For those still struggling with finding Wisdom, Compassion, Loving Kindness and Forgiveness in the face of horrible acts, I offered a talk from my heart at our Zazenkai this week.
It touches not only on violence in the news such as the tragic and seemingly senseless slaughter in Las Vegas this week, but also personal stories from friends over the years seeking to reestablish relationships with once abusive parents, to reflect on their own violent actions in the past, or to find forgiveness of criminals who hurt loved ones. I also retell the famous story of Buddha and his forgiveness of the killer and bandit Angulimala, who became a monk and eventually an Arhat.
I do not believe that it is so simple as just a matter of forgiveness or not, ignoring the past.
For those who have suffered violence, perhaps we might say that we honor the past, recognize the very real scars, allow the pain to be the pain, know the true causes in 'greed anger and ignorance' of the human heart ... and then, with all that, do our best to move on.
But for the doer of violence, it is even less easy. There is a weight that must be carried, should be carried, for past volitional acts. That is so even if one tries to fix a little of the suffering one has caused.
In any case, it is a subtle topic, not easy. The Mahayana offers many true perspectives on violence and our response.
(This talk is a continuation of something I posted earlier this week:
Offering Metta to someone like Stephen Paddock
https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...tephen-Paddock
An English translation of the full Angulimala Sutta is here:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....086.than.html
The poem by Thich Nhat Hahn that I quote, Please Call Me By My True Names, is here:
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/poetry-cen...my-true-names/
If you prefer audio:
Dharma Talk Audio / Podcast Episode:
https://treeleaf.podbean.com/e/octob...iolent-people/
Gassho, J
SatTodayLAY
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