Sordidness

Let’s talk about another manifestation: sordidness. What kind of problem is this? (It is a problem of vile character.) Sordidness falls under vile character and is categorized under humanity. Is sordidness somewhat similar to sleaziness? (Yes.) This is also a manifestation of vile character. Sordidness means acting without adhering to rules, in an underhanded way, not only doing things without principles or boundaries of conscience and morality but also doing things in a manner that is especially despicable and base. What are the manifestations of sordidness? For example, a sordid person sees that someone has bought a nice car that they themselves cannot afford. When passing by, they outwardly greet the person, saying, “Nice car! You must be rich!” Their words sound pleasant, but as soon as the car owner walks away, they spit on the car—phooey. Isn’t this being sordid? (Yes.) What kind of behavior is spitting? (Being sordid.) This is called being sordid. Sordidness is being especially despicable, dirty, and lowly—it is acting shamefully, causing others to mock and despise you, making people feel that your character is low and that you’re a disgrace. Some people, for example, see that their neighbor has a good dog and feel jealous inside: “Their family has such a good dog. Why didn’t I buy that dog?” So they find a way to kill the dog, and afterward, they are over the moon. They celebrate once they go home, popping champagne and having a feast, feeling happier than they ever have before. Tell Me, is this person terrible or not? (They are.) This is being sordid. As long as others have something good happen and feel happy, they become unhappy and think of ways to ruin things for them. When they see others encountering disaster, they gloat over their misfortune. Such people are very sordid.

The thoughts of sordid people are very negative. How are they negative? For example, when you give someone something, under normal circumstances, they should feel grateful, saying, “This thing is pretty good. You used to really like it, but now you don’t need it anymore. You didn’t give it to someone else but gave it to me right away—we really are friends!” Anyone with conscience and reason would think this way; they would comprehend this matter positively. But the thinking of sordid people is twisted. They would say to themselves: “You only gave this to me because you don’t need it anymore. If you still needed it, would you have given it to me? You keep the good things for yourself and give me the bad ones—who wants that! Are you brushing me off like a beggar? Do you think I don’t know what’s good? You only gave it to me because you don’t need it anymore, and you still expect me to be grateful. Do you take me for an idiot?” You see, over such a simple matter, they think in such a despicable, dirty, lowly way. Giving them something ends up causing trouble for yourself instead. Why does it cause trouble? Because the person you gave it to is a sordid person—someone with despicable, dirty, and base thoughts. They think negatively about anyone. When they view someone, they do not view them based on principles, nor based on that person’s character or principles of self-conduct which they know from many years of spending time with them. Instead, they view others based on their own extreme, obstinate thoughts and viewpoints. Such people are very sordid. If you don’t associate with them or give them anything, things remain peaceful. But if you truly associate with them and help them, you often end up being judged and criticized by them. When they see you using something good, they always want it. If you don’t give it to them, they think you are stingy and miserly. Such people are very troublesome, and it is very difficult to get along with them. They may not say anything outright, but deep down, in secret, they are always competing with you, developing unfavorable thoughts about you in their hearts. In plain terms, such people have nasty hearts and nasty thoughts. I think the word “nasty” is quite fitting to describe a person’s thoughts and heart as dirty—it means they are not clean, not positive, and not kind. No matter how positive something is, when they speak of it, it turns into something negative. No matter how many good things you do for them, not only do they not appreciate it, but they also belittle you and frame you, saying that you have bad intentions. If you give them some benefit, they will ponder whether you are trying to exploit them. If you are lukewarm toward them, they will think that because you are wealthy and powerful, you look down on the poor. They will feel that you lack human touch, do not know how to get along with people, and are incapable of considering others’ feelings. If you distance yourself from them, that won’t work either—they will still have something to say about it. Such people are very troublesome. No matter how you associate with them, you can never satisfy them. You don’t know what they will think, and you don’t know what troubles will arise from the things you do with good intentions. So there is only one way to deal with such people—stay away and don’t engage with them. When making friends, don’t choose such people, because they are too sordid; associating with them will bring you great trouble and great distress, and all of this distress and trouble is completely unnecessary. Do sordid people have rationality? (No.) What does it mean to say they have no rationality? (They have no conscience or reason, and no moral boundaries.) What are the details of this? (They do not have the thinking of normal people.) Not having the thinking of normal people is one aspect. Tell Me, do such people have any shame? (No.) They have no shame, do not have the thinking of normal humanity, and only speak twisted and fallacious reasoning. Their reasoning is aimed at protecting their own interests—it is all twisted reasoning. If you give them something, they say you look down on them and only give them things you don’t need. If you don’t give them anything, then they say you are too miserly. Aren’t such words twisted reasoning? (Yes.) They simply cannot comprehend things correctly and think in a very negative way—this is twisted reasoning. Nonbelievers often say that people must conduct themselves