Chapter Two : Doctrine 35

The Founding Master continued,
“Now, in order to cure these illnesses, we must first of all promote the study of the Way, that is: the Way of being content with one’s lot in life; the Way of discovering grace at its very source; the Way of leading a life of self-power; the Way of learning; the Way of teaching; and the Way of leading a life of public benefit. Through such teaching, each person internally should come to look into oneself and to treat one’s own diseased states of mind, while externally striving also to examine and to treat the diseased world in accordance with the saying ‘He who is sick first is the doctor.’ The great prescriptions for curing the great illnesses of the world today are in fact our Fourfold Grace and Four Essentials, which are the essential Way of human life, and the Threefold Study and Eight Articles, which are the essential Way of practice. If this dharma becomes widely disseminated throughout the world, the planet will naturally be a world that is free from all defects, the people will all become buddhas and bodhisattvas, and men and women, young and old, will all enjoy paradisiacal life in an unimaginable heavenly realm.”

The Fourfold Grace

[ Section One : The Grace of Heaven and Earth]
A. The Principle of Indebtedness to Heaven and Earth
If we wish most easily to understand the grace we have received from heaven and earth, we first must consider whether we could sustain our existence and live without heaven and earth. Then, even the most stupid or ignorant among us would acknowledge that we could not live without heaven and earth. If there is a relationship wherein we cannot live without the other, then where would there be a grace greater than that?
As a rule, heaven and earth have the Way and its power. The spontaneous motion of the great mechanism of the universe is the Way of heaven and earth. The results that are made manifest according to the motions of that Way are the power of heaven and earth. The Way of heaven and earth is exceedingly radiant, exceedingly meticulous and steadfast, and exceedingly just; it is proper and natural, vast and immeasurable, eternal and imperishable; it is without either good or ill fortune; and it is free of thoughts in its applications. Within the manifestation of the great power that flows from this great Way, the myriad things sustain their lives and preserve their forms.

B. The Gist of Indebtedness to Heaven and Earth
1. Due to the air in the sky, we are able to live by inhaling and exhaling.
2. Due to the support of the ground, we are able to live by having our bodies depend on it.
3. Due to the radiance of the sun and moon, we come to distinguish and know the myriad phenomena in the universe.
4. Due to the beneficence of wind, clouds, rain, and dew, we come to live off the products created by their nurturing of the myriad things.
5. As heaven and earth neither arise nor cease, the myriad things come to attain endless life in accordance with that Way.

C. The Principle of Gratitude to Heaven and Earth
If people wish to show gratitude to heaven and earth, they first must practice by modeling themselves wholeheartedly on that Way.

D. An Agenda for Gratitude to Heaven and Earth
1. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the exceedingly radiant Way of heaven and earth, we should inquire into the myriad human affairs and universal principles and know them thoroughly.
2. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the exceedingly meticulous and steadfast Way of heaven and earth, in all our action we should apply ourselves consistently from beginning to end and achieve our goal.
3. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the exceedingly just Way of heaven and earth, in all our action we should avoid becoming enticed by remoteness or closeness, intimacy or distance, joy or anger, sorrow or happiness, and ever keep to the Middle Way.
4. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the proper and natural Way of heaven and earth, in all our action we should scrutinize the reasonable and the unreasonable, and choose the reasonable and abandon the unreasonable.
5. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the vast and immeasurable Way of heaven and earth, we should be free from any penchant toward partiality.
6. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the eternal and imperishable Way of heaven and earth, we should gain liberation from the changes occurring in all things and from the birth, old age, sickness, and death of human life.
7. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the Way of heaven and earth that is free from good or ill fortune, we should find the future ill in fortunate events and the future good in unfortunate events, and avoid becoming enticed by good or ill fortune.
8. Modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on the Way of heaven and earth that is free of thought in its applications, we should nurture the Way that is free of thought in action or rest and harbor no concept or sign after rendering spiritual, physical, or material beneficence. And even if the recipient turns ungrateful, the previous act of beneficence should not make us hate or make an enemy of that person all the more.

