Layman Mingru: The basic characteristics of good and evil

All living beings in the world are busy and pursuing happiness, but what they get in the end is nothing more than unforgettable pain. What is the reason?The only reason is that you do not know the cause and effect and do not understand good and evil."Don't know the cause and effect" means not knowing the truth that "no good and good are the only way to bring good and evil, and the reward of good and evil is like a shadow following the body";"Don't understand good and evil" means that although you know that "fortune and good are caused by good and evil in your heart", you are either confused and ignorant in your heart, or you are confused and confused, believing good as evil, and be good as good, or even though you have knowledge, you are hesitant in your heart and unable to choose good or evil.

Therefore, if you don’t understand good and evil in your heart, even if you are busy and hard, you will only get pain in the end.A wise man should temporarily stop the so-called "busy affairs" in his hands and spend time carefully thinking about "what is good and what is evil". Only by deeply understanding good and evil and choosing good and evil can hard work be meaningful, and only by getting rid of suffering and happiness can one be possible.

We know that in the future, three thoughts of body, speech and mind that will bring peace to oneself and others are called good;In the future, three thoughts of body, speech and mind that will bring pain to oneself and others are called evil.It is far from enough to just know the definition of good and evil. We also need to observe good and evil from multiple perspectives.Only by having enough knowledge of good and evil can one develop faith in good and evil in one’s heart, and only by having faith can one truly choose good and evil.

What kind of thoughts will cause pain to oneself and others?What kind of thoughts will bring peace to oneself and others?In other words, what kind of thought is evil and what kind of thought is good?The saints from ancient times to the present agree that the thought of only thinking about their temporary happiness is evil;The thought of not thinking about one's temporary happiness, but thinking about others' temporary and ultimate happiness is good.For example, the "Stage of the Path to Enlightenment of the Path to Enlightenment" says: "Love oneself becomes the cause of suffering, and loving oneself is the root of all good things", which means that loving oneself and only considering one's own escape from suffering and gaining happiness is evil, and the source of all suffering;Not thinking about oneself and the temporary and ultimate happiness of others is the foundation of all good.

《A case recorded in the Four Lessons of Levant-of-Life" says that in the past, several scholars visited Zen Master Zhongfeng, and they asked in confusion: "In Buddhism, it is said that 'The reward of good and evil is like a shadow', but we see: someone is kind, but his descendants are not prosperous;But someone is very evil, but his family is prosperous. It seems that the principle that the Buddha said that "the reward of good and evil is like a shadow to follow" is unreliable.”

At that time, Zen Master Zhongfeng replied to them: "All emotions have not been cleansed, and the eyes have not been opened. It is often true that good is considered evil and evil is considered good.Don’t you regret your own right and wrong, but blame the heavens for their retribution?"It means that the "self-attachment and troubles" in ordinary people's hearts cannot be purified, so it is impossible to get the correct conclusion when observing things falling into personal paranoia. Therefore, it is common to regard good as evil and refer to evil as good.Why don’t you assert that your understanding of good and evil is inverted, and complain or doubt that there are mistakes in cause and effect?

Everyone said dissatisfiedly: "Why do you say that our perception of good and evil is inverted?”So Zen Master Zhongfeng asked them to talk about the good and evil they understood in their hearts.One person said, "Swearing and beating is evil, respecting and respecting others is good."Zen Master Zhongfeng replied: "It may not be so."It means that scolding and beating people may not be evil, and respecting others may not be good. You have not grasped the essence of good and evil.One person also said, "Greedy and reckless in taking money is evil, integrity and preservation is good." Zen Master Zhongfeng also replied, "It may not be so."In this way, everyone expressed their views on good and evil, and Zen Master Zhongfeng replied, "It may not be so."

So everyone asks Zen Master Zhongfeng what is good and evil?Zen Master Zhongfeng told everyone: "It is good for people;Benefiting oneself is evil."It means that the body, speech and mind that are good for the purpose of altruism are good;The body, speech and mind that are used for selfish selfish motives is evil.

In this case, Zen Master Zhongfeng told us that the basic characteristic of evil is selfishness, and the basic characteristic of good is altruism, and we must know this.With altruistic motivation and a realistic way of observing, swearing and beating people will help others temporarily and ultimately benefit others. Then beating and scolding people is also good at this time. For example, in order to repent to the evil deeds of his disciple Milarepa and cultivate his inner patience, Master Marpa beats and scolds him, and this is actually a great good;To treat others with selfishness, it is actually to please others in order to make profits for themselves. This is evil. For example, some people in society now express respect by giving gifts to their leaders, but in fact they want to use the rights in the hands of leaders to make their leaders violate the rules recognized by everyone and seek personal gain for themselves. This is actually a great evil.Therefore, good and evil are not external, but only in the inner motivation and purpose are altruistic or self-interest.

