the forgiveness of the Buddha

DhammaDhatu

dear forum

do Buddhists generally equate the Buddha with forgiveness?

does the general interest in karma & rebirth at times overlook forgiveness?

i am not sure

maybe we can give our opinions



some excerpts from the scriptures below:

Yes, great king, a transgression overcame you in that you were so foolish, so muddle-headed, and so unskilled as to kill your father — a righteous man, a righteous king — for the sake of sovereign rulership. But because you see your transgression as such and make amends in accordance with the Dhamma, we accept your confession. For it is a cause of growth in the Dhamma & Discipline of the noble ones when, seeing a transgression as such, one makes amends in accordance with the Dhamma and exercises restraint in the future."

Samaññaphala Sutta

[The Buddha:]
"I have stopped, Angulimala,
once & for all,
having cast off violence
toward all living beings.
You, though,
are unrestrained toward beings.
That's how I've stopped
and you haven't."

[Angulimala:]
"At long last a greatly revered great seer
for my sake
has come to the great forest.
Having heard your verse
in line with the Dhamma,
I will go about
having abandoned evil."

So saying, the bandit hurled his sword & weapons over a cliff into a chasm, a pit. Then the bandit paid homage to the feet of the One Well-gone, and right there requested the Going-forth. The Awakened One, the compassionate great seer, the teacher of the world, along with its devas, said to him then: "Come, bhikkhu." That in itself was bhikkhuhood for him.

Then the Blessed One set out wandering toward Savatthi with Ven. Angulimala as his attendant monk.

Angulimala Sutta

Vincenzi

repent may help clean karmic debts... in a faster way.

TheJourney

Who is the buddha that I should seek his forgiveness??? Sounds too much like theism for my taste. But if it gives you peace then great.

compassionate_warrior

Someone on another thread said something about Buddha being all-forgiving. I'm not familiar with that; sounds like Christianity. I thought negative karma stayed with you, there's no way to wipe the slate clean (which inspires a greater sense of personal responsibility and morality), unlike Christianity, where one can spend one's whole life wreaking havoc but get pie in the sky if one repents before one dies.

[DeletedUser]

Talks to space that you owe Him a piece of chocolate
In Buddhism, the result of one's transgression is caused of delusion away from loving kindness or enlightenment. Upon realization of omnipresence on no self of you and me, the result of seeing transgression as such and make amends in accordance with the Dhamma. Other than knowing the reality of interdependent of karma and rebirth, one is under the category of delusion in Buddhism context. Simply, an error because of delusion like dream that not a sort to be regarded as forgiveness, in the eyes of the beholder-Buddha Sakyamuni - you split yourself and Him, while he has never apart of you. For instance, a cup of milk, a mixture of milk powder and plain water, once the milk powder settled to a level, Buddha (plain water) surfaced. :wow: So intimate that of you and buddha, and who is right and who's incorrect. As the saying goes, you are right but incorrect :clap:

DhammaDhatu

I thought negative karma stayed with you, there's no way to wipe the slate clean (which inspires a greater sense of personal responsibility and morality)...

sure

our awakening to what is skilful & unskilful can certainly inspire a greater sense of personal responsibility and morality

but why don't we wipe the slate clean?

alternatively, can we hang our past karma like a heavy weight around our neck?

i wished to raise the examples of the buddha

in the Samaññaphala Sutta, the transgressor's unskilful action still weighed heavily on his mind so he was not completely focused on what the Buddha was teaching him. but at the end of the sutta, the buddha said if the transgressor was not carrying such a heavy weight (that is, paid full attention), he could have gained stream entry

similarly, in the Angulimala Sutta, Angulimala, the mass murderer, paid attention & reached full enlightenment

so for the Buddha, it seems that for him, once a person realises & changes their unskilful actions, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, WITHOUT LIMIT, WITHOUT DELAY

the Buddha seemed to have quite a light & extremely positive attitude towards forgiveness

the Buddha appeared to be so happy & offered great praise when a person realised their unskilful actions, such as in the excerpt below:

172. He who having been heedless is heedless no more, illuminates this world like the moon freed from clouds.

173. He, who by good deeds covers the evil he has done, illuminates this world like the moon freed from clouds.

Dhammapada

pegembara

Malaysian in Singapore death row becomes devout Buddhist

Vui Kong’s compassion grew as well. He would save the biscuits he got in the morning and on the way to the library, he would distribute them to the other prisoners, says Ravi.