E. Ingratitude to Heaven and Earth
Ingratitude to heaven and earth means either not knowing the meaning of indebtedness, gratitude, or ingratitude, or, even while knowing it, not practicing gratitude.

F. The Consequences of Gratitude to Heaven and Earth
If we practice each and every one of the articles in the agenda for showing gratitude to heaven and earth, then heaven and earth and oneself will not be different things, so that one is exactly the same as heaven and earth and heaven and earth are exactly the same as oneself. Even though heaven is void and earth is still, and they do not directly bestow any blessings or happiness, we gain spontaneously an awesome power like that of heaven and earth, long life like that of heaven and earth, and radiance like that of the sun and moon; and all the hosts of humans and heavenly beings and all the world will honor us like heaven and earth.

G. The Consequences of Ingratitude to Heaven and Earth
If we are ungrateful to heaven and earth, we inevitably will incur the punishment of heaven. If we explain the particulars so that they are easily understood, then, to the extent that we do not model ourselves on the Way of heaven, we will certainly be ignorant of human affairs or universal principles and will have little meticulousness and steadfastness in everything we do; we will have many occasions when we are either excessive or deficient in everything we do; many occasions when we are irrational in everything we do; and many occasions when we have a penchant toward partiality in everything we do; we will be ignorant of the changes occurring in all things and of the birth, old age, sickness, and death, and good and ill fortune of human life; and even if we exercise virtue, we will be attached to signs so that internally we are conceited and externally we are boastful. How would such people not incur transgression and harm? Even though heaven and earth may be void and calm, any suffering that might inadvertently occur or that we have created for ourselves is exactly the punishment incurred by our ingratitude to heaven and earth.

[ Section Two : The Grace of Parents]
A. The Principle of Indebtedness to Parents
If we wish most easily to understand the grace we have received from our parents, we first must consider whether our bodies would have appeared in this world without our parents, or even if we had, whether, lacking self-power, we could have matured by ourselves. Then, anyone would acknowledge that neither would have been possible. If, without parents, our bodies could not have appeared or matured, then where would there be a grace greater than that?
As a rule, although the birth and death of humans may be deemed a natural law and a creative transformation of heaven and earth, the great grace of giving us birth and raising us when we are lacking self-power, and of teaching us the great principle of the human Way, is precisely our indebtedness to parents.

B. The Gist of Indebtedness to Parents
1. Thanks to our parents, we receive this body, which is the foundation of all human affairs and universal principles.
2. With all-embracing love and ignoring all kinds of trouble, they raise and protect us, until we gain self-power.
3. They teach us human duties and responsibilities and guide us into human society.

C. The Principle of Gratitude to Parents
Recognizing this Way of our indebtedness when we were lacking self-power, we should offer protection as best we can to those who are lacking self-power.

D. An Agenda for Gratitude to Parents
1. We should follow without exception the essential Way of practice－the Threefold Study and the Eight Articles－and the essential Way of human life－the Fourfold Grace and the Four Essentials.
2. In the event that our parents become helpless, as best we can, we should offer them mental comfort and physical sustenance.
3. While our parents are living, or after they have passed away, we ought to protect to the best of our abilities the helpless parents of others, as if they were our own.
4. After our parents have passed away, we ought to enshrine their life histories and their portraits to commemorate them for a long time.

E. Ingratitude to Parents
Ingratitude to parents means either not knowing the meaning of indebtedness, gratitude, or ingratitude, or, even while knowing it, not practicing gratitude.

F. The Consequences of Gratitude to Parents
If we show gratitude to parents, then, even though I have only shown gratitude to my own parents, the world will naturally regard me respectfully. Since it is an unavoidable principle that children will act by modeling themselves after the good or bad conduct of their parents, my children’s filial piety toward me will duly reflect my own Way of showing gratitude to my parents. Also, as a consequence of protecting people who are lacking self-power, I will constantly receive the help of others even when I happen to lack self-power while coming and going through numerous lifetimes.

