Protecting the Dharma Mind – The Most Terrible Wrongdoing That Few Recognize

**Summary:** Losing money or possessions is not losing everything. The most frightening thing is to have one's Dharma mind stolen – one's faith in the cause and effect (karmic law) and in the principle of goodness. How can we keep our Dharma mind steadfast?

In this world, there are robbers who can cause our death. But there is an even more dangerous kind of thief – one who steals our faith and our very reason for living. This is the theft of the Dharma mind. In a New Year's teaching, Venerable Thích Chân Quang spoke about this supreme evil. Let us reflect together to keep our own minds firm.

**The Most Terrible Evil is Not Taking a Life**

We often think actions like severing limbs, killing, or torturing creatures are the ultimate evil. But Venerable Chân Quang points out that these are still not the supreme evil. The supreme evil is when someone steals a person's Dharma mind, causing them to lose faith in the law of cause and effect and in the principle of goodness.

Losing one's Dharma mind is truly terrifying. One may lose everything else, but one must not lose the Dharma mind.

A person can lose a hand, a leg, or their wealth, but if they retain their Dharma mind, they can still stand up again. But if they lose their Dharma mind, they lose their very self.

**Losing the Dharma Mind is Losing Everything**

What is the Dharma mind? It is the ideal for living, the faith in goodness, in cause and effect (karmic law), and in the enlightened ones. Thanks to the Dharma mind, we walk firmly through hardships. When the Dharma mind is lost, we live carelessly, indulgently, and then fall into wrongdoing.

Venerable told of a man who opened a restaurant, placing a Buddha statue to pray for luck. But just two months later, when his capital was gone, he threw the Buddha image into the trash. This was because he did not understand cause and effect; he did not see that whether the business succeeds or not is not due to divine blessing, but due to blessings from merit. Instead of praying for luck through worship, we should create good causes: filling potholes for passersby, doing charity… so that the karmic law, through intertwined conditions, helps us.

**The First Cause: Blaming Heaven and Earth When Suffering Arises**

When we fall into difficulty, utter hardship, and do not accept cause and effect, we easily blame heaven and earth: 'What have I done wrong to suffer so much?' In that very moment, our Dharma mind is lost.

The moment we blame heaven and earth, we immediately lose our Dharma mind.

A person with a steadfast Dharma mind, in the depths of suffering, still accepts responsibility, believing it is the karmic retribution of past deeds. Thanks to this, they pass through peacefully. Conversely, if they blame circumstances, they themselves destroy their faith and fall into a dark path.

**The Second Cause: Overwhelming and Deceptive Promises**

One of the most potent ways to destroy the Dharma mind is through promises. Some people approach with gifts, win affection, and then promise billions of dong, high positions, land… so that we listen to them, betraying our teacher, our country, and our true self. Venerable reminds us:

Do not believe in promises that are dazzling, magnificent, and overwhelming. For the vast majority are false.

Venerable told of a person who was lured away from his side, promised land to build a temple to oppose the master. Fortunately, that person remained clear-minded and escaped. Many other disciples have lost their Dharma mind due to similar promises.

**The Third Cause: Seeing Others' Faults and Allowing Our Own**

When we see others doing wrong and say, 'Since they are doing wrong, I don't need to act rightly either.' For example, seeing traffic police take bribes and then losing faith in the law, or seeing practitioners make mistakes and abandoning the precepts. But this destroys our own Dharma mind.

Venerable remembered an old traffic policeman in Hanoi, standing day and night directing traffic at Chương Dương Bridge, beloved by everyone. He was a symbol of compassion and integrity. We must not discard our faith just because of one person's error.

**Conclusion: Keeping the Dharma Mind Amidst Daily Life**

Life is full of challenges, but as long as we keep our Dharma mind steadfast, we have nothing to fear. Let us be firm in upholding what is right, not blaming heaven and earth, not being tempted by hollow promises, and not letting others' wrongdoing pull us down. Let us live simply, without ambition, so that our Dharma mind remains uncontaminated.

To walk the spiritual path, keep your simplicity and walk on. Do not hanker for money.

Remember, to lose the Dharma mind is to lose everything. Protecting the Dharma mind is protecting our own path to liberation.