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Loas Buddhist Temple Vandalized
Hi everyone!!! I'm fairly new to this site, but so far I like what I see. You guys seem so educated on this subject. It makes me feel as if I hardly know anything about buddhism even though I come from a buddhist background. Guess I have a lot of reading to catch up to.
Anyway. . . I wanted to talk about what happened to the temple I regularly attend.
About a month ago, two fourteen-year-old kids made some home-made explosives out of fire crackers and threw it into the buddhist temple in my town. Some minor damages were caused to the exterior and interior of the temple. Luckily no one was hurt. The monks wouldn't press charges so the state put it into their own hands. For a while I was very upset. I have been attending that temple for about ten years now, and the monks there are very passive and nonchalant (as with all monks). I just couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing. Then I realized that they probably did it out of ignorance. I'm sure if they had known the monks and the people who attended it, they wouldn't have had such harsh feelings for them. "Not by hate is hate defeated; hate is quenched by love. This is the eternal law" - Dhammapada 5. The more I say these words to myself, the more my anger diminishes. I'm over it now.
- Noi.
Anyway. . . I wanted to talk about what happened to the temple I regularly attend.
About a month ago, two fourteen-year-old kids made some home-made explosives out of fire crackers and threw it into the buddhist temple in my town. Some minor damages were caused to the exterior and interior of the temple. Luckily no one was hurt. The monks wouldn't press charges so the state put it into their own hands. For a while I was very upset. I have been attending that temple for about ten years now, and the monks there are very passive and nonchalant (as with all monks). I just couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing. Then I realized that they probably did it out of ignorance. I'm sure if they had known the monks and the people who attended it, they wouldn't have had such harsh feelings for them. "Not by hate is hate defeated; hate is quenched by love. This is the eternal law" - Dhammapada 5. The more I say these words to myself, the more my anger diminishes. I'm over it now.
- Noi.
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Comments
"There are these five ways of subduing hatred by which, when hatred arises in a monk, he should wipe it out completely. Which five?
"
When you give birth to hatred for an individual, you should develop good will for that individual. Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued.
"When you give birth to hatred for an individual, you should develop compassion for that individual. Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued.
"When you give birth to hatred for an individual, you should develop equanimity toward that individual. Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued.
"When you give birth to hatred for an individual, you should pay him no mind & pay him no attention. Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued.
"When you give birth to hatred for an individual, you should direct your thoughts to the fact of his being the product of his actions: 'This venerable one is the doer of his actions, heir to his actions, born of his actions, related by his actions, and has his actions as his arbitrator. Whatever action he does, for good or for evil, to that will he fall heir.' Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued.
"These are five ways of subduing hatred by which, when hatred arises in a monk, he should wipe it out completely."
In any case I am happy that you are finding skillful ways to deal with your anger. As far as your knowledge of Buddhism is concerned--just because someone studies a lot, like me for example, doesn't necessarily mean we 'know' a lot. What is in your heart matters just as much as what is in your head. You may 'know' just as much as all of us.
Just keep your intentions pure and you will never go wrong.
"Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect."
— AN VI.63
I am sorry, Elohim, but I think that such a mental attitude is less than skillful, in my opinion. It is equivalent to seeing karma as some form of reward or punishment.
Surely, a better way of looking at the event is to be comforted that the community has found the event a way to practice non-attachment and compassion.
Ok, back to the topic. I think those kids are either ignorance or just being teenagers. When I was in the 7th grade someone in my class used to live near a temple, or so he say. He asked me about some monks that would wear yellow ropes and throw rocks at him and his buddies. I asked him if he aggravated them somehow because monks are supposed to be pacifist. He didn't say anything but smiled with a guilty look. I guess we do things out of ignorance or we don't think about the consequences. But, i look at it this way and this is just my opinion, ok...Buddha journey through this life searching for enlightenment(knowledge). He would ask question to way things are the way the are. I think from the journey he took we should make are own journey of self and be as knowledgable as possible. Never accept an answer from another without testing it for yourself, right? but alway keep an open mind and listen.
On this topic, it struck me that we cannot tell much about the karma/kamma involved here. Without omniscience, how can we untangle the millennial threads that led to the moment when the fire was set? And how can we discern the tapestry of outcomes that may arise as a result?
It may be that the people who set the fire were acting out of benevolent karma/kamma whether aware of it or not. That we should judge it to be bad speaks to us about ourselves and hardly at all about them.
That is true what you say. I should not be so quick to judge other people of their actions. There are many things that I myself have done or left undone. I know I let my anger get in the way of my decisions at times. It just shows that I still have much to learn. Thank-you for reminding me why I chose this path.
"When you give birth to hatred for an individual, you should direct your thoughts to the fact of his being the product of his actions: 'This venerable one is the doer of his actions, heir to his actions, born of his actions, related by his actions, and has his actions as his arbitrator. Whatever action he does, for good or for evil, to that will he fall heir.' Thus the hatred for that individual should be subdued."
Also this sutta is taught to explain the effects of ones kamma http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn041-nt0.html
When a person does a negative action, like throwing firecrackers into a Buddhist temple, they are adding to their own suffering. The consequences will then unfold: they may have to go to court, pay fines, community service, have more animosity towards the temple because they got in trouble, etc. (Not including if you also believe in rebirth, then there could be lowly births etc.) If they learn a valuable lesson, which would help offset the negative, then this will help them to become better people in the future. If you are right and they did it for positive reasons I'm sure they will have positive vipaka or fruition of their positive act. But in any case, no matter what happens to the teenagers, Noi shouldn't carry around the hatred or anger of these individual's actions. Their actions will be their own fruits. This method is used by the Buddha himself to keep negative emotions from arising and 'harming' his bhikkhus. Even negative thoughts are kamma. So letting another persons actions give rise to anger or hate in you is just as bad for you as for the person who does the negative action. In the end it was for Noi not to have negative feelings towards the tennagers, it had nothing to do with the teenagers.
Kamma vipaka is what it is. Positive kamma leads to positive vipaka, negative kamma leads to negative vipaka, no kamma leads to no vipaka and to ceasation.
With that being said I find that this discussion on teenagers being teenagers has gotten a little personal. Does it matter if these kids learn from their mistakes? Maybe. I figure they are just kids and when they become adults they will realize what they did was wrong. Sure they could become criminals but if that's the path they have chosen not many people are going to be able to change them otherwise.
Not all bad things we do in our lives need to be attoned for. Sometimes letting the issue die is the best positive karmha we can give to ourselves.
Here is another example of kamma in the Pali Canon http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn42-006.html
As for what you've said, I agree. I myself am not concerned with the teenagers and I do not know nor care what their actions will bring them. I just didn't want poor Noi to carry ill-will towards them. It was out of compassion for her that I said what I said.
But you may be right and letting something die could be the best positive kamma we can do in some circumstances.
- Dhammapada 222.
All the knowledge and information i'm getting here is really lovely. But who knows why the teenagers did what they did. Anyway karma a very interesting to me i wonder if it's real; I believe in karma in a since, but some people do negative thing in this lifetime and don't feel remorse or get punish in any shape or form. So does that mean they'll get what they deserve during their next life? Who knows i'm just here to learn...
Adiana :smilec: :smilec:
I beg to believe that you did not mean this as it reads, Elohim.
Please, there is no need to apologize. Your kindness is much appreciate, regardless of how it may appear.