Commentary on the Sutra on Morality (19): Abandoning the Sacred and Wisdom, the People Benefit a Hundredfold

Abandon the sacred and wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold; abandon benevolence and righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and kindness; abandon cleverness and profit, and there will be no thieves or robbers. These three cannot be relied upon as mere literary embellishments, so one must have a proper focus. Embrace simplicity and purity, reduce selfishness and desires, abandon learning, and there will be no worries. Note: If one does not manipulate power and cunning, the people's efficiency in their work will increase a hundredfold. If one does not manipulate benevolence and righteousness, the people will naturally return to filial piety and kindness. If one does not pursue cleverness and profit, there will naturally be no thieves or robbers. These three cannot be resolved by relying on rules, regulations, or laws, so one must have a proper foundation. Managers need to be natural and pure, reduce selfish desires, and reduce others' imitation, thus achieving a state without worries. A few years ago, a wave of tomb-raiding-themed books swept the internet. Why were tomb-raiding books so popular? It was not simply due to the influence of horror novels, but rather because the profession of tomb-raiding feels mysterious to people. More importantly, it is a means of opportunism and taking shortcuts, subtly implying that the public can also use such methods to seek profit. Following the popularity of tomb-raiding novels, the antique trade boomed, and private collecting flourished. Although not solely stimulated by novels, this is a resonant phenomenon; the rise of tomb-raiding novels indicates the prosperity of the collecting market. More significantly, domestic tomb-raiding cases have increased significantly, and the counterfeiting and trafficking of antiques have become more prevalent. Various fake antiques accompanied by fabricated collecting stories have also increased day by day. This is the result of pursuing cleverness and profit. Similarly, like the melamine incident of the past, a rigid requirement for a protein content indicator led to more people producing fakes, adding melamine to pass it off as protein. On one hand, it promoted how high the protein content in milk powder was, while on the other hand, it implicitly indicated how much harm was contained within. This phenomenon is a co-occurring one. In society, if there is a pursuit of academic credentials, there will inevitably be fake credentials, such as the widely publicized fake credential scandals involving some famous figures. The success of these "credential-fake" individuals reflects another issue: they did not actually possess such high academic credentials, yet they achieved considerable success and were basically leading figures in their industries. This further illustrates whether academic credentials are truly that important. If something is fundamentally unnecessary, why establish a standard that leads people to forge it?