G. The Consequences of Ingratitude to Parents
If we are ungrateful to our parents, then, even though I have been ungrateful only to my own parents, the world inevitably will hate and ostracize me; and inevitably my very own offspring, too, by imitating my ingratitude, will directly bring woe to myself. Also, I will constantly be abandoned by others even when I happen to lack self-power while coming and going through numerous lifetimes.

[ Section Three : The Grace of Fellow Beings ]
A. The Principle of Indebtedness to Fellow Beings
If we wish most easily to understand the grace we have received from fellow beings, we first must consider whether I could live alone in a place that has no people, no animals, and no plants. Then, anyone would acknowledge that it is not possible. If we cannot live without the help of fellow beings, the support of fellow beings, and the provisions supplied by fellow beings, then where would there be a grace greater than that?
As a rule, the world has four categories of occupations: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. People engage in work appropriate to these categories, and, by exchanging all kinds of material goods for their various products, they have helped and become indebted to each other solely by benefiting themselves and benefiting others.

B. The Gist of Indebtedness to Fellow Beings
1. Scholars study and research to edify and educate us in all types of learning and governance.
2. Farmers plant and raise crops to provide materials for our clothing and food.
3. Artisans manufacture all types of goods to provide us with shelter and necessities.
4. Merchants trade all kinds of material goods to help make our lives convenient.
5. Even animals and plants are of help to us.

C. The Principle of Gratitude to Fellow Beings
Since we are indebted to fellow beings by benefiting ourselves and benefiting others, if we wish to show gratitude to that grace, we should wholeheartedly model ourselves on that Way and constantly act by benefiting ourselves and benefiting others when scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants exchange with one another all types of learning and material goods.

D. An Agenda for Gratitude to Fellow Beings
1. Scholars, when edifying through all types of learning or governance, should constantly act in fairness by benefiting themselves and benefiting others.
2. Farmers, when providing the materials for clothing and food, should constantly act in fairness by benefiting themselves and benefiting others.
3. Artisans, when providing shelter and necessities, should constantly act in fairness by benefiting themselves and benefiting others.
4. Merchants, when trading in all types of material goods, should constantly act in fairness by benefiting themselves and benefiting others.
5. Even plants and animals should not be destroyed or killed without due cause.

E. Ingratitude to Fellow Beings
Ingratitude to fellow beings means either not knowing the meaning of indebtedness, gratitude, or ingratitude, or, even while knowing it, not practicing gratitude.

F. The Consequences of Gratitude to Fellow Beings
If we show gratitude to fellow beings, then fellow beings, moved by acts of mutual benefit, will all love and rejoice in one another, so that I personally will also be safeguarded and honored; and there will be love between individuals, friendship between families, understanding between societies, and peace between nations, so that ultimately we shall have an unimaginably ideal world.
However, if no human beings anywhere in the world show gratitude, or if all fellow beings are lost in the sea of suffering because of the mischief of those who are ungrateful, then those sages who are saviors of this world, by bestowing on us their compassionate expedients, will rescue those sentient beings who are ungrateful, through either their moral force, political power, or military might.

G. The Consequences of Ingratitude to Fellow Beings
If we are ungrateful to fellow beings, then they will all hate and dislike one another and become mutual enemies. There will be quarrels between individuals, ill will between families, hostility between societies, and no peace between nations, and this will become a world at war.

