Jendhamuni - Buddhism and inspiring quotes

The Helpful Enemy

Comment November 20, 2016

Transcribed talks by Ratnaghosa
Talk three of six on patience or kshanti

Patience is the most common translation of Kshanti and indeed people often think of Kshanti as patience. However the word Kshanti has many meanings and the Perfection of Kshanti (Kshanti-paramita) has many different aspects to it. One very important aspect of Kshanti is giving up any desire for revenge or retaliation. To give up any desire for revenge or retaliation means to forgive.

According to the Oxford Universal Dictionary, forgiveness means, “to give up, cease to harbour resentment etc”.

If we give up resentment against someone, then we no longer have the desire to retaliate or seek revenge. In short, we have forgiven them. This is the forgiveness aspect of Kshanti. It is not easy to forgive, especially if someone has really caused us harm intentionally.

It is not even easy to forgive when we feel offended even though no offence was meant. To forgive is to let go of feeling hurt, to give up our grudges. To forgive means to extend goodwill to those that we feel are opposed to us, those who have offended us, those who have hurt us, those who don’t like us, even those we regard as enemies. Forgiveness is truly an act of self-transformation. Continue reading →
5 Reasons Why You Should Forgive & Forget

Comment November 20, 2016

We’ve all heard it a thousand times,“You need to forgive and forget.” But is this truly how we feel? When someone really hurts you, do you still want to forgive that person? Forgiving seems almost unnatural, right? Here are a few reasons why you should forgive someone even if part of you doesn’t want to.

1. Forgiveness doesn’t mean what happened was OK, and it doesn’t mean that person should still be welcome in your life. Forgiveness just means that you’ve made peace with the pain, and you are ready to let it go.

2. Forgiveness is not something we do for others – it’s something we do for ourselves. Not forgiving someone is the equivalent of staying trapped in a jail cell of bitterness, serving time for someone else’s crime. As I wrote earlier, you make the choice to either dwell on the pain cause by others or you want to forgive and move on. Continue reading →
No one is born to hate

42 November 20, 2016

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. ~Nelson Mandela
Even one life has breathed easier

Comment November 17, 2016

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived.
This is to have succeeded.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Story of a Resident Pupil of Thera Mahakassapa

Comment November 17, 2016

Verse 61: If a person seeking a companion cannot find one who is better than or equal to him, let him resolutely go on alone; there can be no companionship with a fool.

The Story of a Resident Pupil of Thera Mahakassapa

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (61) of this book, with reference to a resident pupil of Thera Mahakassapa.

When Thera Mahakassapa was residing near Rajagaha, he had two young bhikkhus staying with him. One of them was respectful, obedient and dutiful to the thera, but the other one was not. When the old thera chided the latter for his slackness in his duties, he was very much offended. On one occasion, he went to the house of a lay-disciple of the thera, and lied to them that the thera was ill. Thus, he got some choice food from them for the thera; but he ate the food on the way. When admonished by the thera for this he was extremely angry. The next day, when the thera was out on his alms-round, the young foolish bhikkhu stayed behind, broke the pots and pans and set fire to the monastery.

When a bhikkhu from Rajagaha told the Buddha about this, the Buddha said that it would have been much better for Thera Mahakassapa to live alone than to live with a foolish companion.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 61: If a person seeking a companion cannot find one who is better than or equal to him, let him resolutely go on alone; there can be no companionship with a fool.

At the end of the discourse, the bhikkhu from Rajagaha attained Sotapatti Fruition.

Dhammapada Verse 61
Mahakassapa saddhiviharika Vatthu

Carance nadhigaccheyya
seyyam sadisamattano
ekacariyaram dalham kayira
natthi bale sahayata.

Source: Tipitaka
The only thing you can really control

Comment November 15, 2016

The only thing you can really control is how you react to things out of your control. — Bassam Tarazi
Let go of your attachment

Comment November 15, 2016

Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. – Ralph Marston
Thought is the blossom

Comment November 15, 2016

Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Once in a lifetime…

Comment November 15, 2016

Once in a lifetime you meet someone who changes everything. ~Unknown
Those who cause me suffering

Comment November 15, 2016

Those who cause me suffering
Are like Buddhas bestowing their blessings.
Since they lead me to liberating paths,
Why should I get angry with them?

“Don’t they obstruct your virtuous practice?”
No! There is no virtuous practice greater than patience;
Therefore, I will never get angry
With those who cause me suffering.

If, because of my own shortcomings,
I do not practice patience with my enemy,
It is not he, but I, who prevents me from practicing patience,
The cause of accumulating merit.

—Shantideva

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Shantidevas’ Bodhisattva vows

Should anyone wish to ridicule me and make me an object of jest and scorn why should I possibly care if I have dedicated myself to others?

Let them do as they wish with me so long as it does not harm them. May no one who encounters me ever have an insignificant contact.

Regardless whether those whom I meet respond towards me with anger or faith, may the mere fact of our meeting contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes.

May the slander, harm and all forms of abuse that anyone should direct towards me act as a cause of their enlightenment.