[Kalayanamitta1]

Dear Followers

When I contemplate the reality some times, you need to apply the teachings to yourself. However without understanding the teaching fully, you try to explain things to the world, family friends, etc. And sometimes you can create conflict, and they may have a wrong impression on the Dhamma. It’s purely the fact we can’t really understanding the level of understanding they have as we have varied levels of Sadda indriya, Viriya indriya, Sathi Indriya, Panna indriya. For the world, chasing after fulfilling the senses is living and enjoying. However you know the dangers of that..

My questions is when you reflect on the Dhamma, time to time, your mind wanders to the people who might have offended the Dhamma. And me being very attached to this teaching, there is a friction. Has anybody overcomed such situations.

Kind Regards

[Lal]

“My questions is when you reflect on the Dhamma, time to time, your mind wanders to the people who might have offended the Dhamma. And me being very attached to this teaching, there is a friction. Has anybody overcomed such situations.”

I have. I do not worry about all those who don’t believe in Dhamma: laws of kamma, rebirth, apayas, etc. AND how to stop future suffering (understanding the causes of suffering and getting rid of those causes).

Thinking about them can generate bad thoughts and those are bad for ONESELF. Remember that those are bad vaci sankhara too. Such thoughts do not benefit oneself OR others.

What one CAN DO is to help those who are interested in Dhamma. That is all one can do: “Attā Hi Attanō Nāthō“. One is one’s own refuge. Othrers can only help.

The only way to help those who do not pay attention (who are ignorant of Dhamma) is to do metta bhavana.

[Akvan]

Hi Kalyanamitta1,

A good reference is the first sutta in the sutta Piṭaka, the Brahmajaala Sutta (https://suttacentral.net/dn1/en/bodhi). Here the Buddha says:

“If, bhikkhus, others speak in dispraise of me, or in dispraise of the Dhamma, or in dispraise of the Sangha, you should not give way to resentment, displeasure, or animosity against them in your heart. For if you were to become angry or upset in such a situation, you would only be creating an obstacle for yourselves. If you were to become angry or upset when others speak in dispraise of us, would you be able to recognize whether their statements are rightly or wrongly spoken?”

“Certainly not, Lord.”

“If, bhikkhus, others speak in dispraise of me, or in dispraise of the Dhamma, or in dispraise of the Sangha, you should unravel what is false and point it out as false, saying: ‘For such and such a reason this is false, this is untrue, there is no such thing in us, this is not found among us.”

On a personal note, I rarely tend to get angry towards such people but feel something like “can’t these people understand this, are they this foolish”. In that instance I contemplate that I too would have been similar to those people in the past. Certainly before I came across purdhamma and also in innumerable past lives. So that way I can put myself in their shoes and this lets me develop compassion towards them. Like the metta bhavana that Lal mentioned.

Most importantly I look at myself and think if an Arahanth saw me they would think that I am foolish as well, for being engrossed in these sense pleasures and not understanding the true aniccha, dukka, anatta nature of the world. This helps me a lot.

[Kalayanamitta1]

Thanks for your refreshing thoughts you both. I feel I am mostly there, but there are situations I feel there is friction, it’s only when if your attached to someone, and you feel compassion to urge them to them to the path at your pace. Which is unfair for them in a sense, everybody has there own pace. Regardless our true enemies should be our own raga desha moha, that harms us more than anything and that’s our biggest battle, and can always chance to conquer.

[Author]

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