Good People (Virtuous) · Bad People (Wicked)¶
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I. Standards for Good and Bad People¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Human Life · Standards for Good People (Virtuous) and Bad People (Wicked)
Standards for Good People (Virtuous):
Whoever brings joy, happiness, freedom, and wellbeing to others is a good person (virtuous). Whoever guides others toward the Way of the Greatest Creator is a good person (virtuous). Whoever helps others through hardship is a good person (virtuous). Whoever promotes harmony and accord in others' relationships is a good person (virtuous). Whoever cherishes and protects life and nature is a good person (virtuous). Whoever advances humanity toward peace, unity, prosperity, and flourishing is a good person (virtuous). Whoever is self-sustaining and brings no distress or pain to others is a good person (virtuous). Whoever guides others toward a beautiful future is a good person (virtuous).
Standards for Bad People (Wicked):
Whoever brings distress, suffering, anxiety, and fear to others is a bad person (wicked). Whoever guides others toward the path of evil is a bad person (wicked). Whoever leads others into hardship is a bad person (wicked). Whoever harms life and nature is a bad person (wicked). Whoever blocks others' bright future is a bad person (wicked). Whoever imposes their will on others is a bad person (wicked). Whoever manufactures and spreads gossip and discord is a bad person (wicked). Whoever pushes others into marriage, family, or any organization is a bad person (wicked).
2011/3/17
II. The Necessity of Distinguishing Good from Evil¶
Xuefeng Corpus · Soul · Should We Distinguish Good from Evil?
The Tao is one — a unified chaotic system. Maintaining its perfect operation requires two symmetrical, balancing forces. At the level of the chaotic whole, there is no question of good and evil — only balance.
Yet for every living being, the distinction between good and evil is absolutely real. A house has no good or evil, but the people living in it must. To say that Buddha has no sense of good and evil is slander. Even the Buddha placed Sun Wukong under Five Elements Mountain as punishment.
Cultivation and entry into the Tao do not erase the distinction between good and evil — they sharpen it, so that we can truly "do no evil, practice all good" and enter a more perfect realm of life.
Heaven belongs to the good; hell belongs to the wicked; the human world is where both coexist. Without distinguishing good from evil, by what virtue do we aspire to heaven?
"Good people" without a sense of right and wrong are worse than bad people.
Cultivators must discern good from evil — otherwise, forget becoming celestials or buddhas; they will struggle to remain human.
2007-4-14
III. What Does True Goodness Mean?¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom · Should We Remain Good?
All teachings of divine beings center on goodness. "Good deeds bring good reward" is a law of the universe. Goodness is the most beautiful flower in the soul garden.
But what is goodness?
Once, I was deceived out of hundreds of thousands of yuan by people who called me "father." Was that goodness? No — that was foolishness.
Once, I wholeheartedly cared for someone, who then looked down on me. Was that goodness? No — that was ignorance.
Is ending someone's life goodness or evil? If evil, does that mean opposing euthanasia? If goodness, should many be sent to the grave?
Is a cat catching a mouse good or evil?
A poppy in full bloom — is it good or evil?
I once said in the elementary cultivation guide: I neither try to be a good person nor a bad person.
Living according to the Creator's intention, according to the will of the Greatest Creator — that, I believe, is goodness.
2015-10-8
IV. Those Who Argue Are Never Good¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Evangelism · Those Who Argue with Others Are Never Good
Any form of contention — quarreling, competing, debating, arguing — serves one of two purposes: seizing others' resources or imposing one's will. The core is contending for energy.
Whoever engages in contention has moved away from goodness and become wicked — regardless of the banner they carry: God, Buddha, truth, or salvation.
Truth never contends. The Greatest Creator never argues with any being.
2013-4-16
V. Cultivators Transcend the Good/Bad Framework¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation · 51 Principles of Elementary Cultivation
Treat others with sincerity and without suspicion. Imagine every person in the world as a good person. Even if you have been deceived a thousand times, maintain this attitude — be willing to be deceived a thousand more times rather than close your heart.
Neither be a good person nor a bad person, neither a virtuous person nor a wicked person. Live from your true nature, not from instinct, and not according to the value standards of worldly society.
VI. Human Nature Shifts with Environment — Goodness Is Not Fixed¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Human Life · Human Nature Is Unpredictable
There is fundamentally no distinction between who is good and who is evil among people.
Whether a person is good or evil is determined by their environment. A virtuous environment produces goodness; an evil environment produces wickedness. Angels in an evil environment become evil; demons in a virtuous environment become good.
Historical evidence: In times of war, people become warlike; in times of famine, people steal; in times of comfort, people indulge; when corrupt rulers prevail, people become corrupt; when sages govern, people become virtuous.
Conclusions:
- Never permanently define any living person as good or bad — only at death can a final judgment be made.
- Anyone who defines themselves as good or bad will change when their environment changes.
- Any fixed definition of human nature is meaningless.
- To create a just and orderly society, it is best to assume every person is capable of wrongdoing, and design systems accordingly.
- The stronger one's faith, the less one changes; the weaker one's faith, the more one drifts.
2024-06-03
VII. Karma: The Cosmic View of Good and Evil¶
Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A · Is It Really True That Good Begets Good and Evil Begets Evil?
"Plant melon, harvest melon; plant beans, harvest beans" — the causal mechanism is undeniably real.
From the whole and the grand view, the causal law operates without flaw. But in specific local situations, "good may receive an evil result, and evil may receive a good result" — this does not affect the overall mechanism.
What is truly good and what is truly evil, humans often cannot see. "Great goodness appears not good; great evil appears not evil." The phenomenon of virtuous people not receiving good outcomes, and wicked people prospering, is a distortion within this single point in time — not the true operating principle. To understand the real workings of karma, one must transcend time and space, looking backward and forward across the full arc of existence.
2013/6/7
VIII. The Catalog of Good and Evil Actions¶
New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · Concept 200
"Do no evil; practice all good."
The 108 evils include: blaspheming the Greatest Creator, blaspheming divine beings, slandering celestials and buddhas, defaming the wise, insulting ancestors, beating and cursing parents, murder and plunder, torturing animals, bullying the widowed and orphaned, harming siblings, insulting teachers, deceiving children, being treacherous to the good, trapping the ignorant, framing classmates, harming colleagues covertly... (through) complaining and envying, boasting and showing off.
The 108 virtues include: revering the Greatest Creator, revering life, revering nature, revering divine beings, emulating the wise, being filial to parents, respecting elders and caring for the young... (through) being approachable and kind, and cherishing even insects.
Fortune and misfortune have no fixed gate — they are only what people bring upon themselves. Good and evil follow like shadows. Plant melon, harvest melon; plant beans, harvest beans. Heaven's net is vast; nothing escapes it.