DooDoot wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 3:55 am
JohnK wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 2:32 pm
In case it is helpful here, coincidentally, I just became aware of this essay (right after glancing at this thread). It is Thanissaro Bhikkhu on the Buddha's teachings on animosity and forgiveness.
Thank you JK. Are there any quotes you might find compelling in the Venerable Thanissaro's essay you could kindly share with us? Please forgive my laziness although I am interested in which teaching you find compelling or most effective. Thanks
It took a while to have a look at the essay (turns out it's only 3 pages!); here's some quotage:
When you forgive someone who’s wronged you, it doesn’t erase that person’s karma in having done wrong. This is why some people think that forgiveness has no place in the karmic universe of the Buddha’s teachings, and that it’s incompatible with the practice of what he taught. But that’s not so. Forgiveness may not be able to undo old bad kamma, but it can prevent new bad karma from being done. This is especially true with the bad kamma that in Pali is called vera. Vera is often translated as “hostility,” “animosity,” or “antagonism,” but it’s a particular instance of these attitudes: the vengeful animosity that wants to get back at someone for perceived wrongs. This attitude is what has no place in Buddhist practice... forgiveness is what puts an end to vera... there is the possibility that the other side will be inspired by your example to stop slinging mud...start by taking a look at where you try to find happiness. If you look for it in terms of power or material possessions, there will always be winning and losing...But if you define happiness in terms of the practice of merit -- giving, virtue, and meditation -- there's no need to create losers. Everyone wins. When you give, other people naturally gain...you gain a spacious sense of wealth within. When you're virtuous...you gain freedom from remorse...while others gain safety...victory over your own greed, aversion, and delusion is something that lasts. It's the only victory that creates no vera, so it's the only victory that's really safe and secure.
Oh, he does specifically quote Dhp 3-5:
“He
insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me”
—for those who brood on this,
vera isn’t stilled.
“He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me”—
for those who don’t brood on this,
vera is stilled.
Veras aren’t stilled
through vera,
regardless.
Veras are stilled
through non-vera:
this, an unending truth. — Dhp 3–5
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]