It is natural for all human beings, having earned the merit to be born as a human, to desire to be a “good person.” However, whether one actually achieves that goal is uncertain.
Wishing to be good is one thing, but knowing how to act, speak, and think to truly become a good person is not easy. Without encountering the teachings of Buddhism, this task is particularly difficult because there would be no clear standard to judge what “true goodness” looks like.
Having encountered Buddhism, the Lord Buddha provided us with a definitive criterion: goodness is not determined simply by following what the majority of people are doing. Instead, the measure of goodness is this: whatever action, speech, or thought increases the clarity and brightness of the mind—that is what is truly “good.”
We measure goodness by the purity and luminosity of the heart. The more people join together to perform wholesome deeds that result in such mental clarity, the more it awakens the intuitive realization within: “I have found it. This is where true goodness lies.”
Kaewsarapadneuk Hall, Wat Phra Dhammakaya
January 25th, 2015