reasonably—if someone is unreasonable and only speaks twisted reasoning, then they are not anything good. If someone gives you something, it means they have some regard for you; if they don’t give it to you, that is also rightful—they may give their own possessions to whomever they want. If you still find fault when they give it to you but call them miserly if they don’t, isn’t this being beyond reason? Aren’t people who engage in twisted reasoning like this sordid? (Yes.) They are extremely sordid! Sordid people are beyond reason, so no reasoning gets through to them. Acting according to conscience and reason, or based on the truth principles, simply does not make sense to them. Sordidness is somewhat similar to sleaziness, isn’t it? (Yes.) For example, some people spend money to buy something and always feel that it is not worth the price, as if they have suffered a loss. Then they ponder, “You took advantage of me, so I need to find a way to make you suffer a loss—only then will I feel balanced inside.” People like this who are despicable and sordid are always pondering how to take advantage of others. If they feel they have suffered a loss, they make things difficult for others; they always want to make sure they do not lose out, and only then do they feel satisfied. If they take advantage of someone else, they celebrate and are so happy they wake up laughing from their dreams. The amount of money you spend on something is your own choice—no one forced you to give them your money. Since you bought it willingly, why are you still resentful and still trying to take advantage of others and avoid suffering a loss? Aren’t such people very sordid? (Yes.) When they go to the supermarket to buy groceries and feel they are too expensive, in order to avoid suffering a loss, they take a few extra plastic bags. If it happens to be during the New Year or a holiday and the supermarket is giving out calendars, they have to take several more, and only then do they feel satisfied. When they take advantage of others, they feel delighted and even go around showing off how capable and skilled they are. Tell Me, what kind of mindset do such people have? No matter what it is, they always measure things based on whether they can take advantage and avoid suffering a loss. Just this kind of thought and viewpoint is very sordid and despicable. Of course, there is also an overbearing side to this, as well as an evil side. Such people are difficult to deal with and fussy. Many defects of humanity are exhibited in such people—their ways of thinking, from the perspective of humanity, do not at all conform to common sense or any rules of behavior, and fall below the basic moral baseline of normal humanity; of course, they also do not conform to the conscience and reason of humanity either. They are very distorted, very base, and also very overbearing. Aren’t such people often seen among groups of people? (Yes.) Sordid people have vile character and are very difficult to deal with. As long as something involves their interests, whether it involves material interests or their pride and status, their conduct in this regard will be revealed; it will be exhibited particularly clearly. They will start speaking twisted and fallacious reasoning, becoming completely impervious to reason. Alright, that’s all for our discussion on sordid people.

Selfishness

Another manifestation is selfishness. Is selfishness good? (No.) Then first, tell Me, is selfishness innate? (No.) Selfishness is not innate, so what kind of problem is it? (A defect of humanity.) (I think it’s a problem of character.) Selfishness should be categorized based on the situation. Some instances of selfishness are manifestations of human instinct; they are a kind of human instinct, a right that people ought to have, a right to protect one’s own interests. If this is a manifestation of human instinct, then it is something people ought to possess. This kind of selfishness is a manifestation of protecting one’s human rights and protecting one’s lawful rights and interests. This kind of selfishness is justified; it is not a defect of humanity. However, there is another kind of manifestation that is more serious than this kind of selfishness—it involves harming the interests of others, and this is a defect of humanity; it has escalated to a problem of character. These issues must be discerned: which manifestations of selfishness are justified, which manifestations of selfishness are a defect of humanity, and which manifestations of selfishness involve a problem of character. If these issues can be seen clearly, then one will know how to practice in accordance with principles. For example, people want to take good care of their own lives, completely fulfill their responsibilities and obligations, and manage themselves well without concerning themselves with others, just managing themselves well while not infringing on others’ interests—from the perspective of humanity, this is also a kind of selfishness, isn’t it? However, from another perspective, this is also an instinctive reaction people have. Of course, it is also an inherent right given to people by God—that is, you have the right to first take care of yourself without concerning yourself with others. By maintaining your own human life, you are maintaining your own survival. This is justified. Of course, from the perspective of humanity, only caring about oneself and not concerning oneself with others is also a manifestation of selfishness. However, this kind of selfishness is a normal manifestation of humanity and is justified. Although from a human perspective, it is seen as a defect of humanity, in actuality, it is not a defect of humanity. Only caring about yourself—being well-fed and warmly dressed, doing your work well, fulfilling your obligations, and that’s all—without being able to take care of others or wanting to take care of others, is a right you have, and it is also an instinct given to you by God. From the perspective of innate conditions, if a person does not even know to take care of themselves, if they lack this innate instinct, then they do not meet the standard of being an adult. This kind of selfishness is an instinctive reaction people have. Although they only care about themselves, only protect their own rights