..续本文上一页n that of some other religions. Chinese claim that heaven and earth give birth to the human, or that we are the product of the union of yin (the negative principle) and yang (the positive principle). Heaven here stands for the metaphysical or spiritual constituents of the human, while earth represents the physical or corporeal elements. Heaven and earth give birth to all beings. However humans are the only ones endowed with the essence of the natural principles, and are called the most intelligent of all beings. Humans are so great that we are sometimes equated with heaven and earth, and all these three are then called the "Three Potentials".
Thus, the human, standing between heaven and earth, is most noble. This concept is quite different from the Western master-servant relationship. However, can all human beings be equated with heaven and earth
No! Only the saints are capable of assisting heaven and earth in the evolution and development of the world. In addition, Chinese also say, "Heaven and Earth evolve without a mind. The saints, however, suffer with the myriad beings." All these statements serve to indicate the greatness of the saints.
It is a spontaneous act for heaven and earth to give birth to myriad beings. It is a natural phenomenon. It differs to God”s creation of the world because Creation is an act of will. Let there be life! And life there is. When we look at the world from a positive perspective, everything is lovely; flowers in blossom, the singing birds, every single plant and every blade of grass is beautiful. However, if we look at it from a negative perspective, we see big worms eat little worms, and big fish eat little fish. Everyone is hurting and killing each other. We see the scenes of mutual destruction. Is mutual destruction also the purpose of creation
Confucianism says that the myriad beings are mindless. They are mutually destroying and conflicting; and also mutually assisting and complementing each other. The saints cannot disregard all these happenings and want to share the sorrow of the myriad beings. Heaven and earth represent the natural existence, and the saints and sages represent the humanistic and moral forces.
When the saints see mankind engaged in mutual destruction, they would advocate kindness, love and peace. When they see the masses live in ignorance, they would educate them to behave well. When there is no morality in the world, they would advocate moral disciplines. Everything that is bad in this world, the saints would try their utmost effort to improve it and uplift it to eventual perfection. In this way do all saints assist heaven and earth in their evolution and development.
This concept is more logical than that of some religions, owing to the concept that heaven and earth, or yin and yang, give birth to the human. The Chinese religio-cultural system is one of father-son relationship. The family system is patriarchal (i.e. father is the head of the family). Politically, the king considers his subjects his children, and people call the local magistrate as their "Parent-Officer". In a father-son cultural system, sentiments carry more weight than reason. It differs to master-servant system, as law predominates, the world is harsh and relentless.
2.3 Did I create the world
Buddhists believe the myriad beings created everything in this universe. The Law of Cause and Effect stipulates that whatever deed an inpidual performs, the result of that deed goes to him or her alone. Whatever deeds a group of persons perform, the group will bear the result. Such a doctrine is diametrically opposite to theistic teachings. Therefore, all Buddha-dharma practitioners should understand two things:
a) All the chaos and sufferings in this world are the result of evil deeds performed by th…
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