[ Section Four : The Grace of Laws ]

A. The Principle of Indebtedness to Laws
If we wish most easily to understand the grace we have received from laws, we must consider whether we could live in tranquility and order without laws that regulate self cultivation for individuals, domestic affairs for families, social order for societies, national order for nations, and global order for the world. Then, anyone would acknowledge that it is not possible. And if we cannot live without laws, then where would there be a grace greater than that?
As a rule, what we call laws are equitable rules of the human Way and of justice. If these rules shine on individuals, individuals will be helped; if they shine on families, families will be helped; if they shine on societies, societies will be helped; if they shine on nations, nations will be helped; and if they shine on the world, the world will be helped.

B. The Gist of Indebtedness to Laws
1. Sages appear in response to the times, enabling us, through religion and morality, to follow the right road.
2. Laws enable us to protect our lives and to foster knowledge by allowing us both to establish institutions for scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, as well as to exert ourselves in edification and admonition.
3. Laws enable us to live peacefully by reproving injustice and promoting justice through distinguishing right and wrong, benefit and harm, and by thus maintaining tranquility and order.

C. The Principle of Gratitude to Laws
If we are indebted to a statute of prohibition in a law, then we should comply with that Way and if we are indebted to a statute of exhortation, then we should comply with that Way.

D. An Agenda for Gratitude to Laws
1. As an individual, study and practice laws that regulate self-cultivation.
2. As a family, study and practice laws that regulate the family.
3. As a society, study and practice laws that regulate the society.
4. As a nation, study and practice laws that govern the nation.
5. As a world, study and practice laws that govern the world.

E. Ingratitude to Laws
Ingratitude to laws means either not knowing the meaning of indebtedness, gratitude, or ingratitude or, even while knowing it, not practicing gratitude.

F. The Consequences of Gratitude to Laws
If we show gratitude to laws, then we will receive the protection of laws, so that gradually restrictions will vanish and freedom will be gained; our own personal character will improve; the world too will be in good order; and scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants will advance, so that a world of matchless comfort will be created and, furthermore, we shall have requited as well the grace of legislation and administration.

G. The Consequences of Ingratitude to Laws
If we are ungrateful to laws, laws will not pardon us either and we will suffer confinement and constraints; our own personal character will degenerate; and the world too will become disordered until it becomes a chaotic battleground.

The Four Essentials

[ Section One : Developing Self-Power ]
A. The Principle of Developing Self-Power
Unless we are helpless infants, decrepit oldsters, or seriously ill, in all other cases our aim is to develop self-power as a practice, so that while fulfilling the personal duties and responsibilities incumbent on human beings, we also, as best we can, give succor to people who lack self-power.

B. The Gist of the Life of Dependency in the Past
1.If parents, siblings, spouses, children, or other relatives lived better than oneself, one would propose to live idly, depending on them. And if they would not listen to demands for such support, one would propose to live in the same household with them. Also, if one borrowed money from someone and could not repay it, then one’s entire family would be ruined trying to repay that debt.
2.A woman depended on her parents in her youth, on her husband after marriage, and on her children in her old age. Also, due to her unequal rights, she was not able to receive an education like that of men. She also did not enjoy the rights of social intercourse and did not have the right to inherit property. She also could not avoid facing constraints in whatever she did or did not do with her own body and mind.

C. An Agenda for the Encouragement of the Dependent
1. When people who have self-power make an improper request for support, they should not be granted that support.
2. When we as parents are dividing our inheritance among the children, we should distribute it to all without regard to who is the eldest son, younger son, or daughter, except in the case of those who would be unable to retain that property.
3. After marriage, each spouse should maintain financial independence. Furthermore, the primary concern should go beyond love alone and extend also to fulfilling their respective duties and responsibilities.
4. We should handle all other matters according to the circumstances and the law and, not discriminating between men and women as in the past, should treat everyone according to what they do.

D. An Agenda for the Development of Self-Power
1. Regardless of whether we are men or women, we should not live a life of dependency as in the past, unless we cannot help but be dependent due to infancy, old age, or illness.
2. Women too, just like men, should receive an education that will allow them to function actively in human society.
3. Men and women should all work diligently at their occupations to gain freedom in their lives and should share equally their duties and responsibilities toward family and nation.
4. A younger son also should discharge his filial duties to the parents both during their lifetimes and after their deaths, just as did the eldest son in the past.

