If the Heart Has No Evil, It Is Good; Staying Alive Matters Most

Luo Yonghao posted a multiple-choice question on Weibo: Walking in an alley late at night, there’s a woman ahead walking in the same direction. This is a very awkward experience, especially when she seems a bit nervous and keeps looking back at you. If you maintain your original speed, it seems she’ll stay nervous the whole time; if you speed up and overtake her, it seems she’ll get even more nervous (at least more than before); if you simply stop and wait for her to disappear before continuing, she’ll most likely think you’re a hooligan who gave up on committing the crime at the last moment. I usually choose the third option. What about you?

Without thinking, I choose to overtake her. There was once, during the day—I don’t remember the exact location, maybe by a river or outside a residential compound wall, the environment was quiet and secluded. Besides me and the girl in front, about twenty years old, there was no one else. In this situation, not only was the girl ahead nervous, I was also very nervous, wondering if this girl would mistake me for a stalker or robber. According to psychological research, such suggestions easily expose evil human nature. I can’t continue with the premeditation—I must prove my innocence through action. So I brought out the supreme moral integrity in my personality, sped up, overtook this girl with great momentum, and left behind a magnificent broad back. Thinking darkly: girl, repent for your dark thoughts. How could I possibly be a bad person! Your unease is your own imagination.

Upon further reflection, I would rather stop and wait for her to disappear first. Choosing to overtake this girl is based on doing things according to my own ideals; waiting for this girl to disappear belongs to putting oneself in others’ shoes against the backdrop of the social security environment. The approach is very gentlemanly—she couldn’t possibly think of me as a hooligan who abandoned the crime. But if there’s an urgent matter, I definitely won’t wait for her to go first. Walking side by side is even more inappropriate. The best choice is still to overtake this girl, silently lower my head to watch the road, not look sideways, assume a contemplative posture and overtake at steady speed. If she sees I have no malice, she won’t be nervous.

In my heart, one sentence keeps repeating: if the heart has no evil, it is good. As long as everyone has good cultivation and no dust in their heart, whatever they do won’t have the slightest harm. Overtaking, walking side by side, waiting—none of it is inappropriate.