TAO vs. LIFE

08. How to avoid crime of passion?

As a matter of fact, everyone who has not yet returned to his own nature of the highest excellence is subject to wicked thinking and criminal conducts. Because one cannot enlighten his mind, enlighten his Attributes (of the Tao), recover his original simplicity, he possesses in his mind characteristics of Yin and Yang, i.e. virtue and wickedness, pleasure and anger, good and bad, others and myself. It is the root that causes crimes. To put simple, if only one possess a tiny bit of selfishness, he is subject to crime. Then how to get rid of selfishness, and furthermore, to change common perception of people? We must recognize soberly that getting rid of selfishness cannot be achieved by external forms such as laws and sermons, but by enlightening his mind, enlightening him of the way of the Tao, promoting the level of his spiritual realm.

Desire, resentment and stupidity are three poisonous elements that harm your body and spirit, perturb your own mind, and causing crimes. There is nothing more harmful than the harms coming from your own mind. Nevertheless, getting rid of desire, resentment and stupidity is not an easy process by virtue of sermons and good deeds. Thanks to The Sutra of Hui Neng, sutra spoken by the Sixth Patriarch on the high seat of “ The Treasury of The Law”. The sutra tells us the theory of true on how to get rid of desire, resentment and stupidity, and how to recognize our own mind. It is a sutra of Buddhism. But the truth in it transcends the border between religions, races, political parties, and classes. Among the tremendous amount of sutra, The Sutra of Hui Neng is the easiest to understand. It should be read by more people. If you have not had this book yet, please click here to download.

Modern theories and methods to curb the crime of passion are of no truth. All the methods, such as let-off therapy, can give a short relaxing and relieving effects, but not fundamentally eradicate it. The best method to treat resentment is not to develop the mind of resentment. Once the mind of resentment is aroused, we must use correct views to resolve the ignorance. The correct views herein are correct thinking and points that, different from the method that consider something that it practically stands, viewing things in the prospective of nature. If we see things in a relative or dialectic way, the contradiction will be borne in our minds. Where there is contradiction, there is upset and resentment.

Everyday one are facing people that are selfish, evil, stupid and greedy. To attain a balance of spirit, keeping a quite and pacific mind, we must see things in the prospective higher than the ordinary way. This needs enlightenment and wisdom higher than the ordinary. To attain the enlightenment and wisdom, we must recognize the way of the nature and the Myriad Things, and herewith going to the correct method to recognize and practice the truth of the Myriad Things.

In our normal life, or during the process of cultivating practice, how should we face the Seven Emotions Six Desires? Can we live out of emotions? If so, would we become stones? These questions were well-answered by K'ung Fu-tzu(Confucius) as early as thousands of years. He said in his book Zhong Yong, “ before the feelings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy are aroused it is called equilibrium (“zhong”, centrality, mean). When these feelings are aroused and each and all attain due measure and degree, it is called harmony. Equilibrium is the great foundation of the world, and harmony its universal path. When equilibrium and harmony are realized to the highest degree, heaven and earth will attain their proper order and all things will flourish.” “Equilibrium” and “harmony” is the fundament for both the person and the world to go to harmony.

Finally, I would like to reiterate that we cannot succeed in avoiding crime of passion fundamentally by way of barely political infuses or legal or moral education. Only by recognizing the mind, cultivating the mind, enlightening the mind, so as to understand the essence of the life, the universe, and all things, can we, both the individual and the society, achieve the final harmony.

By Orient Dawn
Date: Year 2001