Daily Taoist 1_43 – Buddha Zhen Discusses TAO #19b about Evil, Letter of the Law, and Goodie Goodies
YouTube TRANSCRIPT: Daily Taoist 43
I’m a musician so of course I see this one very clearly. But this goes back to something in the translations. I’m not sure what to call them in this current world. In this century. But some people when they translate Lao Tzu: he refers to the “Goody Goodies” or the “Goody Two Shoes.” These are the people who feel good when they can take a rule and then hit somebody with it like a baseball bat and make them bleed. “Well it’s legal. This is the law. You broke the law and now I’m gonna use the law to hurt you.” [evil snicker] And they feel good about it. ua
Those are– They’re actually evil people. But they think they’re good people. That’s the irony. They think they’re the best people in the world but they’re actually very evil.
So we have to go to Buddha for understanding here. And this is one thing– I only rediscovered this a few years ago actually. That guy’s so enlightening!
Buddha said there’s only two things to create an evil person: ignorance and desire.
What? Just two things? Two things and that person is an evil person. Yes. That’s it. All you need is desire and ignorance.
Okay. All you can say is, “I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”
“Oh, I want that hundred bucks.”
“But you have to go over there and kick that dog.”
“Oh. Alright then. I guess it’ll be okay.” He’s ignorant. He goes, “Well I guess you’re not a bad man.” So he kicks the dog. Get’s a hundred bucks. He’s done something evil. It’s that easy. [laughs]
So that’s all evil is. If ignorance: somebody doing something they shouldn’t do if they were smarter–and not kick the dog. Which is dumb. You just don’t do it for a thousand dollars. Don’t do it for a million dollars. Don’t kick the dog. But unfortunately, evil is, “Well, I’m not evil for a hundred. But for a thousand dollars I’ll be evil.”
Evil is evil. All it takes is ignorance and desire. [laughs] It’s terrible. It’s terrible. Ever since I’ve known that I’ve realized, Man! How much evil is in the world. Most people are committing all kinds of little evil acts. So then at some point you create a big evil act and somebody catches you, “You’re evil!” “No I’m not. I’ve never done big evil. Just little evil…” And they don’t think they’re evil. They can’t see it.
So unfortunately the whole world has become blind to the fact we might be doing little evil things. Poisoning a little river. “Oh, It’s just a little bit of poison in the river. It’s not gonna hurt anybody.” That’s ignorance. And the desire was to get rid of it. So out of our ignorance and desires we are evil.
So watch yourself. We’re evil all the time. We justify it.
So back that. So those are the “Goody 2-Shoes.” There’s a lot of those in government. They love to get into government where they can use the government to hurt people. And say, “It’s legal. It’s legal you know. He stepped on that line. And the law says, you step on that line and I can… hit you with a baseball bat. Okay? So he stepped on that line. It’s legal. It’s the law. So.” WHAM. They go and they love to hit people. Anyway these sadistic people are running our government. There’s a lot of evil, evil, evil people who enjoy being evil–running our government. Like Mitch McConnell. He LOVES to jam up the government. For forty years he takes the greatest pride in hurting our country. But he’s getting paid for it. He’s ignorant. He thinks he’s doing something good because somebody’s paying him big money and other people are agreeing with him. So he thinks it’s okay. He’s ignorant. Ignorant–he really is. He’s got that desire for the money and the power. So you put those two together and you have one of the most evil persons in the entire planet running our country.
So anyway, let’s get back to this real quick. And see, I’ll come back to that.
Those are the “goody-goodies.” The people who think they’re the best people in the world and they’re actually doing the most evil in the world. Starting wars and–
“We did this war for your own good.”
Okay. #19b.
Tao #19b
Avoid adherence or blind observance of the
“letter of the laws.”
The “letter of the laws” was in quotation marks. That’s an important thing. Like I was saying, “He stepped on the line.”
Well maybe he tripped. Extenuating circumstances. But this person doesn’t care. They’re only interested in the “letter of the law.” Not the ‘reality of the law.’ You know, maybe he wasn’t going to step on that line. Maybe like I said, he tripped. Or maybe he would’ve stepped on somebody’s foot, so he stepped over their foot so he wouldn’t hurt them, and he did that. And now he’s gonna get punished.
See… if you… “So you still stepped on the line! I’m gonna hit you with this bat.” WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. That’s adhering to the letter of the law. And that’s where our whole world has gone screwy. Because of people trying to hurt people. You know, because they can legally do it.
So I call “The nature of the rule…” The “Nature of the Rule” is if you step on that line–I’m gonna have to make it again. It’s made out of chalk. We’re playing a sport and I’m just getting ready to play so “Don’t step on that line” because then I’m gonna have to back and the chalk roller and make it all nice… We’re playing baseball here.” Or something like that.
