Chapter 9: Evil
Evil accumulates gradually like water filling a pot; righteous acts lead to happiness.
13 argumentative units
- 01Intent and diligence determine moral direction
A person seeking the good must actively redirect their thoughts away from evil; conversely, if one pursues good half-heartedly, the mind will turn toward evil.
- 02Avoiding repetition of sin prevents accumulated pain
One should refrain from repeating sinful acts and not take pleasure in them, as pain naturally follows from evil.
- 03Repeating good acts generates happiness
One should repeat good deeds and delight in them, as happiness naturally follows from good.
- 04Evil consequences arise only after ripening
An evil-doer may experience happiness temporarily, but suffering arrives when the evil deed has fully ripened and borne fruit.
- 05Good consequences arise after ripening
A good person may experience suffering temporarily, but happiness arrives when the good deed has fully ripened.
- 06Warning against dismissing small evils
One should not underestimate evil by thinking it won't affect them; small evils accumulate gradually like water drops filling a pot, and the fool becomes full of evil.
- 07Encouragement to accumulate small goods
One should not underestimate good by thinking it won't affect them; small good acts accumulate gradually like water drops, and the wise person becomes full of good.
- 08Strategies for avoiding evil through analogies
One should avoid evil deeds as a merchant avoids dangerous roads when carrying valuables, and as a person who loves life avoids poison.
- 09Moral purity provides immunity from harm
A person with no moral wounds can handle poison safely; similarly, one who commits no evil cannot be harmed by evil.
- 10Evil returns to its perpetrator
When one offends an innocent person, the evil rebounds upon the wrongdoer like dust thrown against the wind.
- 11Different realms for different moral states
People are reborn in different destinations based on their actions: evil-doers go to hell, the righteous to heaven, and those free from desires attain Nirvana.
- 12Evil has inescapable karmic consequences
There is no place in the world—sky, sea, or mountains—where one can hide from the consequences of an evil deed.
- 13Death is universally inescapable
No location in the world can provide escape from death, paralleling the inescapability of consequences from evil deeds.