Easy to be wayward but not easy to be good.

Learning Point No 354

变好几年，变坏几天.. It takes years to become a good person, but it may just take days to be the opposite. It is easy to be wayward in mere days but years just to be good, even a wee bit more good. 

This reflects the reality of the spiritual path. You can cultivate that little bit of spirituality for many years but it takes only mere days to undo it and go back to square one. It is easy to be bad but not easy to be good. 

To be good is like rowing up stream against the current to reach the beginning of the river of life where one can taste pure water. To be wayward is just to go downstream and be swept along with the muddy water. 

Follow the crowd and one will stand to gain and have company of the often merry fools. But to stand alone and stand out to be more right than the many, that takes effort and can be onerous. This reality reflects the picture of religion in the present century. 

We need to go to the upper source, the basic teaching of the founders and know first hand their original teaching. This is going against the current and is onerous as one needs to sieve out the original basics from the added views, interpretations and dogmas by men over the centuries. 

This is the pursuit of the inner truth, the lord saint Lord Bo Tien talked about. This is the reason why many religions may not be able to bring the truth to many if seekers only follow the crowd. 

Religions are necessary to bring men to God and saints. They can attract the crowd and that will be good for a start but not good enough. 

The intent of institutional religion is good but the seeker must be mindful and make the effort and not flow along down stream with the crowd. He will gain more wisdom that way. 

There is no doubt that some good will come about by going along with the crowd but there are limitations and other issues. But more good there will be if he can stop and think and do more than just flowing with the crowd. 

Not only must one not flow along downstream but one cannot and should not stand still. One will fall if one tries to standstill and one will be swept down stream with the crowd. There is gain by going along but more if he is proactive. 

The truth seeker must ever steel himself and marshal the resolve, resilience and strength to go upstream for the pure water of truth the founders want men to know in any religion. 

It is easy to be wayward or to join the crowd but not easy to be really good and set the pace to be more good than mere good. .