"Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
santa100
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by santa100 »

starter wrote:Would the 5th method, the application of the fact of ownership of kamma contains a tiny little bit of ill wish by thinking about that person's reward of bad karma for his bad action?
From the highlighted parts, no sign of ill will could be found..
AN 5.161 wrote:(Ven. Thanissaro):"When one gives birth to hatred for an individual, one should direct one's thoughts to the fact of his being the product of his actions: 'This venerable one is the doer of his actions, heir to his actions, born of his actions, related by his actions, and has his actions as his arbitrator. Whatever action he does, for good or for evil, to that will he fall heir.' Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued.

(Ven. Nanamoli):"Ownership of deeds in a person with whom you are annoyed can be concentrated upon thus: 'This good person is owner of his deeds, heir to his deeds, his deeds are the womb from which he is born, his deeds are his kin for whom he is responsible, his deeds are his refuge, he is heir to his deeds, be they good or bad.'

(Ven. Bodhi):"One should apply the idea of the ownership of kamma to the person one resents, thus: ‘This venerable one is the owner of his kamma,
the heir of his kamma; he has kamma as his origin, kamma as his relative, kamma as his resort; he will be the heir of any kamma he does, good or bad.’
starter
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by starter »

Greetings!

Just to add a little more illustration of "his being the product of his actions":

“When my concentrated mind was thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. I understood how beings pass on according to their actions thus: ‘These worthy beings who were ill conducted in body, speech, and mind, revilers of noble ones (the noble disciples, or the wise in general?), wrong in their views, giving effect to wrong view in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell; but these worthy beings who were well conducted in body, speech, and mind, not revilers of noble ones, right in their views, giving effect to right view in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, even in the heavenly world.’ Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understood how beings pass on according to their actions." (MN 19)

Metta to all!
starter
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by starter »

SN 7.2 Akkosa Sutta: Abuse

"Once the Blessed One was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo Grove near the Squirrels' Feeding Place. Now the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja heard this: "The brahman Bharadvaja, it seems, has become a monk under the Great Monk Gotama." Angry and unhappy, he went to where the Blessed One was. Having approached the Blessed One, he abused and criticized the Blessed One in foul and harsh words. Thus reviled, the Blessed One spoke to the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja: 'Well, brahman, do friends, colleagues, relatives, and kinsmen and guests visit you?"

"Yes, Gotama, sometimes friends, colleagues, relatives, kinsmen and guests do visit me."

"Well, brahman, do you not offer them snacks or food or meals?"

"Yes, Gotama, sometimes I do offer them snacks or food or meals."

"But if, brahman, they do not accept your offer, who gets them?"

"If Gotama, they do not accept them, they are still mine."


"In the same way, brahman, you are abusing us who do not abuse, you are angry with us who do not get angry, you are quarreling with us who do not quarrel. All these of yours we don't accept. They are still yours, brahman. They are still yours."

"When, brahman, one abuses back when abused, repays anger in kind, and quarrels back when quarreled with, he is said, brahman, to partake the meal and enter upon an exchange. But we do not partake your meal. We do not enter upon an exchange. Therefore, they still belong to you, brahman; they still belong to you."

"The king and his retinue know this of Master Gotama: 'The Monk Gotama is an arahant' — and yet still Master Gotama gets angry."

Said the Buddha:

"Where is anger for one freed from anger,
Who is subdued and lives perfectly equanimous,
Who truly knowing is wholly freed,
Supremely tranquil and equipoised?

He who repays an angry man with anger,
makes things worse;
Who does not repay anger in kind,
he alone wins the battle hard to win [Walshe: "Celebrates a double victory."]

He practices for the welfare of both,
his own, as well as of the other.
Knowing that the other man is angry,
he mindfully maintains his peace.


When he works the cure of both,
his own and the other's,
The people consider him a fool,
are unskilled in the Dhamma."
...
"And the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja received at the hands of the Blessed One the initial monastic ordination and he also received the higher ordination of a bhikkhu...
The Venerable Akkosa Bharadvaja, indeed, became one of the Arahats."

[The "translation" is synthesized from various available translations.]
LXNDR
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by LXNDR »

there's an educative and dramatic poem in Theragatha

16.1 Adhimutta: Adhimutta and the Bandits

[The bandit chief:]

Those who
for the sake of sacrifice
for the sake of wealth
we have killed in the past,
against their will
have trembled & babbled
from fear.
But you —
you show no fear;
your complexion brightens.
Why don't you lament
in the face of what's greatly to be feared

[Ven. Adhimutta:]

There are no painful mental states, chieftain,
in one without longing.
In one whose fetters are ended,
all fears are overcome.
With the ending of [craving]
the guide to becoming,
when phenomena are seen
for what they are,
then just as in the laying down of a burden,
there's no fear in death.

I've lived well the holy life,
well-developed the path.
Death holds no fear for me.
It's like the end of a disease.

I've lived well the holy life,
well-developed the path,
seen states of becoming
as devoid of allure,
like poison spit out
after it's drunk.