You see, so the “letter of the law” is “DON’T STEP ON THAT LINE” before the game because then it’s gonna look ugly and people are gonna show up and somebody’s gonna have to come out and fix it. Okay? So that’s the letter of the law: “Don’t step on the lines before the game.” The chalk lines on the baseball field. But the NATURE of it is because it’ll look good and if somebody trips or falls that doesn’t mean they have to go to jail. You know, you’ve got to fix it. And hopefully that person won’t do it again. Maybe they knew they weren’t supposed to do it. They don’t need to be punished, you know, for stepping on it. And… You get the point–you get the concept. And if you’re smart enough to be listening to me–hopefully you understand what I’m saying. If you’re not smart enough to understand what I’m saying then I lost you a long time ago. I’m not that far here…
Here we go.
Like a musician, do you think about the notes, or do not think about the notes, play the song.
You see, that was a tricky thing last night. I didn’t know what key I was in when I was writing that song. I could hear it in my head. And then I was… I was playing my bass. Doing it like a guitar… And I come back to this thing… “What was that rhythm?” You know, I had to find it. And it wasn’t a matter of seeing it or reading it… it was like, “What was the way I played it?” And then BOOM I’d feel it. “Ah. There it is.” And that was the riff. I was playing THE SONG. Not the notes. I could know what was right. And then when I was playing the chords it was, “No… It’s supposed to go down there. That wasn’t quite right.” And I’m screwing around, “What was it?” And then I’d have to find it. Look for that thing that felt right.
Sometimes I have to explore. Literally have to explore and try, “No let’s go to this…” “THERE we go.” [bass impersonation] And then it felt like it with the progression. Worked for what I was trying to accomplish.
Okay. Here we go. So let’s read the whole thing again.
Lao Tzu says,
Avoid adherence or blind observance to the
“letter of the laws.”
And be always aware of the Nature of the rule.
Like a musician do not think about the notes.
Play the song.
Alright. So let’s see what I have to inspire you on that. That message that to me means a heck of a lot. [LAUGHS] That’s like one of my– Just like a Motto of my life.
Are you a stickler for details and fine print?
Are you one of those baseball hitters?
What laws do you obey so efficiently that you don’t evaluate all information before deciding what’s right or wrong?
And we do that with our kids, as parents you know. They do something. They break the rules–maybe for a good reason. They break the rules and our first reaction is [growl growl]. [LAUGHS] Maybe there’s a good explanation. Anyway, as a parent listen… and look for the real truth. Don’t just always make–
It simplifies our lives to have rules, and say, “You stay here in this area. You stay here in this area.” It just simplifies it. As a parent I know what it’s like to make rules. But at the same time don’t make so many that– anyway. That’s probably coming up in another one.
Like a soldier or a policeman are you bound to serve laws whether you agree with them or not?
Which laws do your enforce?
Like… now. Our politics… we have terrible laws. Make illegal things we…
Which laws do you enforce you don’t obey.
In other words what laws do you make other people do that you don’t obey?
Especially when you have kids. You make them obey laws that you don’t obey.
So–but you should be able to answer that.
Do you get mad when someone lies to you? Why?
There’s a lot to unpack buried in that which we can’t unpack right now. But that’s very important.
Can you trust someone who has cheated? Why?
I’ll read each question twice.
Do you trust someone who has cheated you? Why?
Do you feel guilt, shame, or frustration when you break a self-imposed rule?
Oooh. That you made yourself.
Do you feel guilt, shame, or frustration when you break a self-imposed rule?
Next, last one:
Do you rely on rules to keep you in line?
Like Alcoholics Anonymous? Or religion? Family? Employers? The military? The police? Explain.
One more time:
Do you rely on rules to keep you inline?
Alcoholics Anonymous, religion, family, emploers , the military, or police? Explain.
Now yeah. Remember I told you. Yes. I rely on lot you ts of– I don’t know if I’d even call them rules. Like I told you yesterday. I’m making these structures and when I go to a website. What are the rules? What am I going to do when I get there? Okay? Which websites am I going to get and ignore all the rest? Prioritizing. Trying to find a list so I can go down the list and– “Ah. Done.”
That’s it. Because I’ve got so many thousands of things to do. I can never define that. So I’m trying to make things so I can tell when I’ve actually gotten something done. Or at least the most important things. a least
That was #19b of the TAO OF TAOISM – USING THE DAO TE CHING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE. That’s what we’re using. We’er going to improve our life with all of this.
So anyway, Buddha Zhen Shen-Lang here. Glad to have you along. And yeah, keep thinking. And if you’re thinking then you’re learning. And even if you’re disagreeing with me–at least I got you thinking. It’s okay. You can disagree.
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