“The arahant (saint) is supposed to personify the Buddhist moral ideal. He should be so imbued with the basic virtues that it is impossible for him to act otherwise.”
“‘A monk whose obsessions have been destroyed is unable to kill a living creature intentionally, …’”
– Rune Johansson, The Psychology of Nirvana
“And in very truth I believe, no, I am sure, that the man who is established here can in no way be at any time separated from God… I hold that he cannot willingly commit, nor yet consent to, even a venial sin…So strongly is he drawn and attracted to this way, so much is he habituated to it, that he could never turn to any other.”
I think there are some people who are so formed toward the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, that it would be very hard for them, maybe even impossible, to act in unloving ways. Their character, their way of being, won’t allow it.
Maybe that’s one way to think about a saint. Someone whose character won’t allow them to do an unloving thing, even if they tried.