[ Section Two : The Primacy of the Wise ]
A. The Principle of the Primacy of the Wise
Since it is obvious as a basic principle that the wise teach the foolish and the foolish learn from the wise, whenever we wish to learn in any situation, our aim is not to be led on by a system of unreasonable discrimination, but to strive only to attain the goal that we seek.

B. The Gist of Unreasonable Past Systems ofDiscrimination
1. Discrimination between gentry and commoners.
2. Discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children.
3. Discrimination between old and young.
4. Discrimination between male and female.
5. Discrimination between different races and ethnic groups.

C. An Agenda for the Primacy of the Wise
1. We should regard as our teacher anyone whose Way of commanding the nature and whose moral conduct in human affairs is superior to our own.
2. We should regard as our teacher anyone whose governance of human affairs is superior to our own.
3. We should regard as our teacher anyone whose knowledge of life is superior to our own.
4. We should regard as our teacher anyone whose scholarship and technical skills are superior to our own.
5. We should regard as our teacher anyone whose common sense of all kinds is superior to our own.
We should not inherently designate as our teachers

[ Section Three : Educating Others’ Children ]
A. The Principle of Educating Others’ Children
If educational institutions are narrowly focussed or their spirit does not transcend the boundary between self and others, then the world’s civilization will be held back. Therefore, our aim is to advance the world’s civilization by expanding educational institutions, transcending the boundary between self and others, and widely educating all the latecomers, and to enable all fellow beings to live a paradisial life.

B. The Gist of Faults of Education in the Past
1.The lack of active commitment and encouragement in government and society regarding education.
2. An educational system in which women and lower-class people could not even conceive of receiving an education.
3. At the individual level, the dearth of people who have widely made manifest the benefits of the education they received.
4. The rarity of an exchange of ideas regarding education due to inconveniences in the organs of the press and communications.
5. As the spirit of education could not transcend the boundary between self and others, where there were wealthy persons without children, they tried just to have their own child and, failing in that, neglected to teach at all; while the poor, despite being eager to educate their own children, could not teach them due to financial inability.

C. An Agenda for Educating Others’ Children
1. We, who have come upon an opportunity for the above-mentioned faults of education to be removed, should help all educational institutions as best we can in order to educate even others’ children as if they were our own, whether we have children or not and, as far as circumstances permit, should educate at least a few people, just as if we ourselves had given birth to them.
2. The nation and society too should widely establish educational institutions and actively promote education.
3. A religious order, society, nation, and the world should recognize people who are carrying out this agenda for educating others’ children and should honor and reward them according to their achievements.

[ Section Four : Venerating the Public-Spirited ]
A. The Principle of Venerating the Public-Spirited
If the world cordially venerates the public-spirited, many will appear to serve the world. If the nation cordially venerates the public-spirited, many will appear to serve the nation. If society or religious orders cordially venerate the public-spirited, many will appear to serve society or religious orders. Hence, let us venerate them according to their achievements, in the way that a child is filial toward its parents, people who from various standpoints have served the world, the nation, society, and religious orders. Let each of us also, by modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on that spirit of public service, be actively engaged in public service.

B. The Gist of Faults in Public Service Activities in the Past
1. A dearth of specialized education for scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, which was to provide the principles of life and the foundation for public well-being.
2. A dearth of institutional facilities for scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.
3. The inability to make religious doctrines and institutions accessible to the masses.
4. A dearth of recognition toward the public-spirited by either government or society.
5. The inability of all types of education to gain self-power or to abandon other-power.
6. Excessive concern with personal profit even at the expense of others and being enticed by remoteness and closeness, intimacy and distance.
7. A dearth of experience and common sense.
8. A dearth of people who understood the difference between receiving veneration from the family for dedication to the family and receiving veneration from the masses for dedication to the public.