One gone to the far shore
without clinging
without effluent
his task completed,
welcomes the ending of life,
as if freed from a place of execution.
Having attained the supreme Rightness,
unconcerned with all the world,
as if released from a burning house,
he doesn't sorrow at death.

Whatever's compounded,
wherever a state of becoming's obtained,
all that has no one in charge:
so says the Great Seer.
Whoever discerns this,
as taught by the Awakened One,
would no more grasp hold of any state of becoming
than he would a hot iron ball.
I have no 'I was,'
no 'I will be.'
Fabrications will simply go out of existence.
What's to lament there in that?
For one who sees, as it actually is,
the pure arising of phenomena,
the pure seriality of fabrications,
there's no fear.
When seeing the world with discernment
as on a par with grass & twigs,
finding no 'mine-ness,'
thinking, 'There's nothing of mine,'
he feels no sorrow.
Dissatisfied with this carcass,
I'm unconcerned with becoming.
This body will break up
and there will not be another.
Do as you like with this carcass.
From that I will feel
neither hatred nor love.
Hearing these awesome, hair-raising words, the young men threw down their weapons & said:

What have you done, sir,
or who have you taken as mentor?
Because of whose teachings
is this lack of sorrow acquired?

[Ven. Adhimutta:]

The all-knowing,
all-seeing conqueror:
He is my mentor.
Greatly compassionate teacher,
all the world's healer,
this doctrine is his,
unexcelled, leading to ending.
Because of his teachings
is this lack of sorrow acquired.

The bandits, hearing the good words of the seer,
threw down their swords & their weapons.
Some relinquished their life of crime,
some chose the Going Forth.
Having gone forth in the teachings
of the one well-gone,
developing the powers & factors for Awakening,
wise, happy,
exultant in mind,
their faculties ripened,
they touched uncompounded Unbinding.
starter
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by starter »

Hi LXNDR and other friends,

Thanks for your input.

I'd like to add a comment to the SN 7.2 Akkosa sutta:

"In the same way, brahman, you are abusing us who do not abuse, you are angry with us who do not get angry, you are quarreling with us who do not quarrel. All these of yours we don't accept. They are still yours, brahman. They are still yours."

"When, brahman, one abuses back when abused, repays anger in kind, and quarrels back when quarreled with, he is said, brahman, to partake the meal and enter upon an exchange. But we do not partake your meal. We do not enter upon an exchange. Therefore, they still belong to you, brahman; they still belong to you."

When being offered "poison" (the abuse/"the meal"), it's up to us to accept / partake it or not.

May all of us always remember the above-cited teaching, and realize that we should by all means refuse to accept/partake any such poison when offered to us.

Metta to all!

Starter
starter
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by starter »

After listening to MN 2 again, I now understand that the Buddha taught us to forbear/tolerate cruel treatments to abandon the asavas (I personally would interpret asavas here as defilements, instead of only the 3 -- desire for sensual pleasures, desire for continued existence, and ignorance; abandon asavas = effacement):

MN 2:

"And what are the asavas to be abandoned by tolerating? There is the case where a monk, reflecting appropriately, endures. He tolerates cold, heat, hunger, & thirst; the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, & reptiles; ill-spoken, unwelcome words & bodily feelings that, when they arise, are painful, racking, sharp, piercing, disagreeable, displeasing, & menacing to life. The asavas, vexation, or fever that would arise if he were not to tolerate these things do not arise for him when he tolerates them. These are called the asavas to be abandoned by tolerating."

The Buddha exemplified for us how to practice forbearance when He was severely criticized, abused, and attacked. We should follow his example, and always keep our noble task (effacement) in mind without getting lost in the mundane pursuits.

Metta to all!
LXNDR
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Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 5:15 am

Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by LXNDR »

starter wrote:the Buddha taught us to forbear/tolerate cruel treatments to abandon the asavas (I personally would interpret asavas here as defilements, instead of only the 3 -- desire for sensual pleasures, desire for continued existence, and ignorance; abandon asavas = effacement):

The Buddha exemplified for us how to practice forbearance when He was severely criticized, abused, and attacked. We should follow his example, and always keep our noble task (effacement) in mind without getting lost in the mundane pursuits.
he surely did

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 20#p297157

and in the Dhammapada too
'He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me'
— for those who brood on this,
hostility isn't stilled.

'He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me' —
for those who don't brood on this,
hostility is stilled.

Hostilities aren't stilled
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.

Unlike those who don't realize
that we're here on the verge
of perishing,
those who do:
their quarrels are stilled.
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robpiso
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Re: "Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"

Post by robpiso »

starter wrote: May all of us lots of peace and progress in our practice, while facing whatever cruel and unjust treatments.
Starter
We all know how asuras can be cruel with us; particularly in these times of power & money.
The only way to deal with them is to give them back what they are laying upon you.
"This is not mine; this is not me - have it back!*"

* And maybe what your friends have laid upon me as well. And maybe what you have laid upon all of us (although it's always good to keep some reserve on hand ;)
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