Author Topic: Forgiveness as a buddhist practitioner  (Read 18343 times)

biggyboy

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Re: Forgiveness as a buddhist practitioner
« Reply #30 on: June 29, 2012, 11:07:07 PM »
It is important that we as an adult must learn to forgive our self by taking responsibility and owning up our behaviour. We all grow old and will die.  We face frustrations, heartbreaks, dashed hopes and expectations.  No one is free from all these.  When we realised that, isn’t it the same that the other person whom has hurt us also suffers.  So what makes them different from us? They deserve to be forgiven.  Likewise we ourselves deserve to be forgiven too. Let's move on.

Quote:  Empathy inspires understanding, which flowers into compassion and leads to forgiveness.


http://suite101.com/article/applying-buddhist-teachings-to-forgiveness-a298463#ixzz1zDp9vLYM

Forgiveness in Buddhism says that we do not condone the harm, but we also do not condemn the person. Honesty and humility require us to admit that, indeed, that person could be us under other circumstances. We must understand that the person wronged us because he or she was suffering. When we understand that he or she was suffering, we are more likely to develop compassion. That's worlds apart from seeing that person as “the other,” the “us vs. them” mentality, dualistic thinking which encourages division and fuels hate. Hate begets hate, but compassion begets compassion.

Focusing on wrongs that have been committed imprisons the mind in delusion and obsession. Realization of a wrong should not mire us in negativity but should inspire effort to work for constructive change. We can forgive those who have done us wrong while also refraining from putting ourselves into the position for the wrong to be repeated. When we need to forgive ourselves, we must acknowledge that what we've done is wrong and resolve never to repeat the act. To forgive ourselves fully requires a deep understanding of why we committed the wrong so that we can move on and do better.

All actions are led by the mind; mind is their master, mind is their maker.
Act or speak with a defiled state of mind, and suffering will follow as the cart-wheel follows the foot of the ox.
All actions are led by the mind; mind is their master, mind is their maker.
Act or speak with a pure state of mind, and happiness will follow as your shadow that remains behind without departing.