“He also counsels the other inmates and even prison wardens,” he adds.

“Not a single prison warden can accept his execution. A prison guard told me that he is the gentlest soul he has ever met and they all have benefited from him.”

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,9848,0,0,1,0

The person who has removed greed, hatred and/or delusion can attain liberation no matter what his previous circumstances were.

genkaku

Forgive the Buddha and all will be well.

sukhita

I think forgiveness is built into Buddhism. Every time you draw your mind to the present moment, being mindfull of the here and now, you leave the past behind you. That means you also shed the burden of guilt and wrong-doings of the past. The mere act of living in the present moment means, in some ways, that you are constantly forgiving yourself and others. This is a simplistic view, I know.

compassionate_warrior

I think forgiveness is built into Buddhism. Every time you draw your mind to the present moment, being mindfull of the here and now, you leave the past behind you. That means you also shed the burden of guilt and wrong-doings of the past. The mere act of living in the present moment means, in some ways, that you are constantly forgiving yourself and others. This is a simplistic view, I know.

Is this your interpretation, Sukhita, or is there a source for this? If it were so simple to wipe the slate clean, I'm afraid society would be in complete chaos. One could commit crimes (to say nothing of smaller transgressions), and then bring one's mind to the present moment, or go meditate in a corner, and have no past karma to worry about. Or did I misundertand you?

sukhita

I think forgiveness is built into Buddhism. Every time you draw your mind to the present moment, being mindfull of the here and now, you leave the past behind you. That means you also shed the burden of guilt and wrong-doings of the past. The mere act of living in the present moment means, in some ways, that you are constantly forgiving yourself and others. This is a simplistic view, I know.

Is this your interpretation, Sukhita, or is there a source for this? If it were so simple to wipe the slate clean, I'm afraid society would be in complete chaos. One could commit crimes (to say nothing of smaller transgressions), and then bring one's mind to the present moment, or go meditate in a corner, and have no past karma to worry about. ...

I was merely stating that living in the present moment causes one not to dwell in the past; thus one is putting the mental guilt of ones past wrongs behind oneself and moving on. It not about wiping ones karmic slate clean. Or about using present moment awareness or forgiveness to exhaust ones "bad" karma. Karma takes its normal course, and its exact workings is beyond my understanding.

Or did I misundertand you?

Perhaps it's not a misunderstanding on your part, but my inability to post my ideas clearly.

compassionate_warrior

Thanks, Sukhita. It makes sense, of course; mitigate guilt by living in the present moment.

sukhita

Or by living in the present moment, guilt of past actions is automatically mitigated.

compassionate_warrior

Well, guilt is sort of a useless emotion, anyway, isn't it? What does it accomplish? Nothing, except get us further worked up. If one has committed errors in the past, one accepts responsibility for one's actions, and moves on, hopefully to commit fewer errors, learning from experience.

genkaku

If one has committed errors in the past, one accepts responsibility for one's actions, ...
______________________________________________

With luck, this is true. Otherwise there is the capacity to compartmentalize and view errors as being someone else's problem.

compassionate_warrior

With luck, this is true. Otherwise there is the capacity to compartmentalize and view errors as being someone else's problem.

How is that? How can one's own errors be someone else's problem?

DhammaDhatu

Is this your interpretation, Sukhita, or is there a source for this?

You shouldn't chase after the past
or place expectations on the future.
What is past
is left behind.
The future
is as yet unreached.

Whatever quality is present
you clearly see right there,
right there.
Not taken in,
unshaken,
that's how you develop the heart.

Bhaddekaratta Sutta: An Auspicious Day

:om:

DhammaDhatu

If it were so simple to wipe the slate clean, I'm afraid society would be in complete chaos. I'm afraid society would be in complete chaos. One could commit crimes (to say nothing of smaller transgressions), and then bring one's mind to the present moment, or go meditate in a corner, and have no past karma to worry about.

Is this your interpretation, Compassionate Warrior, or is there a source for this?

federica

Or by living in the present moment, guilt of past actions is automatically mitigated.

I think the Dalai Lama explains it well, here....

compassionate_warrior

Is this your interpretation, Compassionate Warrior, or is there a source for this?

If one could wipe the slate clean so easily, what would be the point of virtuous action? What motive would one have? There would be no checks and balances in the system. Not everyone is motivated by compassion. The Law of Karma functions as a deterrent, as well. Remove the deterrent, and ... then what? Watch out.

sukhita

@Federica : Thanks, it's insightful.