Two Kinds of People in This World: Where Do You Stand?

Have you ever wondered: in a world full of litter and clean, beautiful roads, where do you belong? Today, Master Thích Chân Quang invites us to look back at ourselves through a short but profoundly insightful teaching called "There Are Two Kinds of People."

The Kind Who Litters and the Kind Who Picks Up Litter

In this world, there are people who litter and people who pick up litter. Which kind are you? If you asked a hundred people, most would admit to being the kind who litters. Few would claim to be the kind who picks up litter. But Master Chân Quang points out: those who litter are the ones who make this world ugly and dirty. Those who pick up litter, even though their hands get a little dirty, make the roads clean and make life more beautiful.

"When we pick up litter, our hands certainly get a little dirty, but the road becomes clean."

The Master once saw, while riding in a car, a beautiful car with a hand reaching out to toss a bag of trash onto the road before the window rolled back up. He felt disgust, because someone so wealthy did not know how to keep public spaces clean. The more civilized a society becomes, the less people litter. But being civilized is not only about not littering—it is about picking up litter when you see it.

The Master also says there are people in between: they do not litter, but neither do they pick up litter when they see it. He says he only keeps company with those who pick up litter whenever they see it. That is a resolute choice. From picking up small pieces of litter, we can go on to do greater things. Seeing a rock on the road, pick it up too, so that no car behind runs into it and has an accident. The Master tells of traveling on a mountain pass, seeing rocks tumble down, and calling out to the driver to stop—but the car behind had already picked them up. They were better than he was.

The Kind Who Loves to Criticize and the Kind Who Loves to Praise

Many people love to criticize others, because when we criticize, we feel superior. But the Master teaches: it is our words of criticism that will cause us to take on that very quality. Conversely, praise helps us attain that quality.

"Whatever we criticize in others, slowly we come to be filled with that very quality. And conversely, whatever we praise in others, slowly we come to attain those qualities."

The Master gives the example of the refined people of Hanoi. They are beautiful and graceful because they speak skillfully, rarely criticize, and offer only gentle praise. People of the South, by contrast, are direct and quick to criticize openly, so their faces carry a somewhat rough look. Such is the karmic fruit of speech.

The Master emphasizes: criticizing behind someone's back is even worse than criticizing to their face. If you wish to help someone grow, speak to them privately, with love. Praise, however, should be given behind their back, for it brings two benefits: first, those who hear the praise will want to imitate the person praised; second, that praise will eventually reach the ears of the one being praised, and they will hold you in higher regard. Praising someone to their face brings a moment of joy; praising them behind their back multiplies that joy many times over.

"Praising behind someone's back has two benefits. The first is that those who hear our praise will want to imitate the person being praised. The second is that if the Master keeps praising, sooner or later the words will find their way back to the one being praised."

When we praise others, our heart opens, and our pettiness, selfishness, and envy diminish. A person who often praises others is one whose virtue is growing, and we can trust them about eighty percent.

The Kind Who Enjoys Blessings and the Kind Who Creates Merit

Most of us, whether knowingly or not, love to enjoy blessings from merit. Every meal, every day of rest, every trip is a way of enjoying blessings from merit. But if we do nothing of benefit to the world, then although we still eat our rice, we do not deserve to enjoy it.

The Master once observed people exercising strenuously, yet wondered whether that day they had done anything useful for the world. He dreamed of inventing an exercise machine that generates electricity, so that running on it would produce something of benefit. As it is now, we consume our blessings without realizing it.

The Master tells of being invited to teach at a school for children of wealthy families. A young girl stood up and said, "Life is for enjoying this world." The Master was shocked. Such thinking comes from the parents. But when blessings from merit are enjoyed and then run out, suffering (dukkha) follows. Those who champion a life of indulgence have already lost.

"We love to just sit there while others do the work—others sweep the house, others carry things. We like everyone to work while we do nothing, while we refuse to lift a finger, imagining that doing nothing is what makes a person noble. No—that person is like one who has died, with no blessings from merit left to be reborn as a human being."

Those who understand the Dharma are always mindful of creating merit, of contributing and serving. Each day, if they have done nothing for the world, they feel anxious when lifting their bowl of rice to eat. That is a person living a meaningful life.

The Kind Who Likes Being Served and the Kind Who Likes to Serve

Many people love going to restaurants to be served, to be honored, even seeing it as a form of reward. But the Master teaches: loving to be served scatters your blessings from merit to the winds. Conversely, those who love to serve others accumulate merit and will enjoy beautiful fruits in the future.

The Master tells of a summer course for children at Phật Quang Temple. The children were taught the motto, "To live is to serve everyone." Each day they practiced carrying and serving, caring for others, and they found happiness in it. When we pour a glass of water and offer it to someone, if we feel happy, our spiritual heart has progressed. If we still feel shy, our virtue is not yet complete.

Those who understand the Dharma do not serve in order to become kings or to receive something back, but to seek the happiness of the spirit—enlightenment. Those who have attained meditative concentration understand the happiness of a mind/heart that is empty, awake, and at peace. Serving is a crucial key to opening the heart, releasing shyness, and making all of heaven and earth become our home.

Your Choice

Today, look back into your heart. If you have ever littered, ever criticized, ever loved to enjoy blessings from merit, ever loved being served, then practice repentance and make the vow from this day forward to choose the second kind of person: pick up litter, offer praise, create merit, and serve. This is not merely a change of behavior, but a change of spiritual path. In every moment, in every small act, practice serving, praising, and creating merit. You will find life becoming lighter, kinder, and happier.

Remember the Master's words: "Eat as though you have never eaten before." When you visit the temple, help carry and clean, serve, and open your heart. Surely you will find true joy and the path back to the Buddha.