"Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel"
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:33 am
Dear friends,
On this Uposatha day, I make up my mind to complete this disturbing "project" that has been postponed for a while: how to face unjust and cruel treatments.
No matter how cruelly been treated, whenever disturbances arise due to such treatments, we should immediately recite the Buddha's teaching:
"Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel" (MN8), so that effacement can be done.
Dhammapada 1. Pairs:
“He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.”
Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.
“He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.” Those who do not harbor
such thoughts still their hatred.
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.
By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.
This is a law eternal."
MN 21:
"Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving kindness and good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with a mind imbued with loving kindness and good will, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving kindness and good will — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.' That's how you should train yourselves.
"Monks, if you attend constantly to this admonition on the simile of the saw, do you see any aspects of speech, slight or gross, that you could not endure?" [Practicing metta is the best way to stop abuses]
Then ask ourselves: "why did such a thing happen to YOU, not to someone else?"
-- "This is my karma. I must have treated others this way before and it’s now my turn to pay the debt. Don't fight back which will create new karma".
Also ask ourselves: "why are they treating you THIS way? Why can't you live in harmony with them?"
-- "It's partially due to your own fault -- you didn't do what you should have done but did what you shouldn't have done: you irritated them by ..., you aggravated them by ..., YOU actually made things worse."
And investigate internally "to the very heart of things:'What is the source of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair? How do they arise?"
--It's not the cruel, unjust words or actions of the worldlings that are causing us dukkha, but rather our identification with and grasping of the feeling, perception (which are actually only delusions), volition, consciousness and sense objects is causing us aversion/resentment and hence turmoils. The way to end such dukkha is not to seek externally and try those worldly means, but search internally to remove our identification/attachment to the aggregates. The way to end such trouble is not to look at others' faults and blame others ("you want to purify your own mind and cultivate yourself, right?"), but to find and remove our own defilements and abandon our own aversions/resentment of the cruel people and unjust treatment, which after all are actually all empty and not really important ("it's not you, it's not yours, it doesn't belong to you, it doesn't really matter") .
Now tell ourselves:
"All these are just for you to grow, to remove your attachments and defilements, and to make progress in the path. Shouldn't you thank these worldlings for providing you with the opportunity to cultivate and improve? You should really use the opportunity well to practice Yoniso Manasikara and Right Thinking (what an opportunity for this!), investigate the dependent arising and passing away of feelings, perceptions, and especially your intentions/thoughts – are they really wholesome and beneficial, have you really possessed the 2nd factor of the path -- Right intention/thinking?"
"Now try to love these trouble makers. Don’t waste your energy and time to find their faults and blame these worldlings, or intentionally/sub-consciously revenge. If you want these people to be kinder to you, you have to be extra forgiving and kind to them first. Or even better, try to send metta to them unconditionally without expectation of any return. Forgiveness and metta are the best gift you can give to them, and to yourself".
May all of us lots of peace and progress in our practice, while facing whatever cruel and unjust treatments.
Starter
On this Uposatha day, I make up my mind to complete this disturbing "project" that has been postponed for a while: how to face unjust and cruel treatments.
No matter how cruelly been treated, whenever disturbances arise due to such treatments, we should immediately recite the Buddha's teaching:
"Others are cruel, we shall not be cruel" (MN8), so that effacement can be done.
Dhammapada 1. Pairs:
“He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.”
Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.
“He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.” Those who do not harbor
such thoughts still their hatred.
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.
By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.
This is a law eternal."
MN 21:
"Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving kindness and good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with a mind imbued with loving kindness and good will, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving kindness and good will — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.' That's how you should train yourselves.
"Monks, if you attend constantly to this admonition on the simile of the saw, do you see any aspects of speech, slight or gross, that you could not endure?" [Practicing metta is the best way to stop abuses]
Then ask ourselves: "why did such a thing happen to YOU, not to someone else?"
-- "This is my karma. I must have treated others this way before and it’s now my turn to pay the debt. Don't fight back which will create new karma".
Also ask ourselves: "why are they treating you THIS way? Why can't you live in harmony with them?"
-- "It's partially due to your own fault -- you didn't do what you should have done but did what you shouldn't have done: you irritated them by ..., you aggravated them by ..., YOU actually made things worse."
And investigate internally "to the very heart of things:'What is the source of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair? How do they arise?"
--It's not the cruel, unjust words or actions of the worldlings that are causing us dukkha, but rather our identification with and grasping of the feeling, perception (which are actually only delusions), volition, consciousness and sense objects is causing us aversion/resentment and hence turmoils. The way to end such dukkha is not to seek externally and try those worldly means, but search internally to remove our identification/attachment to the aggregates. The way to end such trouble is not to look at others' faults and blame others ("you want to purify your own mind and cultivate yourself, right?"), but to find and remove our own defilements and abandon our own aversions/resentment of the cruel people and unjust treatment, which after all are actually all empty and not really important ("it's not you, it's not yours, it doesn't belong to you, it doesn't really matter") .
Now tell ourselves:
"All these are just for you to grow, to remove your attachments and defilements, and to make progress in the path. Shouldn't you thank these worldlings for providing you with the opportunity to cultivate and improve? You should really use the opportunity well to practice Yoniso Manasikara and Right Thinking (what an opportunity for this!), investigate the dependent arising and passing away of feelings, perceptions, and especially your intentions/thoughts – are they really wholesome and beneficial, have you really possessed the 2nd factor of the path -- Right intention/thinking?"
"Now try to love these trouble makers. Don’t waste your energy and time to find their faults and blame these worldlings, or intentionally/sub-consciously revenge. If you want these people to be kinder to you, you have to be extra forgiving and kind to them first. Or even better, try to send metta to them unconditionally without expectation of any return. Forgiveness and metta are the best gift you can give to them, and to yourself".
May all of us lots of peace and progress in our practice, while facing whatever cruel and unjust treatments.
Starter