seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

We know that, ideally, we ought not to punish Baby B, we ought to rehabilitate him.
Ideally, we ought to have intervened in his early life and removed him from his abusive
environment and placed him in more congenial surroundings. We also know that not every
criminal comes from a flagrantly abusive household. Some of history's worst crimes were
committed by members of fine, upstanding families.
Society does, in fact, make an attempt to rehabilitate troubled individuals. For
juveniles, there are school counselors, youth hostels, and reform schools. At adult levels,
first offenders are routinely treated lightly. Judges order probationary periods and mandate as
much counseling as the system provides. Frequently, however, the only deterrent to
continued criminal behavior is the fear of execution or, what might be even more
intimidating considering the dismal state of our prisons, the fear of incarceration. Fear is a
poor replacement for guidance but sometimes fear is all the citizenry is willing to invest in.
Unfortunately many young people enter the system when they are already so
psychologically deformed that nothing short of a miracle can restore them. They zip in and
out of reformatories, lesser and greater jails and, with a trail of grieving victims behind them,
finally end their days on Death Row. (It is then that many Buddhists begin to pay a great deal
of attention to them.)
We Nirvana-bound individuals may see these criminals as victims - a view which is
perfectly clear to all summit inhabitants but which is not nearly so clear to the victims of the
criminals who must observe, for the moment at least, from Samsaric vantage points.
The Chan Man may not ignore the responsibilities of citizenship. If he doesn't like
the terms of this social contract, he can apply to another more suitable country. But for as
long as he cares to remain within a country, he has to fulfill his obligations as a citizen even
as he exercises his rights to exert pressure, by whatever legal means, to change those laws
and policies to which he thoughtfully objects.
Yet, in religion, we find many well-intentioned people who persist in advising others
to act like saints. Most of the time this religious mawkishness is harmless. A Path-climber
may laugh when he is instructed to divest himself of his material goods by a novice who took
a vow of poverty last Thursday. But sometimes the advice hurled at him is disturbing and
involves more than some bewildering legal ambiguities.
For example, it is difficult to borrow money from a saint. If he has money to lend, he
gives it freely. He is responsible only to himself and knows how to get along in poverty. But
Path-climbers may not yet be shorn of their assets nor be so free of family responsibility that
they can afford to give away needed money. They can agree to lend it and regardless of how
substantial the sum, they and their family can be injured if the money is not repaid. If the
borrower absolutely cannot pay, the lender is spiritually obliged not only to wait patiently for
his money but also to see if there is something else he can lend or do to help the borrower get
CHAPTER 11 RIGHT UNDERSTANDING
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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