and interests, only look after their own basic necessities for living, as well as matters within their own sphere of life and work, nevertheless, as long as they do not infringe on the interests of others, this kind of selfishness is not condemned. The kind of selfishness that truly escalates to the level of vile character, beyond only caring about oneself, also involves encroaching upon or harming others’ interests and rights, infringing upon others’ human rights. This is true selfishness, and this is a problem of vile character. If, in order to protect your own interests, reputation, status, and pride, you stop at nothing to seize or forcibly take others’ interests—taking others’ interests as your own, only considering yourself and not others, even leaving others with no way to survive—this kind of selfishness indicates vile character. For example, at night, when everyone else is asleep, you feel excited and can’t sleep, so you want to sing a song. As you get carried away, you start singing loudly, even putting on music and dancing while singing. Your own mood improves, and you feel happy, but you wake everyone else up, leaving them unable to sleep. What is this called? (Selfishness.) This kind of behavior is called selfishness. Is this behavior indicative of vile character? (Yes.) Why is this behavior indicative of vile character? (Because they are not considering others, and they are affecting others’ rest.) In order to make yourself happy, you do not hesitate to sacrifice others’ time for rest and sleep, forcing everyone to accompany you in your singing and merrymaking. To achieve your own goals and protect your own interests, you infringe upon others’ interests and rights. That is, the condition for protecting your own interests is sacrificing other people’s interests and rights. This kind of manifestation is called selfishness. The reason this kind of selfishness indicates despicable, vile character is that this kind of behavior harms the interests of others. You use improper means to protect your own interests while harming and undermining the interests of others—this is called selfishness. For example, when everyone is eating together, some people only care about whether they get meat, and even eat others’ portions of meat as well. Are such people who eat more meat being selfish? (Yes.) They are improper in the way they conduct themselves, only considering themselves and disregarding others—this is called selfishness. Why is this situation called selfishness? Why is it considered vile character? It is because, in order to protect their own interests, they encroach upon others’ interests, seizing others’ belongings and taking them as their own. This is called selfishness, and this kind of selfishness indicates despicable humanity and vile character. Therefore, if you protect your own rights and interests by encroaching upon and harming others’ interests, then you are a selfish person, a person of vile character. It can also be said that you are a person with bad humanity. However, if you have not harmed others’ interests, have not torn down or damaged others’ relationships, and have only cared about yourself without concerning yourself with others, then this kind of selfishness is still somewhat justifiable. At most, it can be said that you are not very kind, and that you are petty and self-centered, but you are not a bad person; this does not rise to the level of vile character. Is there a difference in the nature of these two kinds of selfishness? (Yes.) By discerning people’s character based on their degree of selfishness and the essence of how they act, one can see that the character within people is different—there are distinctions.

Some people never concern themselves with other people’s business and only focus on their own matters. Such people may seem not very warmhearted, not very friendly, and not very warm in their interactions with others. However, they never cause disturbances, never fabricate lies or rumors about others, and never encroach upon or seize others’ belongings. Of course, they never give their own belongings to others. They may appear very stingy and very miserly, but they never harm others’ interests, and they are very principled in the way they conduct themselves. Such people have a baseline, which is: “I do not take advantage of you, and you should not think of taking advantage of me. I never exploit you, and you should not think of exploiting me.” They are very principled. Although such people are indifferent to others, are not eager to help others, do not interact with others, and do not show others much friendliness or enthusiasm, they never harm others. Even if they have a lot of something, they do not give it to others. When they see others with good things, they may sometimes feel envious or jealous, but they have no intention of greedily taking them; they also do not secretly take advantage of others, nor do they encroach upon others’ interests for their own benefit. Judging from these abovementioned points, they are not evil. So, does this mean their humanity is good? Whether their humanity is good or not depends on their conscience and reason, their attitude toward accepting the truth, and their attitude toward positive things—this is another matter. But at least, judging from the attitude and manner they adopt in getting along with others, they are not malicious toward others. On the surface, they seem very selfish, only caring about themselves, living in their own little world and not concerning themselves with others’ affairs. However, they never harm others’ interests, so their character is still passable. That is, when you interact with them or have material or social exchanges with them, at least they will not harm your interests. If you ask them for advice or to provide some ideas, they will help you, but if you do not ask, they will not take the initiative to help. Judging from this manifestation, such people may seem quite aloof, but judging from the fact that they never take advantage of others or harm others’ interests, they still have humanity and are relatively decent. Is looking at it this way accurate and objective? (Yes.) Therefore, not all selfish people are evil people or people with poor character. You must also look at whether their selfishness