Conversations of the Taoist Master Fu Hsiang

Tsia Tung: But is the will to power not part of our essential nature, and does this not lead to the formation of afflictive emotions? If so, it must be essentially evil.

Fu Hsiang: Tell me, Tsia Tung, is charcoal explosive?

Tsia Tung: No, sifu, it is not.

Fu Hsiang: And is saltpetre and sulphur explosive?

Tsia Tung: Neither of these things are explosive.

Fu Hsiang: Yet if they are mixed together in the right proportion, they make gunpowder, which is highly explosive.

Tsia Tung: That is true.

Fu Hsiang: The will to power is not evil in itself, any more than charcoal is explosive by itself. It is the combination of the will to power with the basic facts of our incarnation into a material world which create the afflictive emotions. The soul is itself is pure gold. But without this will to power, there is no possibility for our survival and evil is the price of its incarnation.