C. An Agenda for Venerating the Public-Spirited
1. We who now have come upon an opportunity to remove the above-mentioned faults of public service activities should distinguish between family and public service activities and, all things being equal, should engage in public service activities by transcending the boundary between self and others.
2. We should support those who have dedicated themselves to public service on behalf of the people when they become feeble with age and, after they have passed away, should act as their bereaved offspring and pay for their funerals and enshrine their portraits and life histories to commemorate them for a long time, in accordance with their achievements.

The Essential Ways of Human Life and of Practice
The Fourfold Grace and the Four Essentials are the essential Way of human life; the Threefold Study and the Eight Articles are the essential Way of practice. As for the essential Way of human life, people would not be able to follow it without the essential Way of practice. As for the essential Way of practice, people would not be able to manifest fully the efficacious power of that practice without the essential Way of human life. To explain their connection through an analogy, the essential Way of practice is like the medical arts by which a physician cures a patient, while the essential Way of human life is like the medicine that cures the patient.

The Threefold Study

[ Section One : Cultivating the Spirit (Chŏngsin Suyang) ]
A. The Essential Purport of Cultivating the Spirit
“Spirit” (chŏngsin) means that state in which the mind, being clear and round, calm and tranquil, is free from a tendency toward discrimination and a penchant toward attachment. “Cultivating” (suyang) means nourishing that spirit which is clear and round, calm and tranquil, by internally letting go of a tendency toward discrimination and a penchant toward attachment and externally not being enticed by distracting sensory conditions.

B. The Objective of Cultivating the Spirit
Sentient creatures instinctively have a congenital ability to know and a desire to do certain things. Humans, the most intelligent of beings, have a tendency to know in their seeing, hearing, and learning and a desire to do certain things that is many times greater than that of other animals. So, if they decide to seek out those things they know and want to do, then, while satisfying themselves through their own prerogatives, skills, and might, regardless of etiquette, shame, and just laws, they ultimately will destroy their families and ruin themselves; they may feel a pessimistic disgust toward the world, through their distress and idle thoughts and their wrath and anxiety; they may become weak of nerve, lose touch with reality, or, in the most extreme of cases, some might even commit suicide. Therefore, our aim is to engage in cultivation that nurtures our autonomous power by removing this desire that spreads its tendrils widely and attaining a sound spirit.

C. The Consequences of Cultivating the Spirit
If we continue for a long time with the work of Cultivating the Spirit, our spirit will become as solid as iron or stone, and, in applying ourselves to the myriad sensory conditions, autonomous power will arise in the mind, and ultimately we will gain the power of Cultivation.

[ Section Two : Inquiry into Human Affairs and Universal Principles (Sari Yŏn’gu) ]
A. The Essential Purport of Inquiry into Human Affairs and Universal Principles
“Human affairs” (sa) means the right and wrong, benefit and harm, among human beings. “Universal principles” (ri) means the great and small, being and nonbeing, of heavenly creation. “Great” means the original essence of all things in the universe. “Small” means that the myriad phenomena are distinguished by their shapes and forms. “Being and nonbeing” means the cycle of nature’s four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, as well as wind, clouds, rains, dew, frost, and snow; the birth, aging, sickness, and death of all things; and the transformations of creation and destruction, prosperity and decay. “Inquiry” (yŏn’gu) means studying and mastering human affairs and universal principles.

