It is thus only from want of due reflection that moral judgments are influenced by outward deeds. Owing to its very nature, the moral consciousness, when sufficiently influenced by thought, regards the will as the only proper object of moral disapproval or moral praise. That moral qualities are internal, is not an invention of any particular moralist or any particular religion; it has been recognised by thoughtful men in many different countries and different ages. “He that is pure in heart is the truest priest,” said Buddha.[177] In the Taouist work, ‘Kan ying peen,’ it is written:—“If you form in your heart a good intention, although you may not have done any good, the good spirits follow you. If you form in your heart a bad intention, although you may not have done any harm, the evil spirits follow you.”[178] According to the Thâi-Shang, mere wishes are sufficient to constitute badness.[179] One of the Pahlavi texts puts the following words into the mouth of the Spirit of Wisdom:—“To be grateful in the world, and to wish happiness for every one; this is greater and better than every good work.”[180] God, says the Koran, “will not catch you up for a casual word in your oaths, but He will catch you up for what your hearts have earned.”[181] According to the Rabbis, the thought of sin is worse than sin, and an unchaste thought is a “wicked thing.”[182] It was an ancient Mexican maxim that “he who looks too curiously on a woman commits adultery with his eyes”[183]—a striking parallel to the passage in St. Matthew v. 28. “Voluntas remuneratur, non opus,” says the Canonist. “Licet gladio non occidat, voluntate tamen interficit.” “Non ideo minus delinquit, cui sola deest facultas.”[184]
[177] Hopkins, Religions of India, p. 319.
[178] Douglas, Confucianism and Taouism, p. 270.
[179] Thâi-Shang, 4.
[180] Dînâ-î-Maînôgî Khirad, lxiii. 3 sqq. Cf. ibid. i. 10, where it is said that the good work which a man does unwittingly is little of a good work, though the sin which a man commits unwittingly amounts to a sin in its origin.
[181] Koran, ii. 225. Cf. Ameer Ali, Ethics of Islâm, p. 26.
[182] Schechter, in Montefiore, op. cit. p. 558. Cf. Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 52.
[183] Sahagun, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, vi. 22, vol. ii. 147: “Dice el refran que el que curiosamente mira á la muger adultéra con la vista.”
[184] Gratian, Decretum, ii. 33. 3. 25, 30, 29.