Wherever there is life, there has also been the taking of life.
Even in the water we take to quench our thirst
Infinite living beings breathe and move.
Drawing this line of when we can justifiably take life or not is difficult.
To draw this line between good and evil is also a difficult task.
What is good and what is evil changes with each period, each religion, and each nation.
What is the basis for defining good and evil that embraces all this?
To take or give life, good and evil are fruits cut out from one root.
There is no way to maintain life without taking life.
Evil grows by stepping on good and good rises by treading on evil.

If the purpose of one’s life is not set,
The war between good and evil will never end.
The way to live a life of dignity is to realize your higher purpose.
When you set the purpose of your life as the completion of your soul,
The circle of life and death rises to one of infinitely higher value.
The soul is precious because it is only through the soul that
You can realize the higher purpose of your life.

It is when we labor
Working for the benefit of all life,
Working for our greater selves
That our higher purpose is created.

To take life for this purpose
Is the same principle as cutting down a tree to build a table.
When biting into an apple
Or picking a flower,
It is the consciousness with which we do this that is important.

Although many lament the wrongs of this world
The world is by nature right.
It is because we are trying to fix a world that is already right,
That no matter how much we try, it does not get fixed.
The thing that needs to change is not the laws or
frameworks of this world,
But the consciousness and preconceptions of people.

From Ilch Lee’s lecture