not have moral virtue to protect and maintain their inner wealth
are like a fire raging through human society. Without morality’s
protective restraint, mistreatment and destruction would run ram-
pant in the world to the point where there would hardly be an
island of security left where a person could rest in peace. As long
as people believe that material wealth is more valuable than moral
virtue, they will have no real security. In such a case, even if the
world economy were to flourish until material wealth was piled as
high as the sun, the sun’s heat would be no match for the scorch-
ing heat of an immoral world.
Moral virtue is the true foundation of human perfection
that was personified by the Lord Buddha. He uncovered this truth,
presenting it as a means by which a world confused and fearful
of dukkha might rely on its restraining power to live in the cool,
soothing glow of trust. Left to their own devices, people with kile-
sas will tend to think in ways that make the world oppressively
hot. If these thoughts are allowed free rein, powered by the kilesas
and untempered by even a hint of moral virtue, they will surely
create innumerable poisonous ‘monsters’ that will spread through-
out the world to devour everything in their path. The thoughts of a
supremely virtuous person like the Lord Buddha, who totally elim-
inated the kilesas from his heart, produce only welcome peace and
happiness in the world. Compare this with the thought patterns
instigated by the kilesas that cause us, and everyone else, unimag-
inable trouble. The difference is obvious enough that we should
want to search for a way to resolve this problem and stem the tide
of such thoughts before it is too late. Moral virtue is like a med-
icine that counteracts infectious diseases as well as chronic ones.
At the very least, a patient who is sick with the ‘kilesa-fever’ can
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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