"The gentleman loves wealth and takes it in rightful ways; slaughtering fierce and evil beasts, one can gain wealth and eliminate evil -- how can that be considered evil? I see it as a great good of humanity. Look at those tigers and leopards that eat not only humans but other animals as well -- cattle, sheep, pigs, rabbits, they all can’t escape; think about how many animals a single tiger consumes in a year. By killing a tiger, people are performing a great good for the lives of those cattle, sheep, pigs, and rabbits -- naturally it is good, not evil."
"But humans also eat cattle, sheep, pigs, and rabbits, right? Doesn’t that make it evil again?"
"Eating cattle, sheep, pigs, and rabbits is naturally evil, but by killing a tiger, a good deed is done. It is said that good and evil counterbalance each other, so it’s probably neither good nor evil."
Xiao Jie listened with interest and thought to himself that these two were quite good at arguing.
"Ha ha ha ha!" At this moment, a loud laugh suddenly came from behind. Xiao Jie and the monk and the Taoist both turned to look, only to see a Traveling Taoist.
Feng Buqi (Traveling Taoist): Level 28. Life Value 880.
"What is this Taoist laughing at?" the monk and the Taoist asked in unison.
"I laugh at the ignorance of you two, vainly arguing about good and evil."
The monk and the Taoist looked at each other, "Oh? Then, Daoist, what is your esteemed opinion? Is man fundamentally good or evil? Please enlighten us."
The Traveling Taoist smiled faintly,
"Let me ask you, is the tiger eating humans good or evil?"
The Taoist replied, "Naturally it’s evil."
"And what about humans eating tigers?"
The monk said, "That’s also evil."
"What about the tiger eating a sheep?"
The Taoist replied, "Still evil."
"What about humans eating cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens?"
The monk said, "Still evil."
"But a tiger will starve if it doesn’t eat meat."
The monk replied, "It could still be vegetarian, right? In Buddhism, there is compassion; as long as one recites scriptures and worships Buddha, even tigers can be persuaded to become vegetarians by the Buddhist Law."
The Traveling Taoist said, "But aren’t plants and trees, then, also lives?"
The monk answered, "No, they are not; grass and trees have no Perception."
"How do you know they have no Perception? You must realize that in this world, there are flower demons and tree spirits; since all things have a spirit and can cultivate into spirits, it is evident that plants and trees also have Perception. If you eat vegetarian, and consume thousands of blades of grass in one meal, isn’t that more evil than a tiger eating a sheep?"
The monk was stunned on the spot.
But the Taoist laughed, "Ha ha, even the old monk has been stumped, hasn’t he? By this logic, isn’t everything in the world evil?"
The Traveling Taoist smiled and shook his head, "No, no, there was originally no good and evil in the world; it was people who defined good and evil, and then the notion of good and evil came into being. Before humans appeared, there was no distinction between good and evil.
In the eyes of the beast, there is only survival and reproduction, whether it eats meat or grass, it does so simply because these things can be eaten and can sustain its life; this is the way of nature.
Humans, in order to excuse their own actions, thus defined good and evil, discussed merits and faults.
The tiger eating humans is naturally evil; the sheep being eaten by humans is naturally good, because both the tiger and the sheep are ’it’, while man is ’I’. In the eyes of ’I’, all ’its’ are supposed to feed and serve ’me’, which is good. If something harms ’me’, it is evil. Good and evil are simply selfish concepts born from one’s self-interest.
Moreover, today’s good may be tomorrow’s evil, and today’s evil may be tomorrow’s good.
To bury one’s child in service of their mother may be the utmost good, but in a place that does not respect filial piety, it becomes the utmost evil.
As you can see, there are no definitive conclusions about good and evil; what changes is the human heart.
Humans themselves have no good or evil; they just argue for their own purposes."
The monk and the Taoist changed their expressions instantly.
Both showed an indignant look but didn’t know how to rebut.
The Traveling Taoist suddenly looked towards Xiao Jie, "Brother Sui Feng, what do you think of my words?"
Huh? Xiao Jie was taken aback, thinking why the conversation suddenly turned to him.
"Do we know each other?"
"He he, I can’t believe that after so many days apart, Brother Sui Feng can’t recognize me. I have never forgotten the kindness of the wine you once gave me."
Xiao Jie was suddenly startled; he looked carefully at the Taoist, and found something vaguely familiar in his features.
Feng Buqi (Traveling Taoist): Level 28. Life Value 660.
"You are... the Mad Taoist!"