Sawaki Roshi: If you steal other people's things, you become a thief. Some people think that you become a thief only after you have been arrested by a policeman, questioned by a public prosecutor, had a judgment passed on you, and gone to jail. A corrupt politician considers himself a man of virtue and resource if he can avoid scandal and escape responsibility for his actions. People are so idiotic!
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Alexander the Great, Ceasar and Genghis Khan were just big thieves. Ishikawa Goemon and Tenichibo were nothing compared to Hitler and Mussolini. Hitler and Mussolini were like Kunisada Chuji who said, "Let's go as far as we can," but they did it on a big scale. Gangsters of this sort are very highly spoken of by their followers.
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We are always falling into ruts. A man with political power, with the help of school teachers and intellectuals, tries to force new conventions on us. The ways of distortion are very deliberate and complicated. The wisdom of Buddhism sees through this distortion.
Uchiyama Roshi: Most people have been made stupid. It would be fine in the presidents and premieres and other V.I.P's were really important to us, but it is a problem if they are felt to be important only because of convention and distortion. Buddhist practice allows people to open their eyes anew and see clearly, instead of falling prey to distortions. In order to straighten out the warped and deadly situation in world politics, everyone must open their eyes and criticize what they see.
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