“Use thunderbolt means to show the heart of a Bodhisattva” is an ancient Chinese saying, which is used to warn people that in dealing with the world, one must be firm and soft in order to achieve miraculous results.

Literally, thunderbolt means refers to things like iron fist, iron-blooded policy, high-pressure policy, dictatorship; Bodhisattva heart certainly refers to kindness, kindness and tolerance. These seem to be opposite things, but they can also co-exist. In terms of family education, people often say "give good intentions but not good faces", which is the Bodhisattva's heart + thunderbolt methods; in terms of governing the country, severely punishing those who break laws and discipline to prevent people from committing crimes is also using thunderbolt methods to show the Bodhisattva Hearty.

Buddhism believes that as long as you are full of compassion and do not have hatred, majesty is virtue, great majesty is great virtue, restraining evil and overcoming evil is guiding good deeds, and thunderbolt means are the expression of Bodhisattva's heart. In order to tame stubborn sentient beings or to curb the evil deeds of evil people, a Bodhisattva should sometimes show the appearance of angry eyes. In Tibetan Buddhism, Vajra of Majesty and Virtue is the incarnation of the anger of Manjushri Bodhisattva. His great power has the power to subdue evil, and his great virtue is the merit of protecting good, so it is called Vajra of Majesty and Virtue. It can be seen that Buddhism does not absolutely prohibit killing. According to the scriptures: King Min of Persia one day reported to the Buddha: O Buddha! There was a big thief in our country. I led the troops to attack him and killed the thief. I committed murder. The Buddha replied: That's good, that's good. You did nothing wrong.

Extended information:

Source:

Zeng Guofan was often troubled by wars and massacres. On his birthday, his protégé General Hu Linyi sent a couplet - "Use thunderbolt means to show the bodhisattva's heart." After reading it, Zeng Guofan burst into tears.

Hu Linyi once said an enlightening saying when he was trying to control chaos: "Use thunderbolt means to show the heart of a Bodhisattva." What is "thunderbolt means"? A sharp sword cuts through the mess and eradicates all evil. In this regard, he was cruel and ruthless, just like Zeng Guofan, who was known as "the one who had his head shaved". It goes: "The most harmful thing must be done, and chaos will arise in the world. We have no good way to bring peace and order, so we can only eliminate violence."

Also known as: "Governing people in chaos is like managing chaos, and those who are in chaos will inevitably "Beheading cannot be tolerated." It can be seen that Hu Linyi believes that killing is an indispensable method to deal with troubled times, and there is nothing wrong with it as long as you have a benevolent heart. "The government of killing people does not have the heart to kill people, but it ends up killing people in the way of life." What is "killing people in the way of life"? To put it bluntly, we must "stop killing with killing." We must not be merciful to those thugs who arbitrarily deprive others of their lives. Only by killing the killers and eradicating violence can justice be demonstrated and society return to stability. This is exactly what the saying goes: "Use thunderbolt means to show the bodhisattva's heart.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia━Hu Yilin