The two guardians of the world – the bright states that protect the world – moral shame and moral fear.

The Buddha shared that a sense of shame and the fear of blame are two bright states that protect the world. Having a sense of shame means that we refrain from doing evil because we do not want to harm ourselves. It is because we wish to preserve our self-respect that we develop a sense of shame. We wish to be respected by others, so we develop the fear of blame.

When there is a leader who does not ask his predecessor to give him advice of how to govern, he will rule according to his own opinion which sets the stage for a decline in morality and consequently the quality of peoples’ lives. If we look at the world today, the two guardians of the world are fading away.

We have stories of immoral characters who go unpunished.

We begin to see and hear of increasing violence in its manifestation of negation of others, verbal and physical abuse, threats, power and control, and murder.

There are increasing rigid polarizations within families, between friends, and among neighbors and strangers.

There are reports of increasing incidents of racism.

There is a growing absence of social governance and increasing incidents of lawlessness; as well as, a growing sense of distrust, fear, anger, isolation, and sadness.

Looking to find resolution we find that government figures are more concerned with winning votes than with governing.

Some religious leaders seem ready to do almost anything to accommodate their followers while others resort to fanaticism.

What are the variables that can begin to nudge us out of this time of discontent? Faith, virtue, a sense of shame, the fear of blame, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom, compassion, and/or loving-kindness?

~reference: The Two Guardians of the World