This is perhaps the reason why there are quite a few prominent spiritual figures ("saints") who used to be criminals before. E.g. Emperor Ashoka who was a ruthless ruler before he was introduced to Buddhism, Angulimala who wore a necklace of fingers of those he killed until he met Gautam the Buddha, and even nowadays: Satyam Nadeen and John Sherman who both had served time in prison before they found the light.
Or maybe the criminals just became more sophisticated :-)
There no such thing as 'the world' independent of thoughts. There are no thoughts in deep sleep, and there is no world. In waking and dream there are thoughts, and there is also the world. Just as a spider emits the thread of a web from within itself and withdraws it again into itself, in the same way the mind projects the world from within itself and later reabsorbs it into itself. When the mind emanates from the Self,the world appears. When the world appears, the Self is not seen,and when the Self appears or shines, the world will not appear.
Criminals becoming saints
This is perhaps the reason why there are quite a few prominent spiritual figures ("saints") who used to be criminals before. E.g. Emperor Ashoka who was a ruthless ruler before he was introduced to Buddhism, Angulimala who wore a necklace of fingers of those he killed until he met Gautam the Buddha, and even nowadays: Satyam Nadeen and John Sherman who both had served time in prison before they found the light.
Or maybe the criminals just became more sophisticated :-)