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The Enemies of Life |
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Enemies are those who oppose us, who obstruct us, who want to harm or even destroy us. However, the real enemy is our own selves. Why are we our own enemy? When we are lazy, laziness is our enemy; when we hate, hatred is our enemy; when we are selfish, selfishness is our enemy; and when we are dishonest, dishonesty is our enemy. Those who belittle righteousness see friends as enemies; those who are reluctant to share see relatives and friends as enemies. Those who do not care for their families will see their families as enemies. If the mind is not pure and morals are not established, one's own mind and body are one's enemies.
If we do not protect our own country but instead betray it, when our country is destroyed we would end up homeless. Are we not then our own enemy? If we do not make an effort at work, eventually our employers may no longer be able to continue doing business and close down, and we would be out of work. Are we not then our own enemy? For those who get drunk and cause trouble, are they not their own enemy? Or, when they become ill from their misguided living, are they not their own enemy?
We should befriend those who are wise, but if we are jealous of them, not only will we be unable to learn from them, we may even contribute to our own failure. When siblings are set to fight with each other, or those in the same company aim to destroy one another, it may appear that they are getting rid of the competition; in reality, they are weakening the team effort, as well as themselves as a whole.
According to the sutras, the demon is not outside; it is within our minds. Our minds nurture many enemies: greed, anger, delusion, pessimism, suspicion, arrogance, and worry. When the Fourth Patriarch Chan Master Daoxin first visited Chan Master Sengcan, Master Daoxin asked for the way to liberation. Master Sengcan replied with a question, "Who is restricting you?"
Master Daoxin thought for a while and replied, "No one."
Chan Master Sengcan then asked, "If no one is restricting you, then why do you need to be liberated?" This teaches us that we all restrict and bind our own selves.
Renowned scholar Wang Yangming once said, "It is easy to catch the bandit hiding in the mountains, but it is difficult to grab the thief inside the mind." External enemies are easy to confront; however, enemies from within our minds are harder to defeat. The Diamond Sutra states that we have to conquer our minds. If we can conquer our minds, then we can defeat our enemy, who is actually our own self.
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