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
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
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
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