Ignorance causes ordinary people to function at the level of their emotions and desires, so that, in life after life, they spin around in the cycle of birth and death.
無明就是貪瞋癡慢疑，這五種惡業，能令人顛倒發狂。
Ignorance refers to greed, anger, delusion, pride, and doubt. These five kinds of evil karma make people muddled and crazy.
（一）貪心：對順的境界起貪愛，非得到不可，甚至為達目的不擇手段。
(1) Greed: One is greedy for pleasant states and is determined to obtain them. One will go to any lengths to achieve one’s goal.
(2) Anger: One feels angry and upset in adverse situations. One loses one’s temper and is driven to berate people, beat them up, or even kill them. Anger acting up and depriving one of rationality so that one becomes overly emotional. People in this state of mind can cause disorder in the society.
（三）癡心，沒有智慧，是非不明，善惡不分，糊塗、顛倒，結果造了很多罪業。
(3) Delusion: One has no wisdom and cannot distinguish right from wrong or good from evil. One is muddled and confused, and as a result one creates a lot of offense karma.
（四）慢心，就是揚己抑人，認為自己了不起，事事比人強。這種貢高我慢的行為，最要不得。
(4) Pride: One promotes oneself and oppresses others. One regards oneself as somebody special who is stronger and better than others in every way. This kind of arrogant attitude is really terrible.
（五）疑心，對於正當的知見，生懷疑心，不相信任何人的話。這種心理不正常，是自卑的偏差。
(5) Doubt: One harbors doubts regarding proper know-ledge and views, and doesn’t trust what anyone says. This psychological condition is an aberration based on an inferiority complex.
這五種心理都是不正常，皆因無明所引起。修道人，一定要消滅無明，不讓它興風作浪，否則禍患無窮。
These five kinds of psychological states are all abnormal. They all stem from ignorance. Cultivators must destroy ignorance so that it will not cause trouble and bring on endless disasters.
Ignorance causes ordinary people to function at the level of their emotions and desires. It leads them to regard worldly, emotional love as something real, so that they cannot detach themselves from it, cast it off, or renounce it. They become inextricably caught up in their family relationships. Consequently they create a mixture of good and evil karma and cannot distinguish between purity and defilement. In life after life, they spin around in the cycle of birth and death with no end in sight. Thus ignorance is said to be the root of birth and death.
Cultivators are not burdened by these tiresome matters, so it’s easy for them to attain purity and liberation, and to end birth and death. If we fail to sever our ties with ignorance, we will always be under its control and be running off to the hells, onto the mountain of knives or into the cauldron of boiling oil. At that time we will regret that we didn’t cultivate vigorously when we had the chance, but unfortunately it will be too late.
So, I’d like to advise everyone to cultivate when you can. Don’t think that you have lots of time in the future to do so. An ancient philosopher said,
Don’t wait till you are old to cultivate the Way.
The lonely graves are full of young people.
For every day that you cultivate the Way, you are a little bit closer to the Pure Land. Little by little, you will get to the Pure Land. If you hope to reach the Pure Land without cultivating diligently, it isn’t possible. Some of the affairs in this world only waste time without providing any benefit. Cultivation alone is something that won’t waste your time. If you cultivate for one minute, you obtain one minute of benefit. It’s like accumulating grains of sand to build a pagoda. Simply advance step by step without stopping, and you’ll naturally arrive at the other shore.
