled to return for follow-up visits. However, during this period of time, whenever he came back for the follow-up exams, he was terribly scared.
He did return for two follow-ups. He was quite creative. He wore a rain poncho inside his shirt, essentially wrapping his chest in plastic. But it was really hot. So what did he do? He poked holes in the plastic for airflow. He thought he was a genius. He came back recently, sought out Asst. Supt. Wang Zhi-hong and said, “I’m scared to death to come here, you know? Last time, I didn’t dare tell you. Look, I’m wearing this plastic wrap inside. It only cost NT$15 and it can protect me.” Since he had a heart attack, he protected his chest area. He said, “It’s only NT$15 so I can just throw it away when I get home. But it protects my health.” He also wore two face masks. The inner one was a regular mask. The one over it was an N95 mask.
Seeing him like this Dr. Wang shock his head and said, “What are you afraid of? You can be perfectly safe with one mask if you wear it properly.” The old man told him, “I am not the only one who is scared. My friend also had a heart attack but he is afraid to go to the hospital for treatment. If he has a heart attack, he will go to a pharmacy for over-the-counter drugs.”
Dr. Wang told him, “Please don’t do that. You are my patient. Don’t let me down. When it is time for a follow- up, you must come back I’ve invested a lot in taking care of you. Look at how healthy you are now. You need to come back for your appointments. Tell your friend not to buy his own medicine. That may harm him.”
In this particular circumstance, the man was not acting out of greed or anger. However, he was not free from ignorance. Everyone, we can clearly see his ignorance in this situation. We must be free of this type of ignorance. We need to uphold our fundamental responsibilities. As Buddhist practitioners, we must fulfill our responsibilities. Our responsibility as a Buddhist is to safeguard our minds. Do not be inflected by spiritual viruses. The virus in this case is affliction.
Afflictions begin with greed, anger and ignorance. They arise from deviant thinking. If our perspectives and thinking are deviant, external conditions will cause defiled attachments to arise in our minds. Ordinary people think that having fame, wealth, status is most wonderful, so they become greedy. Unfavorable circumstances make us angry so we lose our temper and act out. Meanwhile, under neutral, normal circumstances, our minds are covered by ignorance. If we are ignorance, we do not understand Truth. If we are deluded, we blindly believe whatever we hear and react accordingly. This is very worrisome for our society.
So to have a peaceful and stable society, we need to start by eliminating ignorance. If we do so, we can tame our anger. When we can subdue our anger, similarly, we can subdue our greed.
Ignorance prevents us from knowing Truth. If it is eliminated, our anger can be tamed and our greed can be subdued. Then society will be peaceful and stable.
So in all, ignorance is the scariest of the Three Poisons. After ignorance is anger, then greed. However, these are all problems of the mind. We must be very mindful and eliminate ignorant thoughts. Do not say, “I am not greedy, I don’t get angry, so I am already well-cultivated.
Let me tell you something, ignorance arises without our awareness, under neutral conditions. Often it is without our awareness that we let our ignorance crate afflictions. So, everyone, please always be mindful.
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