Scapegoats and Loving What Is

AllbuddhaBound

Sometimes, people who appear or act differently, become the brunt of people's anger. Are there teachings Buddha dedicated to the plight of scapegoats?

patbb

isn't the whole thing revolving around scapegoats?
I think scapegoats come from ignorance of how things really are.

We react with whatever emotion, we blame everything but our self.
We get anxious, we blame the situation...
We get angry, we blame what the other person have said/did...

We are insecure and nurtured a sense of conformity, we blame the person who look different for triggering our insecurity...

AllbuddhaBound

patbb wrote: »

isn't the whole thing revolving around scapegoats?
I think scapegoats come from ignorance of how things really are.

We react with whatever emotion, we blame everything but our self.
We get anxious, we blame the situation...
We get angry, we blame what the other person have said/did...

We are insecure and nurtured a sense of conformity, we blame the person who look different for triggering our insecurity...

It almost seems as though we operate as if there needs to be a scapegoat. Someone needs to be on the bottom of the pile. It happens in families, in business, in society in general. Always needing someone to blame when things go wrong.

Is the weakness people who cannot take responsibility so they shift responsibility to those they feel can't or won't defend themselves?

aMatt

Sometimes, sure. I think most often the reason is simply a fundamental ignorance as to where the emotions are coming from. ie "that person makes me mad" instead of "I am angry from my own volition"

Earth

I don't tolerate being a scapegoat, people only do this to someone who they perceive as being weak,and when people do this they are vampires of your positive energy. They do it to you once their fault,they do it do you twice your fault. I don't know if theres teachings about this but im here to try to resolve some of my anger issues,plus learn more tolerance for stupid people.

Simonthepilgrim

We call them "scapegoats" from the Hebrew tradition of sending a goat into the desert "loaded with the sins of the people". It is an interesting externalisation of the psychological process known as "projection".

The theory posits that we project onto others that which we are unable or unwilling to acknowledge in ourselves. Identifying our projections enables us to find constructive ways of finishing "unfinished business" from our past.

Scapegoating thus allows us to banish the goats beyond the walls of the city, to exclude them from our compassion.

A serious and honest practice of meditative self-examination and, sometimes, the help of a caring (and, possibly, skilled) support leads us to recognise and own these interruptions to the gestalt.

AllbuddhaBound

aMatt wrote: »

Sometimes, sure. I think most often the reason is simply a fundamental ignorance as to where the emotions are coming from. ie "that person makes me mad" instead of "I am angry from my own volition"

Yes, I think much of what people think originates from this place.

AllbuddhaBound

Earth wrote: »

I don't tolerate being a scapegoat, people only do this to someone who they perceive as being weak,and when people do this they are vampires of your positive energy. They do it to you once their fault,they do it do you twice your fault. I don't know if theres teachings about this but im here to try to resolve some of my anger issues,plus learn more tolerance for stupid people.

Part of the challenge in respect to Buddhism and tolerance, is that it can appear to be weakness to the less enlightened. Then you have a bit of a dilemma.

AllbuddhaBound

Simonthepilgrim wrote: »

We call them "scapegoats" from the Hebrew tradition of sending a goat into the desert "loaded with the sins of the people". It is an interesting externalisation of the psychological process known as "projection".

The theory posits that we project onto others that which we are unable or unwilling to acknowledge in ourselves. Identifying our projections enables us to find constructive ways of finishing "unfinished business" from our past.

Scapegoating thus allows us to banish the goats beyond the walls of the city, to exclude them from our compassion.

A serious and honest practice of meditative self-examination and, sometimes, the help of a caring (and, possibly, skilled) support leads us to recognise and own these interruptions to the gestalt.

Unfinished business from our past is an interesting take on it. Perhaps it makes people feel like they vanquish the ones they perceive as weaker and appear to be a winner. Perhaps it is a way they can belong to the oppressor groups and fit in that way. The question is, what business would be unfinished for those who have always belonged to an oppressive group? What would a bully be dealing with?

aMatt

Allbuddha Bound wrote: »

The question is, what business would be unfinished for those who have always belonged to an oppressive group? What would a bully be dealing with?

There is always a bigger fish.

Bullies are usually the ones that are the most scared, and being a bully distracts them from insecurities. For instance, being liable for ones actions can scare the nice right out of a person.

Simonthepilgrim

A bully, for example,. with unfinished business with an overbearing parent may never had had their own fear of the world validated and seek to complete the transactions by inspiring fear in others. Once I saw that, I understood (and stopped) my own bullying behaviour (I hope - because we can never be sure we've "got it right")