The Sickness of 'Fair' - Reaping the Inner Kingdom

(The sermon begins. The speaker steps forward, not with the weight of judgment, but with a light, knowing, almost humorous smile.)

Peace be with you.

I see you. I see you reading the news on your phones, I see you watching the broadcasts, I see you talking with your neighbours. And I hear the single, vibrating chord that hums underneath all of it. It’s a question, isn't it? A complaint. A deep, profound, human sigh: "But that's not fair."

(Laughter, gentle and knowing)

Oh, how you love that word. "Fair." You are all, every one of you, self-appointed accountants for the cosmos. You carry a little ledger in your heart, and you are meticulous. You watch your co-worker get a promotion you think they didn't deserve... debit. You see a liar on television in a fine suit, seemingly untouched by their lies... debit. You get a flat tire on a day when you were already late... a big, fat, angry debit.

And you wait. You wait for "Cosmic Justice." You wait for the universe to balance the books. You wait for karma, for divine retribution, for "Heaven's net," as the scholars say, to fall and catch the wicked and finally, finally reward the good. You wait to reap what you think you have sown, and more importantly, for others to reap what you are certain they have sown.

This deep, aching need for the world to be "just" is what the scholars in your text call the principle of "Cosmic Justice." It’s a powerful idea. It's the engine of a thousand religions, a million laws, a billion arguments.

And I am here to tell you... it is the single greatest disease of the human mind.

(A slight pause, letting the provocation land)

You heard me. It is the sickness that keeps you from the Kingdom.

In the Hsin Hsin Ming, the "Faith in Mind" poem, it is said: "The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences." It also says, "Like and dislike are the diseases of the mind."

And what is "justice," my friends? What is "fairness"? It is the ultimate "like" and "dislike." It is the pinnacle of preference. The moment you draw a line in the sand and say, "This is good, and this is bad," "This is just, and this is unjust,"... in that very instant... "you are as far from [The Way] as heaven is from earth."

You have drawn two circles. You have split the seamless robe of reality. And now you must live as two, not one. This is the "Merging of Duality" we speak of. You see two circles—the good people and the bad people, the blessed and the cursed—and you are frantic, trying to make sure you're in the "good" circle.

This is why I said, "Judge not, that you be not judged."

Do you understand? This was not a threat from a celestial magistrate. It wasn’t "You'd better not judge, or I'll get you!" (More gentle humor) No, no. It was a diagnosis. It was a law of spiritual physics.

"Judge not," because the very act of judging is the judgment. The moment you step into the role of the judge, you are condemned to live in a courtroom. You have built your house on the sand of "right" and "wrong," and you will be battered by the winds of every single thing that doesn't go your way. The act of judging—of clinging to your preferences—is the "plank in your own eye." It's not a different plank. It is the plank. You're so busy squinting at the speck in your brother's eye, you don't realize your own vision is completely blocked by the gavel you're holding.

Now, the world has come up with two very clever, very sophisticated ways to handle this. Your text points to them.

On the one hand, you have the profound doctrine of karma, most clearly articulated in Hinduism. This is "Cosmic Justice" perfected. It’s an impersonal, infallible law. As the text says, it's "inherent in the fabric of the cosmos." You do a good deed, you get a good result. You do a bad deed, you get a bad one. Maybe not today, maybe not in this life, but the ledger will be balanced. It affirms our core belief: you reap what you sow.

But what is the unique message of the deepest Hindu wisdom? The goal of the wise person is not to accumulate "good" karma. Good karma is just a golden chain; bad karma is an iron one. Either way, you are chained to the wheel of cause and effect. The goal is moksha—liberation. The goal is to get off the wheel entirely. To transcend the entire system of cosmic accounting.

On the other hand, you have the profound doctrine of grace, most radically articulated in Christianity. This tradition also affirms the law: "an eye for an eye," the wages of sin. Justice is real, and it is absolute. But it says, "You cannot pay this debt." The ledger is so stained with red ink that no amount of "good" karma can ever balance it.

And what is its unique message? The law is not defeated by your obedience, but by love. The entire system of "reaping and sowing" is broken open by an act of radical, un-deserved, un-"just" forgiveness. Grace is, by its very definition, unfair. It breaks the chain of cause and effect.

Do you see the beautiful paradox? The two great traditions you look to, when you follow them to their deepest, most mystical hearts, both agree: the point is not to be a good accountant in the system of "justice." The point is to transcend the system. One says, "You can be liberated from it"; the other says, "You have been liberated from it."

This brings us to The Way. My way. The path of the Zennist.

It is the path of the Inner Kingdom.

You are crying out, "Where is the justice?" when you see the wicked prosper. You are worried about your treasures on earth. And I am telling you, your "treasure" is your preference. Your "treasure" is your burning desire for the world to match the picture in your head. And "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Your heart is not at peace. It is not in the Kingdom. It is in the cosmic courtroom, and you are serving as judge, jury, and prosecuting attorney, all at once. And it is exhausting. This is the "contemporary spiritual concern," is it not? The burnout. The anxiety. The constant, low-grade anger that simmers under your skin. You are tired. You are tired from the impossible, full-time job of judging the entire universe.

The real law of cause and effect—the real "Cosmic Justice"—is not "do good, get good" a year from now. It is instantaneous.

When I said, "whoever is angry with his brother... shall be in danger of the judgment," I did not mean he would be in danger of my judgment later. I meant the anger IS the judgment. The anger IS the hell. The cause and the effect are one. The moment you are angry, you have left the Kingdom. You are reaping what you are sowing in that very instant.

The good news is, the reverse is also true. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." It's not a transaction. It's not "Be merciful now, and later, when you're in trouble, God will let you off the hook." No! The act of being merciful is the experience of receiving mercy. The feeling of mercy flowing through you is the blessing. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It is right here.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, Ffor they shall see God." Not "if they're good, they'll see God when they're dead." They see God now, because the "plank" of judgment is gone. They see clearly. They see the One in the all.

This is the Higher Ethic. It is not enough to not murder. You must let go of the anger that is the root of murder. It is not enough to not commit adultery. You must let go of the lust—the preference, the clinging—that is the root of it.

This is Wisdom in Action.

So, when you look at the world, when you see the news that makes your blood boil—the scandals, the hypocrisy, the cruelty... what is the "Jesus the Zennist" response?

The world's response is to double down on judgment. To shout louder. To demand justice. My response? "First remove the plank from your own eye."

This does not mean "be passive." It does not mean "let injustice roll over you." This is not a call to be a spiritual doormat. But it is a call to act from the Inner Kingdom, not from the disease of the mind. Act from clarity, not from preference. Act from love, not from anger. Act from the "solid rock" of your own inner peace, not the "shifting sand" of "what's fair."

You cannot think your way into this. The truth is "Beyond Words." You cannot argue for the Kingdom of Heaven. You can only be it.

The work, then, is simple. But it is not easy. Today, when you feel the "itch"... that old, familiar "That's not fair!"... Smile. Recognize the disease. And in that moment, in that sacred instant, you have a choice. You can pick up your gavel and go to court. Or you can put it down.

Put down the gavel. Let go of your preference. And in the quiet, spacious, empty-handed freedom that remains... the Great Way will reveal itself. The two circles will merge. And you will finally be home.

Peace be with you.