Love Versus Principle

Master Jingzong; English translation by Foying, edited by Fojin

Love rules in a family, whereas legal principles rule in a court of law.

Love is the name of the game for people who are fond of each other. But those who are in conflict resort to principles.

A society will not be harmonious unless love prevails. When principles rule, debates on right and wrong are inevitable.

Amitabha Buddha cares about love, not principles; while King Yama only looks at principles, not love.

Do not ask the Buddha to make moral judgements like King Yama does.

Would you like others to treat you with love, or with reasons?

If others were to reason with us, we would have no leg to stand on. Have we not killed or hurt any other beings? Have we not eaten the flesh of any animals or drunk their blood? How can you reason with these sentient beings that your acts were morally justified?

Do you favor King Yama or Buddha?

When your life has come to an end, would you like King Yama to judge you or Amitabha Buddha to receive you to the Pure Land?

We tend to ask others to treat us with love, but we treat them according to principles. We save all the love to ourselves while being hard on others with reasons.

For Amitabha Buddha, love is the sole rule and law.

Love is the ultimate principle in all dharma realms of the cosmos.

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