How to Appropriately Deal with Evil Individuals?

In the secular world, there is always debate over whether human nature is inherently good or evil, with endless arguments. From a Buddhist perspective, this question ceases to be problematic. Clearly, if human nature were inherently good, there would be no sentient beings in the three evil realms. If human nature were inherently good, sentient beings would not suffer from the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. Society would not witness so many serious crimes, and prisons would not hold so many people. Many even enter prison repeatedly without repentance. Even celestial beings are not entirely virtuous in their minds; they too harbor afflictions, especially delusion, which is a profound affliction. Sentient beings without afflictions would not undergo rebirth. As long as there is rebirth, there are afflictions. Human nature is predominantly evil with little goodness; some individuals possess no goodness at all.

Why is human nature inherently evil? Because of ignorance (avidyā). This ignorance is innate since the very existence of sentient beings; it is not acquired later. Due to ignorance, all sentient beings create unwholesome karma, leading to immeasurable kalpas upon immeasurable kalpas of birth, death, and rebirth. Each sentient being spends the vast majority of their kalpas in the three evil realms. The time spent in the human realm as a human is but one percent, one thousandth, or even one ten-thousandth of their entire life stream. Some beings in the animal realm have never obtained a human body, never leaving the animal realm. These are beings of extreme delusion, and delusion itself is evil.

Those who, throughout beginningless kalpas, have just been reborn as humans after dwelling in the three evil realms are extremely deluded and utterly vile. Their nature bears no resemblance to humanity whatsoever; their minds are very similar to those of animals, highly corresponding to the animal realm. Some are merely deluded, while others are both deluded and cruel, addicted to killing. As long as they live among humans, they will harm others; harming others is their inherent nature. The propensity to kill and injure is their animalistic nature. For such individuals to develop human nature and goodness, they must remain within the human realm for many lives and kalpas, continuously imbued with wholesome dharmas among humans. Only then can they gradually eliminate their animalistic evil tendencies and adopt human habits. Although human habits are not entirely virtuous, they are still better than animalistic nature. Through this process of cultivation over countless lifetimes, they eventually develop a sound character and perfect human nature.

However, during this process, many people will be brutally harmed or killed by these individuals. When good people coexist with evil people, it is invariably the good who suffer and lose out. This is an eternal rule in the Dharma realm: when good and evil people live together, the evil will always commit evil acts, and the good must endure the evil of the wicked. Those who constantly cause trouble and incidents are mostly evil people, those at the bottom, or those without cultivation. Because good people do not create unwholesome karma, or at least not grave unwholesome karma, and do not intentionally harm others, they can only be harmed. Evil people inevitably create unwholesome karma and will inevitably harm others; their original nature cannot be changed from the outset. So, if these evil people commit extremely grave unwholesome karma, should their lives be taken to prevent them from continuing to harm others? Or should their lives be spared, allowing them to remain among humans to continue being imbued with wholesome dharmas?

Both choices have their pros and cons. If their lives are spared, others will continue to be harmed and killed, and other lives will be threatened. If the lives of evil people are taken to prevent them from harming their own kind, these evil people will lose the opportunity to be imbued with wholesome dharmas. Their evil nature will have no chance for correction, and the evolution of their minds will be obstructed—this too is a significant loss. Regarding this matter, what is the best course of action? Is there a better way for good and evil people to each find their place and coexist peacefully? In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, how does Amitābha Buddha manage good and evil people?

The solution is that like attracts like, and people form groups accordingly. Good and evil people must be separated; sentient beings of different levels and attributes must be separated and cannot coexist or mingle. This is the rule throughout the Dharma realm. Just as Buddha-lands like the Land of Ultimate Bliss are separated from Buddha-lands like the Sahā World, the sentient beings in these two worlds have different mental natures and cannot interact or coexist, to avoid trouble. Sentient beings exist at many levels, and the thoughts and views of beings at each level vary widely, making unification and coordination impossible. Mixed habitation leads to endless disputes; complete separation resolves all issues.

Buddhist precepts also require this, adhering to the principle of "same precepts, same practice." Those who uphold different precepts cannot live together; monastics and lay practitioners cannot mix or coexist. Similarly, those with different monastic disciplines and practices cannot live together, and lay practitioners with different precepts and practices should also avoid cohabitation as much as possible; otherwise, trouble arises, violating the Buddha's precepts. In the secular world, groups generally form automatically along these lines. Differences in merit, wisdom, social status, cultivation, and quality naturally lead to separate residences rather than cohabitation. Evil people who commit crimes are confined in prisons, isolated from those who have not committed crimes. Sentient beings, based on their karmic actions and mental natures, are broadly divided into the six realms, ensuring good and evil beings do not coexist.