Do You Already Know Right from Wrong?

A Dharma teacher caught one of his students stealing red-handed. Upon the insistence of the other students to expel the repeat-offender, the teacher replied as-a-matter-of-factly, "Even if all of you were to leave me, I will not ask him to leave - because you already know right from wrong, but he does not. If I do not teach him, who will?" Hearing that, the thief was at once touched, falling to his knees in repentance... followed by the other students.

Did the other students really know right from wrong? Obviously not completely. Reason is Wisdom only when it goes hand in hand with Compassion. How right can we be if we simply abandon those who do not understand they are wrong? What if they make more mistakes which harm themselves and others? What if they influence others to make the same mistakes? The ones we feel compelled to shun are often those who need our help the most urgently. It is the responsibility of those with more Compassion and Wisdom to awaken those lacking these qualities, for it is difficult for them to awaken themselves.

The Buddhas taught, "Avoid 'evil', do good, and purify the mind." But "evil" is not any person; it is that which corrupts him at the moment. The real evil to avoid is our inner roots of evil - our greed, hatred and delusion. While the thief was guilty of greed and delusion to have stolen, were the students not guilty of hatred and delusion when they condemned him?