Accepting Our Innate Good and Evil

Accepting Our Innate Good and Evil

The evil of destruction is like a shadow cast by the good of creation. Nature gives and takes life. Even on the cellular level of the human body, the evil of decay and death exists side by side with the good of growth and health.

For example, while the precise mechanism of cancer remains unknown, research has demonstrated that the malignant transformation of a cell is linked to cancer-causing genes called oncogenes. In normal cells, oncogenes are called proto-oncogenes, which promote cellular growth and are regulated by cellular genes called tumor-suppressor genes. Tumor suppressor genes, in other words, control growth-promoting genes, which could potentially turn malignant. (¡°Cancer: Causation.¡± ¡°The Cause of Disease: Abnormal Growth of Cells.¡± Encyclopaedia Britannica, CD 1999). Thus, the potential for cancer not only exists in every cell of the body, but also supports the cell¡äs growth and health.

Concerning the nature of good and evil, Nichiren Daishonin states: ¡°Good and evil have been inherent in life since time without beginning¡­The heart of the Lotus school is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, which reveals that both good and evil are inherent even in those at the highest stage of perfect enlightenment. The fundamental nature of enlightenment manifests itself as Brahma and Shakra, whereas the fundamental darkness manifests itself as the devil king of the sixth heaven¡± (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 1113). The Daishonin explains that all people are endowed with supreme good and evil, as well as all the possible life states in between. We can be either as godly as ¡°Brahma and Shakra¡± or as devilish as the ¡°devil king.¡±

Good and evil, in other words, are innate, inseparable aspects of life. This Buddhist concept is called the ¡°oneness of good and evil.¡± This teaching, however, does not mean that evil is good, nor does it imply that the distinction between good and evil is irrelevant. Instead, it teaches us to perceive and triumph over evil inside¡ªthereby conquering evil on the outside¡ª through faith in the universal goodness of life.

In the context of the Daishonin¡äs teaching, good means the ¡°fundamental nature of enlightenment,¡± or absolute freedom and happiness resulting from profound self-knowledge. Evil indicates the ¡°fundamental darkness,¡± or life¡äs innate delusion negating the potential of enlightenment and causing suffering for oneself and others. This inner darkness echoes with the despair that our lives are ugly and meaningless; it drives a wedge of fear that splits the hearts of people into ¡°us¡± and ¡°them.