speech and thought (i.e. mental purity) of those living in that society.
When we consider the subject of reforming human nature, the
subject of this book, we mean the transformation process from the untrained to
the well-trained mind. The difference between the trained mind and the
untrained mind is that the number of mental defilements remaining is more in
the latter. The defilements are like the puppets of Platonic shadow-play which
cast the shadows of negative core values on the cave-wall mind. When these
defilements cause distortion of our core values in relation to the world, from
positive to negative ones, as we shall see, thought, speech and action deteriorate
in accordance. Thus core values are a key point of leverage in human
transformation.
transformation process from the untrained to the well-trained mind.
As we shall see in later chapters, on a collective level,
the well-being of society at large depends on the behavior, speech and thought
(i.e. mental purity) of those living in that society. Just as the human body
can be affected by many diseases, there are also different types of defilements
that affect the mind. However, they are mainly classified into three types:
greed, hatred and delusion. Where do they come from? The Lord Buddha taught
that all kinds of defilements originate from our minds. So, defilement is a
kind of nature that exists within our minds since our birth. Once aroused by
external or internal factors, they can spread out to cover, penetrate, decay, subdue
and constrict our minds to have only unwholesome thoughts that result in
unscrupulous and selfish behavior.
