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Roving Over The World
- Book 111: Roving Over The World
- Chapter 12:
Maintain An Excellent Public Order
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated by Janny Chow
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As I am getting older, I really want to find a peaceful place to retire. The choice of an ideal location has been lingering in my mind.
To me, non-interference is peaceful. Having indulged myself in the spiritual world for so long, I must face the `real world` now.
\`Are there such a place called `Pureland` in this Samsara World?` I always have a doubt on this. Maybe human minds have lost its influence on morality, and as a result we have decadent customs.
I ask and answer myself these questions:
\`Do you steal?\` \`Never.\`
\`Do you rob?\` \`Never.\`
\`Do you fight, kill and commit arson?\` \`Never .\`
\`Have such thoughts come across your mind?\`
\`Never occurred to me before.\`
Most of us are wise, kind-hearted and virtuous; we will never steal, fight, kill and commit arson.
Is there a country in this world where you can live and work in peace and contentment without any fear ?
I was born in Taiwan, a country noted for its kidnapping. Although it claims to have a five-thousand year old of history, mainland China is fraught with massacres such as the one at Qiantao (thousand island) Lake.
After migrating to the United States of America, I have experienced all kinds of encounters including a hail of bullets.
In Canada, Vancouver is full of thieves.
In South East Asia, such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.......
Officials from Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines interfered, and the public orders there are surprising.
In South America`s Brazil, the situation was worse, we were told not to stop at the traffic light junction, lest we get robbed.
In Europe, the chances of meeting misfortune is high in Italy.
In Africa, the public order is doubtful.
Thieves and robberies occurred daily in every corner of the world, even poor countries such as India and advance country such as America are no exceptions. Maintaining a satisfactory public order has poised a great challenge to all nations.
It is difficult , if not impossible, to find a country with an excellent public order now.
Enjoying material enjoyment, more and more people have lost their bearings. They believe in seizing by force to be the only way to prosperity. It is very sad to note that the human race has lost its self-dignity and morality.
I am fully aware that to enjoy peaceful bliss in life, I have to behave myself and control my greed.
But others go through the abyss of suffering to clamoring for status and wealth, using all possible methods to achieve these ends.
I think this is the crux of the problem.
When in Singapore, I asked a disciple of mine: \`How is the public order here?\`
\`Excellent\`, he replied. I was surprised to hear the answer.
Singapore has adopted its own unique way of governing the country. The sales of chewing gum is banned, so they don`t buy or sell chewing gums in Singapore. The Government has put in painstaking effort to clean up the environment and aims to be \`the cleanest garden city on earth\`.
Because of the indiscriminate disposal of chewing gums, public property was often vandalized causing problems for the Government. To avoid these problems, Singapore Government decided to ban all imports and sales of chewing gums in the country.
That is the death knell of chewing gums in Singapore.
I was told there are many factors contributing to the excellent public order in Singapore:
1. It is easy to manage the Country as the population is highly concentrated.
2. Surrounded by sea, the country is a small island making it difficult for criminals to hide.
3. The punishment is severe, there are all kinds of punishments such as death sentence, death by hanging, caning....etc. (Punishment by caning is very painful, it will take more than 6 months to heal, and will leave a life-long mark)
4. Heavy fine are imposed if one is caught littering.
5. To ensure that the unworthy won`t break the law easily, laws are strictly adhered to.
I am really impressed by the cleanliness of Singapore. Apart from oriental charm, Singapore also has retained the colonial past. It boasts of huge and elegant buildings. You can find all kinds of goods in the bazaars - the East meets the West in this multi-religious society.
The goods on display can be either cheap or expensive. Compared with Hong Kong, Singapore goods are mostly genuine.
A pretty, petite and moderately make-up female disciple guided me to tour the departmental stores. I asked her how she likes living in Singapore.
Her features are small and sedate, but her lips are exceptional thin. Obviously she is very good in talking.
She answered me by asking a question.
\`What do you think, Grandmaster?\`
\`Modern and comfortable,\` I replied.
\`Most people have the same impression, but there are others who say the country is too bureaucratic and not democratic at all.\`
\`Bureaucracy can result in too tight a control; on the other hand, being too democratic can lead to laissez faire and the country might end up in a sorrowful plight. It is not easy to strike a balance between law and human feelings.\`
\`You are right, Grandmaster.\`
I continued: \`I like to observe others, and go into the inner world. As a spiritual teacher, I live my life with an appreciating mind.\`
I am reminded of the public order in Singapore and Japan. Many countries would like to emulate the public order in these two countries. Singapore does it with \`System\`, while Japan stresses on education. Their approaches are totally different.
To me, the Japanese are courteous and unpretentious in nature. Through life-long education, being courteous has become a national passion. To have an excellent public order is a natural phenomena in Japan that cannot not be achieved in a day or two.
On the other hand, the western courtesy is noble but artificial.
Degeneration in morality in the western countries has almost reached a point of no return.
Education is the only hope. The value of human being is no different from that of the animal. In fact, some criminals are worse than the animals.
Some of the western media even encourage filth, barbarianism, and brutality.
In Chicago, I saw it with my own eyes:
A late-home comer drove through a not-so-safe zone. When he stopped at a junction, a speeding car hit the right side of his car . When five men stepped out from the speeding car, I thought they would render first-aid to the injured party who suffered a concussion and ruptured bones. Instead they opened the car door and took away the victim`s wallet, cash, documents, traveler`s cheque , brief case, and jewelry.
They didn`t even take a glance at the victim. They had no sympathy whatsoever towards the victim who was lying in a pool of blood. They swaggered off after the robbery.
This is the fashionable \`Accident robbery.\`
While in New York , I also witnessed:
It was closing time at a restaurant, two masked robbers went in to rob. They wanted the cashier to open the cash register.
The manager happened to come out from his office at that moment. Out of panic, the robbers shot and killed the manager, thinking that he was the reinforcement. The cashier and two customers were also killed instantly. Thereafter, they took the cash and fled.
(These two soul-stirring scenes are not from a movie, they happen everyday in big cities. Living in such a horrible world, how can one live in peace?)
It is food for thought,
\`How can human beings be so cruel?\`
\`How can we bring them to self-realization?\`
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