B. The Objective of Inquiry into Human Affairs and Universal Principles
This world is constructed through the principles of great and small, being and nonbeing, and is driven by the affairs of right and wrong, benefit and harm. Therefore, as the world is vast, there are infinite types of principles; as there are many people, there are limitless types of human affairs. However, the suffering and happiness that might inadvertently occur and the suffering and happiness that we create for ourselves are the consequences of our own making through the operation of the six sense organs. If we act whenever we please and stop whenever we please, ignorant of the right and wrong, benefit and harm, of our actions, then the activities of our six sense organs at every instant will turn into transgressions and suffering, so that our future will become a boundless sea of suffering.
If we live ignorant of the principles of great and small, being and nonbeing, we will not understand the causes of the suffering and happiness that might inadvertently occur; our thoughts being myopic and precipitous, and our minds being biased and narrow, we will not understand the principles of birth, aging, illness, and death and the retribution and response of cause and effect; unable to distinguish the factual and true from the false and spurious, we constantly would fall into falsity and wishful thinking, until ultimately we face the destruction of our families and the ruin of ourselves. Therefore, our aim is, by inquiring in advance into the unfathomable principles of heavenly creation and the multifarious affairs of humanity, to know them through clear analysis and quick adjudication when confronted by them in real life.

C. The Consequences of Inquiry into Human Affairs and Universal Principles
If we continue for a long time with the work of Inquiry into Human Affairs and Universal Principles, we will generate the power of wisdom that knows without obstructions in analyzing and adjudicating the myriad human affairs and universal principles, and ultimately will gain the power of Inquiry.

[ Section Three : Choice in Action (Chagŏp Ch’wisa) ]
A. The Essential Purport of Choice in Action
“Action” (chagŏp) means the functioning of the six sense organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind in whatever one does. “Choice” (ch’wisa) means choosing what is right and forsaking what is wrong.

B. The Objective of Choice in Action
Even if we have gained the power of Cultivation that comes from Cultivating the Spirit and the power of Inquiry that comes from Inquiry into Human Affairs and Universal Principles, Cultivation and Inquiry will come to naught and will hardly gain any real efficacy, if we cannot put them into practice in actual operations. This would be like a tree that has a good trunk, branches, flowers, and leaves, but that bears no fruit.
As a rule, why is it that we human beings do not practice the good even while knowing the good and do not put an end to evil even while knowing the evil, so that we forsake the tranquil paradise and fall into the perilous sea of suffering? This is because we either are deficient in our practice because of ignorance of right or wrong in actual situations, or, even though we know what is right or wrong, we cannot control our desires, which flare up like a fire; or, we are enticed by habits that are solid like iron or stone, so that we do not put into practice our choice of the good and forsaking of the evil. Therefore, our aim is to work at putting into practice the choice of the right at all costs and the forsaking of the wrong at all costs, so that we may avoid the odious sea of suffering and welcome the yearned-for paradise.

C. The Consequences of Choice in Action
If we continue for a long time with the work of Choice in Action, we will gain the power of putting into practice the valiant choice of the right and the valiant forsaking of the wrong in applying ourselves in any situation, and ultimately will gain the power of Choice.

The Eight Articles

[ Section One : The Four Articles to Develop ]

1. Belief
“Belief” means faith, which is the motive force that settles the mind when we try to accomplish anything.

2. Zeal
“Zeal” means a mind that heroically moves forward, which is the motive force that encourages and pushes us along when we try to accomplish anything.

3. Questioning
“Questioning” means wanting to discover and know what we do not know about human affairs and universal principles, which is the motive force that reveals what we are ignorant of when we try to accomplish anything.

4. Dedication
“Dedication” means an unremitting state of mind, which is the motive force that will achieve the objective when we try to accomplish anything.

[ Section Two : The Four Articles to Forsake ]

1. Unbelief
“Unbelief” means the lack of belief that is the opposite of faith, which causes the inability to reach a decision when we try to accomplish anything.

2. Greed
“Greed” means the excessive clinging to something, beyond any normal degree.

3. Laziness
“Laziness” means the aversion to act when we try to accomplish anything.

4. Foolishness
“Foolishness” means acting as we please or stopping when we please, completely ignorant of great and small, being and nonbeing, as well as of right and wrong, benefit and harm.

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