Buddhist View of Justice

kayte

I'm curious of how Buddhists view justice or if they are concerned with it. I've observed that people either practice it as a high ideal or use it for revenge. I think that it can be abused if approached from a strong emotional POV, but a justice system is necessary. What are your thoughts?

bodhipunk

A sense of justice should spring from a sense of compassion and equanimity, not revenge. From the Dhammapada:
"All tremble at the rod. All fear death. Comparing others with oneself, one should neither strike nor cause to strike.

All tremble at the rod. Life is dear to all. Comparing others with oneself, one should neither strike nor cause to strike.

Whoever tries to seek happiness through hurting others, cannot find happiness.

Whoever tries to seek happiness without hurting others, can find happiness.

Speak not harshly to anyone. Those thus addressed will retort. Painful, indeed, is vindictive speech. Blows in exchange may bruise you.

If, like a cracked gong, you silence yourself, you have already attained Nibbana: no vindictiveness will be found in you.

As with a staff the heardsman drives his cattle to pasture, even so do old age and death drive out the lives of beings.

So, when a fool does wrong deeds, he does not realize (their evil nature); by his own deeds the stupid man is tormented, like one burnt by fire.

Whosoever causes pain to the innocent ones will himself suffer quickly from one of the following ten states.

He will get sharp pain or injury of the body, or get serious illness or become mad.

Or punishment by the kind, or being accused of doing wrong or death of relatives or loss of treasures.

Or his house will be struck by lightning or after death, he will be reborn in Hell."

kayte

Thank you, bodhipunk.

This is pretty much my own personal view of justice. You describe a cause and effect situation if people seek revenge. I believe that negative thoughts, like revenge, can warp a person's reason and possibly even their mind.

I've observed an increase in hubris in people. Hubris was a crime in ancient Athens. It seems to be encouraged in society today. This probably affects the justice system and causes people to abuse it.

I saw a group of women turn on one of their own because she took credit for another person's work. She didn't actually steal it, she copied it and used it as an example of her work. I didn't see how the situation started but it was disturbing to see the degree of anger from people who were not directly involved. One or two people pointed out that the woman was having personal problems and asked the others to hold off on accusing her. Others wanted to punish her to the max. Finally, the supervisor had to put an end to it. Those women were like a mob. Some of the most emotional ones were not the damaged party. Funny thing was, the person who had their work copied was the most gracious.

I don't mean to complicate the question, but here goes. I've come to the conclusion that people who cultivate anger in their actions, come to practice it much like other people practice the 4 Noble Truths,etc. They seem to try and legitimize anger and revenge by claiming it to be righteous justice. In this way they convince others, who might be more compassionate, to follow along. They also corrupt real justice, which should be about constructive repair of a wrong. Who becomes most responsible for the negative effects? The person who inspires the righteous justice or the ones who follow along?

bodhipunk

Funny thing was, the person who had their work copied was the most gracious.

I don't mean to complicate the question, but here goes. I've come to the conclusion that people who cultivate anger in their actions, come to practice it much like other people practice the 4 Noble Truths,etc. They seem to try and legitimize anger and revenge by claiming it to be righteous justice. In this way they convince others, who might be more compassionate, to follow along. They also corrupt real justice, which should be about constructive repair of a wrong. Who becomes most responsible for the negative effects? The person who inspires the righteous justice or the ones who follow along?

Of course, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Cultivating the 4NTs is a constructive practice, whereas letting anger take control is, of course, pretty destructive. In your example, "Righteous Justice" ™ is letting anger and passion make oneself feel like they are the absolute moral superior which, of course, leads to them being very prideful and vindictive. As you said, any true form of justice should be constructive.

federica

I take it you're not talking about the Legal Judicial system?

bodhipunk

I take it you're not talking about the Legal Judicial system?

She said some people tried to pull some vigilante justice when "the person who had their work copied was the most gracious", so I didn't take it as such.

kayte

I take it you're not talking about the Legal Judicial system?

Hi federica, No, I wasn't asking about the legal system, just observing how people reacted. It seems that people are very quick to react with outrage. Even before they know all the details. Some will even reject information that doesn't support their opinion. This got me to thinking about how much people influence each other. It would seem that people who hold the most influence would also be the most responsible for the outcome. They have the power to elevate the situation and seek justice in a positive way or they can incite people into unskillful, mob like behavior, and cause harm. I think that hubris plays a big role. People like to abuse others using "justice" as a cover. Just a thought, really. I was curious if others had observed similar behavior.

I feel that I sometimes have a knee-jerk reaction to comments made about sensitive subjects. This incident brought it to my attention. I would loath to "mob" someone the way they did in the above scenario, but I am guilty of being overly sensitive. I don't meditate the way Buddhism instructs, but I do find many lessons in observing. I get the hints, when they come.