has reached the point of harming others’ interests or seizing others’ property, as well as what their principles for conducting themselves and dealing with the world are, what the essence of their character is, and whether they have boundaries and principles in how they conduct themselves. Some people, on the surface, seem very generous and warmhearted in how they get along with others. They also give to others, help others, and do things for others. If there’s something you need help with, as long as they see this, they lend a hand without you even needing to ask. Judging from these manifestations, they appear to be quite kind. However, if you offend them or unintentionally do something that harms their interests, they will refuse to let it go, holding grudges, bringing up old scores, and not resting until they have crushed you. These are evil people—far worse in humanity than those who outwardly appear selfish. Do you understand? (Yes.) Among people, which of these two types is more common? Which type do you prefer? Most people do not like those who are indifferent and selfish. Some people, when they see you in difficulty, will take the initiative to help. Even if you do not ask, they will still check if you need assistance. If you do, they will help you. Such people have love for others and are inclined to give to and help others. Some others, when they see you in difficulty, will not take the initiative to help you, but as long as you speak up and ask them, they will still help. Although such people are a bit passive, they are still not bad and can be considered good people. There is another type of person—no matter how great the difficulty you face is, they will not help. Even if you ask them, they will find excuses and reasons to refuse. This kind of person is the most selfish. Some people often outwardly say, “If you need any help, just let me know.” When there is nothing going on, they seem especially warmhearted, proactive, and positive. But when you actually ask them for help with something, after helping, they will start hinting at repayment, saying things like, “I spent this much money giving gifts to my boss for that matter.” You see, on the surface, they seem quite warmhearted, offering to provide services and do things for you without asking for anything in return. But after they have helped, you’ll never be able to fully repay the personal favor. How insidious such people are! Should you associate with such people? (No.) I simply do not associate with such people. They talk sweet, showing particular warmth and consideration. They say nice things to your face, but do bad things behind your back. They have no principles at all in what they do; they are just smiling tigers, hiding daggers behind their smiles. When there’s nothing going on, they are always laughing and joking around with you, acting as if you are quite close. But when you really need their help, they are nowhere to be seen. Even for things that are very easy for them to do, they will find reasons and excuses to avoid them. Even if it’s something that requires little effort, they still ask personal favors of you. When they do something for you, they will think of all sorts of ways to make you give them something in return. You will never be able to fully repay this personal favor. On the other hand, those who outwardly seem quite cold and appear to be quite selfish often have boundaries in how they conduct themselves and are very meticulous in their actions. Although they may be lukewarm toward you, they will never scheme against you. If you truly ask them to help you with something, they will certainly do it with great seriousness. Afterward, if you repay them with a small personal favor or something material, they will treat it properly. However, if you don’t give them anything, they won’t ask you for anything, nor will they keep bringing it up to ask for favors or repayment. Such people are genuine; what they appear to be on the outside is exactly what they are on the inside. However, oftentimes, no one likes such people, saying they are selfish, hard to get along with, cold, and lack human touch, and they don’t want to have any contact with them. In actuality, some of these people have decent humanity. Look around you and see who is this kind of person. Although they are not eloquent, their personality is rather cold, and outwardly they appear to lack human touch and don’t know how to engage or strike up conversations with others, they are quite principled in how they conduct themselves. While they may not be very kind, there is no malice in their hearts; at the very least, they have no ill intentions toward most people. What they appear to be on the outside is exactly what they are on the inside. They do not use tactics or philosophies for worldly dealings to win people over. Such people are simple. Is that the case? (Yes.) So now, don’t you have a basis on which you should correctly treat selfish people? On what basis should you treat them? It cannot be based on your feelings or preferences, nor on whether you like these people or not, whether you get along with them, whether they are helpful or beneficial to you, or on their attitude toward you—it cannot be based on these. Instead, it should be based on their character, their humanity essence, and their attitude toward people, toward the truth, and toward positive things. It is based on these factors that you should treat selfish people. If they truly are evil people, then deal with them accordingly. If they appear selfish on the outside but their humanity is not evil, then you shouldn’t treat them as evil people or people with bad humanity. Even if you do not like these people or if they are not good at associating with others or maintaining relationships, you cannot regard them as evil people or as people without humanity just because they appear selfish on the outside. This is prejudice against these people. So now, don’t you have a principle for how to treat selfish people? It cannot be generalized; rather, it should be based on their humanity essence and their attitude toward the truth and their duty and on the attitude with which they conduct themselves—this is the principle by which you should treat them. That’s all for our fellowship on the issue of selfishness.