Everyone in the world knows the
beautiful as beautiful and this becomes
evil.

Everyone knows the good as good, and
this becomes not good.

Lau Dz, from the Tao De Ching
(The Way and Its Virtue)

That which is beautiful is wholesome and good. That which is evil is not wholesome or beautiful. Our inherent nature is completely beautiful and good. It does not require any form of adornment or artificial beautification. Our original face is simply the way it is, perfectly good and natural. Although this state is one of perfect goodness, nonetheless most people are not able to arrive at this state. Instead they give rise to the false within the true and exclusively engage in fraud, deceit, putting on a mask. They dwell on artificial appearances. They manage to create a lot of problems where there are none to begin with. This is called looking for things to do when nothing is going on. Although people know what is good as good, they "add water to the rice," making the grains appear bigger than they really are. That is, they engage in contrived practices that are not true. All the problems of the world lie right here. And now this has become such an ingrained practice that people go about cheating one another, exploiting one another and turning their backs on righteousness.

The reason why we practice sitting in Ch'an is that we want to go back to the source, to the place which is true, and change all that is untrue in our own natures.

Take a look at places like Reno and Las Vegas. People from all over the world flock there to gamble. But we have yet to see people who would practice giving with the same kind of ardor and enthusiasm! Someone says, "Well isn't giving the same as gambling? In the Earth Store Sutra it says, 'Giving up one share, one reaps a ten thousand-fold reward.' If this isn't some kind of gambling, then how could people obtain a reward of ten thousand to one?"

That argument may sound reasonable on the surface, however, you should know that the rewards mentioned in the Sutras are future rewards, not tangible, present rewards. Since most people do not have far-reaching vision, they are more convinced that their investments in gambling casinos are more lucrative than the practice of giving. However, what they don't see is that right within the enticement to win money is hidden the probability of losing money also. In fact, you could lose your entire capital on one bet! On the other hand, you would never lose if you practiced giving. But very few people are enthusiastic about practicing giving. But because they are tempted by the seemingly more tangible promise of winning a bet, they go crazy gambling!

They clearly know that giving is good, but they don't want to do it. They clearly know that gambling is not good, but they do it anyway. Even if they have one chance out of ten thousand, still they would put all their capital in a single bet and very often they would lose it. If, on the other hand, they had practiced giving, then they would have planted seeds of merit and virtue and in the future they would reap a reward. Most people do not see this point. That's why Lau Dz's text says, "Everyone in the world knows the beautiful as beautiful, and this becomes evil."

If you gamble, it is easy for you to create unwholesome karma. If you practice giving, you will create merit and virtue. If you sit in meditation you will get rid of stupidity and develop wisdom. But take a look around you: how many people are willing to sit in Ch'an? How many people are not willing to sit in Ch'an? This works the same way in gambling versus giving. People who don't like to sit in Ch'an are comparable to those who like to gamble. People who like to sit in Ch'an are comparable to those who like to give. Whether you understand the Buddhadharma or not lies right here! What is the dividing line? It is simply this: whether or not you are greedy.

When we create meritorious works, we should practice as if nothing is going on. Although the sutra says, "Giving up one, you obtain a ten thousand-fold reward," still we don't want to harbor that kind of attitude. If you have that kind of false thought, you are already creating offenses. In every stirring of our thought and moving of our mind, we are creating offenses and karma. Strike up one false thought and you have planted the cause of one offense. Strike up two false thoughts and you have planted the causes of two offenses. It's fortunate that our offense karma is invisible. If it had a shape and form, then the offense karma of a single individual would fill up all of empty space and make it explode!

All of you should understand this principle deeply. Do not flow with corruption, acting as upside down as everybody else. Sitting in Ch'an is for learning how not to be upside down. Do not take a thief for your son. If you understand this point, then you will have arrived at the very first step of cultivation.