《The Four Lessons of Life also says: "If you want to accumulate good deeds, you must never give your ears and eyes. Only from the hidden secrets of the heart and wash them silently. It is purely the heart to save the world, so it is the end;If you have a slight charm to the world, it will be a song.If it is purely a loving heart, it is the end;If you have a slight indignation in the world, it will be a song.If it is purely respectful to others, it is the end;If you have a slight sense of playing around, it is a song.All should be carefully distinguished."It means that whenever you want to accumulate good deeds, you must never just take care of other people's eyes and ears, that is, do things that make people look or sound beautiful, but should silently cleanse the selfishness that is difficult to be noticed by yourself and others from the bottom of your heart.If the motivation for doing things in your heart is to benefit others purely, it is true and good;If there is a slight desire to please others and win praise from others, it is hypocrisy.It is purely the heart of loving others, that is truth and goodness;Having a slight dissatisfaction or resentment towards others is hypocrisy.It is purely respect for others, that is truth and goodness;Having a slight sense of playing with others is hypocrisy.These subtle mental aspects of good and evil should be carefully distinguished.

Once, a senior brother asked a contemporary monk: "What is good and what is evil?"The monk replied humorously, "I am good to others and I am good to him, this is not good;If others treat me badly, I will still treat him well. This is goodness.”In fact, this sentence also reveals the true meaning of good and evil.Because others are good to me, I treat him well. If others are bad to me, I treat him badly. This is actually no essential difference from the exchange of goods in the world. The purpose is to repay or exchange for the good to others for others to be good to me, so it is not good;If others treat me badly, I will still treat him well. This is to truly do good for others without seeking my own interests. It is to be purely good for others, so it is good.

Someone is puzzled: "Others treat me well, and I treat him well, this is not considered good. Is it good to treat him badly?"This is a misunderstanding of this monk's words.To be bad to others, that is, to endanger others, of course it is evil, and there is no doubt that this is not a question;But all the parts that are good for others, which are motivated by personal self-interest cannot be considered good;It is true good to ignore personal gains and losses, relatives and distant things, whether others are useful or not to be useful to you, and to benefit others unconditionally.

Some people are puzzled: "Isn't it natural to think about yourself?In life, shouldn’t we think about our own happiness?”

From a ultimate perspective, the "I" in our hearts, or "self", is an illusion in our hearts.Just like a mentally ill patient is firmly attached to and believes that there are foreign objects in his body, he really feels as if there are foreign objects in his body. From the beginning of time, ordinary people have also firmly attached to and believe that there is a so-called "I" on his body and mind. After being attached and believed, they will illusionately feel that there is a "self".In the eyes of the saints who have eliminated the "self" of "self" that ordinary people attach to has no essential difference from the foreign objects that exist in the body that mentally ill patients attach to, so this "self" is essentially a kind of ignorance.If a person’s thoughts are for the sake of “self”, then this “ego” will be stronger and ignorance will deepen;"Ego" is the source of all pain. After the ignorance of "ego" deepens, the pain will deepen and happiness will stay away.

From a temporary perspective, that is, from the perspective of admitting that ordinary people have "I", if they want to truly benefit from this "I", they must achieve it through altruism.As stated in "The Song of Victory": "If you want to benefit yourself for a long time, it is a secret to temporarily benefiting others.” means that altruism is the best way to be self-interested.The "Two Rules and Words" says: "If you are diligent and beneficial to others, you will achieve perfection, and your wealth will be greatly favored and your virtue will be born from the benefit of others.Those who always seek self-interest can stand at a high position at the beginning, but then gradually decline, just like steep mountains and rivers falling down.Those who always make diligent and benefit others were at first a lowly slave, but then gradually reached a high position, just like a dragon soaring into the air.Fools are greedy for their own interests and can only diligently seek self-interest, but it is difficult to achieve their own interests, even if they achieve small achievements.Although wise people are also greedy for self-interest, they focus on benefiting others. If they are diligent and benefiting others, indirect self-interest will be perfect.If you want to achieve great self-interest in this life or the next life, you will be diligent and beneficial to others and be more convenient, this is the path of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas."It can be seen that abandoning oneself and benefiting others is actually the greatest benefit to oneself.

In short, the characteristic of good is to seek benefit only, and the characteristic of evil is to seek self-interest. The wise should think deeply about this.

Excerpted from "A Brief Interpretation of the Taishang Ganying Chapter" (written by Ming Ru)