During the final sentence she couldn’t hide her cracking voice. Even if she was wearing a mask, Maitreya, the old sage could probably tell that she was teary-eyed. There was a long pause. The man closed his eyes for a while then spoke:
“From your tone and voice, I suspect that you are serious. But please, do not make me the target of your hatred. I am just a man in my sixties sitting behind a computer screen. And it is true. I did tell in my discourses that the soul was immortal. I did say death was like a deep slumber.”.
“Then you-“ started Nanaha.
“But” interjected Maitreya. He looked into Nanaha’s eyes penetratingly then spoke:
“I did not encourage violence. I did not encourage death, murder and destruction. I did say those were the things that happen in life. I said be alert and observative of yourself during moments like this. Because whatever fear that was within you will all bubble up from within. If you observe your fears when they appear they will soon start to disappear. However, I never said violence was the way.
A man has a lot of options in this modern era. In the past when people were less civilized even good people had to rely on brute force. But now wars and violence are not necessary. In fact, wars cannot be an option now. Seeing how weapons of mass destruction have evolved to it highest form.
However what I did say was, universally speaking, there is no good and bad. All good and bad are for utilitarian purposes. Morality is good for running and maintaining the society. But as far as knowing the truth of this reality is concerned, it is a hindrance. Your mind is nothing but a tape recorder and from the moment you were born you were told what is good and what is bad.
And that has been your conditioning, your program. And this programming is good as far as operating in the society is concerned. But man cannot become just a cog in a wheel, he cannot be just a stepping stone for the society and his country. Man is more than that. And when realizing that potential your conditionings are a hindrance. Especially your morality about what is good, what is bad. It goes so deep in you, you don't realize how all your worldview is being affected by it.
You walk on the street, you see a flower. You think it’s a beautiful flower, why? Because you heard others saying that, some poets said that, some actor said that in a movie. It is not your experience. It is bullshit. Just a memory, conditioning. So you think it’s beautiful, you say it’s beautiful. You can’t look at a flower directly without thinking about it for just one minute.
The same thing with death. Someone dies, some animal dies, you say it is a terrible thing. You say it is a bad thing and it should have never happened. But are you sure? How do you know that it’s a bad thing?
That is what I meant. To throw away your knowledgeable chattering mind. Only then you will be able to know nature, know what reality is. Unless you throw out all category and characterization in your mind you cannot know truth.”
“I guess, what you're saying is interesting. There is no good or bad, huh. I would have loved to believe that. If it weren't for the fact that my sister murdered my family exactly cause of that mentality.“ said Nanaha with a sour tone.
“I don’t know who your sister is, if she was one of my listeners then I wouldn’t know. Because all of these people are wearing masks. The government is not allowing any kind of shady meetings to happen. So, we are here, gathering in secret, wearing masks, to protect your identities in case there are whistleblowers in this facility.
And such is the case that I can’t see my people’s faces. I don’t know if they understood me rightly or horribly misunderstood me. And if you misunderstand me, what can I do? I never said go around and kill people. I only said as far as the universe is concerned there is no god that will punish you. There can’t be. A god allowed you to commit a crime even tho he could have easily prevented it? Now that is some nonsense. He should be punishing himself instead of punishing you.
No, there is no doctrine about good or bad. But if love and awareness had flowered within you, you would not resort to murder, to violence. Resorting to murder and violence just shows that there was an animalistic urge within you for violence. You had an ego and you desired to dominate the other. You have not been aware of that, you have not observed it, you have not transformed you animalistic energies into a higher form. Your love did not flower.
That is the unfortunate thing. A person can listen and listen to me. Their minds can be filled with so many funky ideas. And they will act upon those ideas and will use my words for their justification. They don't have the eyes to see their own lust for violence, that is the problem. Whatever I say they will project and use it to support their own prejudices, their own wish fulfillments and desires.
Unless you meditate and center within yourself, you are all prone to temptations of the world. Murder and violence is just a few of them”
Nanaha slumped to the ground. She had acted out on her emotions. She regretted it. But nevertheless, the man’s response, it was serviceable to her.
“My girl, if you calmed down, I want you to at least listen to me. There is nothing you can do about the past. I feel great empathy for your pain. But this should not be your reason for unhappiness. Do not let your mind wander into the past or to the future because the present moment is all that you have. And you alone are enough onto yourself in this present moment. Nobody else can make you happy”
Nanaha heard the man’s words right. She heard him clearly. But still, there was anger, there was a complaint. This man was responsible for the death of her parents and now he was lecturing her about happiness. About how she should just forget everyone's tragic death.
