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Vietnamese|English Saving
the World from Calamities
Let’s
investigate a grave problem. Every
problem falls within the scope of good and evil, cause and effect.
The law of cause and effect says that good people win and evil
people lose. As it is
said, “Planting melons, one harvests melons; planting beans, one
harvests beans.” It is
because of this principle that the world has not been ruined.
If good people lost and bad people won, there would be no
justice. When there is no
justice, the world will be destroyed; it will be the end of the world. How
do we keep this world from being destroyed?
By improving human minds. When human minds are wholesome, there
will be bright light throughout the world.
Bright light is just wisdom.
Wise people are righteous.
Their actions are great, bright, and proper, not motivated by
selfishness. In everything
they do, they want to bring happiness to all humankind.
Since they don’t discriminate between races or nations, the
whole world becomes one great family.
The people of today are not like the ancients.
They are selfish and often seek to benefit themselves at the
cost of the sacrificing the benefit of the whole. That
is why this world has become darker, stupider, and more dangerous with
each passing day. It is on
the very brink of destruction. It
is only hanging on by a hair. If
no one tries to save it, we will all perish together and no one will
survive. Well, how do we
save it? As the saying
goes, “Refrain from all evil, and practice all good.”
Everyone
turns towards the good, and away from evil.
From the national leader down to common citizens, if everyone
can use the light of wisdom to shine through the darkness of
stupidity, this dark world will become bright and wars will turn into
peace. Presently,
we are living in the long, dark night of delusion.
Since the long night is pitch black, we need some light.
Darkness makes people gloomy, while light makes people happy.
Whether there is darkness or light depends on the good and evil
in our minds. The world is
destroyed because of the mind, and it is also created because of the
mind. We who study the
Dharma have to get rid of the false mind and keep the true mind.
And so the Buddhadharma is the precious raft that can save the
world’s people. It is
also the precious mirror that can make people’s minds more
wholesome. Everything
in this world has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.
For example, television can keep people updated on national and
international affairs. There’s
a saying, “A scholar doesn’t need to go out his door to know the
affairs of the country.” This
is the advantage of having a television, but there are also
disadvantages. Television
is often a bad influence on children.
It teaches them how to cheat and behave in unprincipled and
harmful ways, causing problems in the family and disturbing the peace
of the society. Such
children become juvenile delinquents who make trouble everywhere they
go. If they go on to
become political leaders in the future, how can there be peace in the
world? This is the harm
caused by television. For
the sake of protecting the next generation as well as the people of
the future, we should not allow our children to watch television.
The best solution, which nips the problem in the bud, is not to
buy a T.V. set in the first place. The
world has now become extremely polluted and defiled.
What can we do about it? As
members of the human race, we have to begin with ourselves.
We should purge ourselves of our bad habits and faults, and
purify our minds of greed, hatred, and stupidity.
By setting a good example, we can influence others to do the
same. Before we can be
good models and exhort others to do good, we have to make sure that
our own conduct and thinking is completely correct.
Otherwise, everything we say will be futile and of no help to
the situation. Someone
who feels responsible for the welfare of the entire world is motivated
by compassion for all people. Shakyamuni
Buddha, for example underwent tremendous suffering in his past lives
when he was cultivating the
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