In terms of the Buddha
BlueMoonRR
I have a question involving Buddhism and the actions of Buddhists. It's my
understanding that Buddhists are generally accepting of things like people
being a jerk to them, or maybe some one having a difference of opinion and
throwing it in their face. Mainly Buddhists being quite peacfull. I hope you
understand what I'm trying to say.
My question is how would you handle a situation where you would just have to
turn away? Later on it just comes back and haunts you. At least it does me.
I end up with allot of negative thought and energy even though I settled
something peacfully.
This may be a dumb question but I've got some thing on my mind and it's
"haunting" me.
Thanks
The Puddies
BlueMoonRR wrote in message <19990124201706...@ng54.aol.com>...
Hi Blue Moon,
Buddhists are really no different than anyone else. The primary difference
between buddhists and non buddhists is the fact that we recognize that our
actions have consequences (karma).
My own teacher has told me that the only way to combat anger and hatred is
with compassion. It is the ultimate antidote to such feelings. So this
is something that has been written about before here, but it is something we
come up against again and again in our lives. There will always be
irritating people, cruel people, thoughtless people. How can we possibly
generate compassion for them?
If someone is so foolish, so stupid, so insensitive as to be cruel,
thoughtless, and irritating, then something is wrong with their perceptions,
their ability to judge. Such a person is then, LESS perceptive, less
intelligent, less understanding than you are. For that alone you should
feel compassion for them, for they are not as fortunate as you.
I am not saying that you should feel smug, arrogant, superior, better than
they are..... not at all. So don't get me wrong. I am saying that you
should feel compassion for someone who is less fortunate than you. Being a
ble to do that without the arrogance is definitely something very special.
How do you get to that point? Well, in my own case, my teacher told me to
dedicate all my practices to a difficult and petty tyrant who had made my
life a hell when I was vulnerable and had caused me great suffering. At
first I was incredulous at the suggestion! Eventually I bit the bullet
and just 'did it' because I knew that he knew something I did not know, and
I trusted him. It was very hard, but it worked.
Does that make me a saint? NO way. Do I still get angry? yep. But it is
less often, and the effects less lasting, and somewhere I began to
understand that the more you think about a situation and generate feelings
of justified anger, the more justified and the more angry you feel. The
more justified and more angry you feel, the less you are able to get rid of
those feelings and the more you think about it....etc. etc. etc.
Cut it loose, or like my zen master used to say "Put it down....put it all
down".......every time you think about it, you replay it and give it more
energy. Just don't do it.
Regards,
Evelyn
Zenshin
time. I had written a sermon on this subject last year. Here is a copy of it:
"The Woman at the Well"
Ananda, the favorite disciple of Buddha, having been sent by the Lord on a
mission, passed by a well near a village, and seeing Prakriti, a girl of the
Matanga caste, he asked her for water to drink.
Prakriti said, "O Brahman, I am too humble and mean to give you water to drink,
do not ask any service of me lest your holiness be contaminated, for I am of
low caste."
And Ananda replied: "I ask not for caste but for water." And the Matanga
girl's heart leaped joyfully and she gave Ananda to drink.
Having heard that Ananda was a disciple of Gautama Shakyamuni, the girl
repaired to the Blessed One and cried, "O Lord help me, and let me live in the
place where Ananda thy disciple dwells, so that I may see him and minister unto
him, for I love Ananda."
And the Blessed One understood the emotions of her heart and said: "Prakriti,
thy heart is full of love, but you do not understand your own sentiments. It
is not Ananda whom you love, but his kindness. Receive, then the kindness you
have seen him practice unto you, and in the humility of your station, practice
it unto others."
"Verily, there is great merit in the generosity of a king when he is kind to a
slave; but there is greater merit in the slave when ignoring the wrongs which
he suffers he cherishes kindness and good-will to all mankind. He will cease
to hate his oppressors, and even when powerless to resist their usurpation
will, with compassion pity their arrogance and supercilious demeanor. "
"Blessed art thou, Prakriti, for though you are a Matanga, you will be a model
for noblemen and noblewomen. You are of low caste, but Brahman will learn a
lesson from you. Swerve not from the path of justice and righteousness and you
will outshine the royal glory of queens on the throne."
Zen Buddhist English Sutras, Hawaii Soto Mission Association, T.H. 1948
When I read this story, I was very touched. I think this is one of the most
difficult things to do. To forgive someone who has wronged us. The world is
full of bitter people, who carry the baggage of their sufferings with them.
They carry and nurture these wrongs as if they were treasures. They proudly
display them to all that will look. According to the Buddha, if we are to be
free, we need to let go of this baggage. We need to learn to put down all the
suffering and misdeeds done to us in the past, and walk away.
Now, I am not saying we should necessarily forget, and walk blindly like sheep
into the slaughter. That is not what I am saying. I am saying, to live in the
moment, to move forward, and not carry the past with you.
If you are successful in setting down your baggage from the past, the most
difficult task you will have is to not pick it back up. Most people can set
down their baggage for a time, but they rush back and pick it up, once again
the prized treasure. Put it down, and don't pick it up!
It is your thoughts, words, and actions that color this moment and contribute
to your future. Think about that for a moment. What color from the palette of
your emotions, will you choose to paint this moment? When you are in a
difficult situation, which color will you choose? Remember, you hold the
brush.
Koshu
Please visit the Zenshuji Web Page
http://members.aol.com/zenshin/zenshuji/
Tang Huyen
Thank you for your excellent thought. One historical note first: This young woman,
Prakriti, a girl of the Matanga caste, is at the origin of that long and famous
Indian dharani that is borrowed by the Chinese-made Shurangama Sutra (not the
Indian Shurangama Samadhi Sutra).
As you say: "To forgive someone who has wronged us. The world is full of bitter
people, who carry the baggage of their sufferings with them. They carry and nurture
these wrongs as if they were treasures. They proudly display them to all that will
look. According to the Buddha, if we are to be free, we need to let go of this
baggage. We need to learn to put down all the suffering and misdeeds done to us in
the past, and walk away." As it is said in English: To err is human, to forgive is
divine. Good Buddhists (like good Stoics) forgive and forget, and make a clean
slate for themselves.
As you say: "It is your thoughts, words, and actions that color this moment and
contribute to your future. Think about that for a moment. What color from the
palette of your emotions, will you choose to paint this moment? When you are in a
difficult situation, which color will you choose? Remember, you hold the
brush." The Buddha precedes Aristotle in time, but all seemed as if he knew
Aristotle's famous doctrines, that the eye sees colors because it has no colors,
and that the mind knows all forms because it has no form, for contrariwise, if the
eye had some color and the mind had some form of its own, it would not be able to
see colors and know forms veridically but always with inbuilt and congenital
distortion because encumbered with that color and that form, precisely. So the
Buddha teaches the blowing out of desire and therefore also of mentation, so that
reality is received without distortion. We hold the brush, as you say, and the best
thing we can do with it is not to use it at all. The world with its incommensurable
beauty exceeds anything that we can paint ourselves, and the best painting is just
to leave it alone for it to shine forth in all its effulgence, without our
interference. The sage receives the world freshly and lets it go without any
left-over business, before or after.
Tang Huyen
Zenshin
Thank you for the clarification. I got the story from an old book called "Zen
Buddhist English Sutras" published by the Hawaii Soto Mission Association,
1948.
Thank you again,
In gassho,
Koshu