PureInsight | March 21, 2005
[PureInsight.org] The lawn in our backyard had suffered severe neglect for a long time. After procrastinating for several months, my husband and I finally started working on our lawn today. The early spring in New England may be sunny sometimes, but the rest of the time it still feels like winter. I am usually too busy to stop and smell the roses, let alone checking out my backyard. When I stepped into the backyard today, I was pleasantly surprised by beautiful yellow and purple blossoms of wild flowers.
"What beautiful flowers! I have to cut them off and put them in a vase," I said immediately.
"Why do you have to kill these flowers?" my husband asked.
"Otherwise no one else would see them. It would be a waste."
My husband turned his head and gave me a look. "Will you look at yourself? You are acting like the rich old man in the Chinese TV drama we watched last night who always covets beautiful young maids and wants to buy them to become his concubines. Must all beautiful maids marry the old man so that they won't waste their beauty? Do you really believe all the flowers blossom just for you and you alone? Don't you remember a Chinese poem, 'Flowers are supposed to blossom. They do not need anyone to pick them up.' Suppose you were a beautiful maid, do I have the right to decided that you must marry me and give birth to a lot of children for me in order to make your beauty worthwhile?"
I became speechless, as I really had to think about why I felt like possessing the beautiful wild flowers the minute I saw them.
The desire of possession is dirty enough, but that's not all. Why do I selfishly think all good things must belong to me? Flowers grow on the great plains of the earth. Birds can feast their eyes on them. Bees can enjoy their fragrance. Heaven, earth, the sun and the moon can also enjoy the beauty of the flowers. The existence of the flowers itself is meaningful. Flowers do not become more meaningful because I spot them or because they fall into my possession. My greed makes me become so ugly.
When my husband pointed out my greed, I unconsciously tried to justify or cover it with a lame excuse not to waste any talent or resources. Would I not be wasting the beautiful flowers' beauty and life by cutting them off and putting them into a vase? Then I remembered this notion came from the education of ex-Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong. He once said, "We must use western resources as ours and use ancient relics for our benefit." In other words, it is the Chinese Communist Party's belief that all things are not useful until "we Communists" start to possess and use them. No wonder today's Mainland Chinese people are all eager for quick success and instant benefits. It is all because they are taught to "use" everything as theirs right away. When a Chinese Communist needs an egg, he would not hesitate to butcher a hen to take out the eggs right away. When he needs an egg, a hen is useful only if it can instantly produce an egg.
Today's Mainland Chinese people severely damage the natural environment and abandon their morality, credibility and good values to reap instant profits. In the short run, China might seem to have prospered economically, but their selfish actions have started to backfire. It is like a hungry man who satisfies his appetite for meat by feasting on his own flesh. He may have some hearty meals, but at the same time he is damaging his own body and will eventually kill himself.
How can today's Mainland Chinese people be so foolish? Now that I think of it, the root cause is the Chinese Communist Party's education of conflict philosophy. It teaches the Chinese people to fight and conquer the natural environment in order to possess and use all resources. The end result is that today's Mainland Chinese people have all become eager for quick success and instant benefits. It is imperative for every Mainland Chinese to escape from the Chinese Communist Party's self-destructive culture and education.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/3/15/31547.html
