Author: Tao Qing Hsu
In this world, we don't
understand why some people's values and ideologies of right and wrong are
different from ours. Their reactions, opinions and handling attitudes to some
things are also different from ours. Due to the difference between values and
ideologies of right and wrong, their positions, opinions, attitudes, and ways
of dealing with things are also different from others, so they show a state of
resistance and opposition to others. This is not only present in our daily
lives, but also in domestic and international political events.
Some people cannot distinguish
between good and evil, and lack the ability to think independently. They are
often easily deceived by any words and opinions which seem plausible and
powerful. Unfortunately, this actually appears in the current party politics,
not only domestically but also internationally.
Of course, everyone wants to use
some words to wrap up their inner desires and ambitions. However, it is too
far-fetched and implausible to enforce legislation to force others to comply
with their selfish desires, ideology, and attempts. Even the Buddha did not
dare to do so. The Buddha clearly understands that for selfish purposes, it
must be a cause of evil, and it will go towards the evil results, and the evil
will necessarily happen to itself. The Buddha did not dare to say: if you don’t
believe in Buddha, you don’t believe in Buddhism and you don’t convert to
Buddhism, then you are a sinner, you are foul, you should go to hell, or you
should die. The Buddha never said that.
All the Buddha’s words emphasize
some important points, that is, any cause created by the individual, which is
the action of this initial thought, plus various opportunities, it will present
a result, and this result will eventually form a retribution, reward in itself.
Therefore, whether this initial thought is selfless or selfish, pure or evil,
and the opportunity for process development, will lead to the final result to
affect whether the result is good or evil. All this has nothing to do with
whether you believe in Buddhism or not. Because, that initial thought depends
on you, not Buddha or Buddhism. This is what the Buddha wants to make all
beings understand.
Some people’s ideas are strongly
influenced by binary opposition, strongly influenced by certain ideologies, and
strongly obsessed with self-right and others wrong, and resolutely take this as
a yes, even if they are unscrupulous and cocooning, they must achieve this
goal. These ideologies are very ridiculous to the Buddha. Why? The Buddha
revealed it in the Heart Sutra: without eyes, ears, noses, tongues, body and
conscious; without the realm of eyes and even without of the realm of conscious.
Did you see? Without the realm of conscious. Since there is no realm of
conscious, what are these people clinging to? In the eyes of the Buddha, the
attachment to any ideology is ultimately empty. Because it will inevitably go
through the process of "generate, dwell, change, eliminate; form, dwell,
destroy, empty." And the process is only the difference in length of time.
In other words, no matter what ideology we are attached to, we are
self-limiting. Only in an empty state can one be infinite and flexible.
In the Buddha's teachings, he did
not use our current nouns, such as dictatorship, autocracy, democracy, civil
rights, human rights, etc. These nouns are all only found after the opening of
modern human thought. In the eyes of the Buddha, these are just the changes of
the name and the concept. The concept of the name is empty. When we understand
this essence, we can further understand that some people may commit evil in the
name of democracy. Or some people may seem to do evil in the form of
authoritarian dictatorship. In fact, they achieve substantive good deeds.
Therefore, the term “democracy” does not necessarily mean good, and the term “autocracy”
does not necessarily mean evil. Seeing all this from the perspective of
emptiness, the Buddha will not be kidnapped by the concept of duality and any
concept of nouns.
When we understand the Buddha’s
instructions and use it as a basis, we observe the political situation at home
and abroad, and we will find that some people may seem to do good in the name
of party politics and the ideology they admire. They seem to be thinking for
the people, as if standing on the side of justice. In fact, they have their own
selfish interests behind them. They played with party politics and deliberately
provoked mass opposition to achieve their selfish interests. It is a pity that
they do not understand, to play with party politics, to deceive the masses, to
disrespect all living beings, and their results will be in the three evil ways.
To understand this, we must be careful about what we do and observe carefully
to avoid being deceived by such party politics, but also to avoid being led
into evil destiny and results by such party politics.
